6 Replies Latest reply: Dec 10, 2010 8:53 AM by mhossey RSS

    subtracting shapes not working? what the heck

    mhossey Community Member

      alright i've never had this problem.

      -I created the white lines as strokes then expanded them.

      -I put the expanded strokes in a new layer above the circle.

      -I clicked on the expanded strokes, then shift clicked on the circle.

      -hit my subtract button ( I also tried every other button just for kicks after I see it wasnt doing what i wanted)

      -It fills in the circle black now instead of just deleting the black space that is underneath the expanded white stroke. The stroke on the right is fine. Just the circle is goofy

       

      Any pionters on how to fix this, what did i do wrong? Below are the pic's to A/B

      If it this helps, I created the circle from a letter...not the spiral tool.

       

      thankyou

       

       

       

      cirle open.jpg

      circle closed.jpg

        • 1. Re: subtracting shapes not working? what the heck
          Jacob Bugge CommunityMVP

          mhossey,

           

          If things stop working as they should, it may be corrupt preferences or interference from other applications.

           

          You may try to restart Illy, or restart the computer (sometimes enough).

           

          Or you may press Ctrl+Alt+Shift/Cmd+Option+Shift upon restart.

           

          Or you may Move the folder

           

          Or if resetting preferences does not help, you may try Other options, see item 7.

          • 2. Re: subtracting shapes not working? what the heck
            Steve Fairbairn Community Member

            Is the black shape a compound path? If not, it should be.

            The expanded strokes should also be a compound (both of them together).

            Now see if Pathfinder does what you want.

            • 3. Re: subtracting shapes not working? what the heck
              JETalmage Community Member

              As depicted, the paths do not have to be compound paths. What you have depicted works with the self-intersecting black path and the white path both being closed simple paths.

               

              But one cannot tell with certainty from your screenshot what you actually have because the paths are not selected, and we can't see the objects' types. (That screenshot could look identical if either or both of the objects are simple paths, compound paths, or groups.)

               

              Normal-select (Black Pointer) each of the two objects (the white square is superfluous to the problem; leave it out of it) and state what kind of objects they are.

              Take a screenshot with both objects normal-selected, and state the number of anchorPoints in each path (Document Info palette). State whether each path is open or closed.

               

              ALWAYS state what version you are using.

               

              JET

              • 4. Re: subtracting shapes not working? what the heck
                mhossey Community Member

                JET

                 

                Im in CS3. How do take a screenshot in Illustrator ctrl+printscreen doesnt work.

                 

                They are both compound paths ( I believe im right in saying this im still new: I created the white lines as strokes, expanded them and then "merged" them together. With the black shape I "created outlines" of the "O" and then used the pen tool to add the swooshes, its closed up as well - not left open)

                 

                EDIT: Document info doesnt show the  # of anchor points, is that feature in cs3.

                 

                EDIT 2: I went back and extended the white line (inside the circle) to go completely around the inside of the circle instead of just stopping, i closed it up hit subtract and I was good to go....only problem is now the inside of my circle looks a little wavy its hard to get that fluent perfect circle feel any ideas on how I can get it to look a little better. You cant tell if you just glance at it, but if your looking for mistakes you will def see its not smooth on the inside.

                 

                thankyou guys i tried all the above steps as well that were suggested.

                 

                inside circle goofy.jpg

                • 6. Re: subtracting shapes not working? what the heck
                  mhossey Community Member

                  sweet, your the man JET

                   

                  thanks