Converting .ai grad fills to .afdesign

[Furry]

I have very many Adobe Illustrator files which, over many months, I am trying to convert to .afdesign files. Mostly it is fairly straightforward, though I do need to delete .ai shadows (which are actually pixel images) and replace then with .afdesign shadows (which I think look better anyway).

But just occasionally I discover a doozie.

The attached .ai file is a case in point. The oval one sits on (if you get my meaning) translates fine to a designer grad fill but so many others, such as the bowl, the base and the tank, seem to be made up of multiple shapes of varying sizes and shades. I have been using Illustrator for enough decades to know that, way back in the past (perhaps inherited from the gone-but-not-forgotten Macromedia Freehand) Illustrator used to make blended grad fills in that way.

Is there a relatively simple way to achieve the same appearance in Affinity Designer without having a file full of hundreds of shapes (which, logic suggests, would increase file size)?

Toilet.ai

[EmT]

Hi @Furry

I have opened the file in illustrator and in both apps the bowl shape seems to me made of multiple paths/curves.

In regard to how to get a similar effect without using multiple curves, You could try using the Fill tool or FXs, it would not look exactly the same but I have attached a quick example of how it could work.

You could try using an Elliptical Fill with multiple gradient stops as below. However this would not provide a gradient that is the same shape.

The FXs Inner Glow and Inner shadow can be used to add an internal colour that follows the shape of the curve. 

 

[Furry]

Thank you, EmT.

The use of inner glow and inner shadow looks like a good idea to me. I will play around with it and see what I can produce.

Yes, Illustrator (and Freehand before it) produced multiple paths – usually rectangles pasted within the outline path – to simulate a gradient fill when asked to produce a blend, at least in older incarnations. Mostly it produced an acceptable appearance, though I am not sure how well it would stand up to a mega enlargement. This is not the only old .ai file I have come across with this feature. Having all those additional curves within the document must surely increase its file size.

Thank you again.