I don’t know if this is the right spot for this but I have a vector file that has hundreds of overlapping vectors. I know that there is a way to have the vector that outlines the shape and remove the others. I have been doing it in AI but I am sure there is a shortcut that I need to do. I have youtubed for answers but I think I am not using the correct search terms. Please see attached Photo that illustrates (pun intended) my issue.
I am wanting to do a carving on the CNC machine so all the extra vectors are a bad idea.
Not exactly sure what you’re looking for, but maybe it’s the pathfinder tool in Illustrator? Allows you to combine down multiple paths into just their outline. How you combine them would all depend on what you’re after in the carving
https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/combining-objects.html
I’m not exactly following the question, but I THINK you are asking about the Pathfinder tool. In illustrator menu - Window/Pathfinder
Icon I’ve added to my right tool bar/flyout menu looks like this:
The icons in the tool generally accomplish what they resemble.
I probably use 1, 3 and 4 on the top row and 1 on the bottom row exclusively.
The first one on the top row combines whatever vector items selected into a single vector item - and takes on the color of the item at the top of the pile.
The third one on top row will delete all portions of selected overlapping images where they do NOT intersect.
The fourth one on top row will delete all INTERSECTING portions of the selected images. (for example, you want to create a donut shape. Draw large circle and small circle centered over each other. Select both circles, click on the icon to delete intersection, and the smaller circle area will be deleted. Want to take a bite out of the donut? make another small circle that partially overlaps the donut shape. Click the icon to delete the intersection. the bite will be gone, but you’ll have the remainder of the overlapping circle - a crescent shape - remaining. make sure everything is ungrouped of those items, then delete that crescent piece)
The first one on the bottom row is supposed to break grouped vector items into separate pieces, without erasing anything. Ungroup, then delete what you want to delete or combine what you want to become one vector item.
Separate from the pathfinder tool, I would also add a top you probably already know, but just in case not - if you’ve drawn a line that needs to become a vector item, use Expand (Object/expand or sometimes Object/expand appearance followed by "object expand).
If none of this has anything to do with your query…
As Emily Littella on Saturday Night Live used to say, “Never Mind”.
1 Like
Thanks for the info. I have been doing that but it is taking forever. I was hoping there was a easier way to do it.
Just for what it’s worth, I have run into very funky SVG’s (a vector format) before that I just rendered to a very high resolution bitmap and then used bitmap tracing to wrangle them into something usable. It feels kinda “dirty” (like taking a screenshot of your computer with your camera phone), but if you do it at a high enough resolution, it should be fine.
1 Like
I will admit to not understanding you exact issue. But would this help:
I definitely feel your pain. And wished the same. But since my illustrator knowledge is largely self-taught, I fumble along with the slow boat to China method.
When I don’t care about quality, I’ve sometimes resorted to taking something into photoshop, rasterizing/flattening, then taking -that- image back into illustrator to auto trace.
1 Like
