combine tool makes shape disappear

[jimbob302]

hello everyone! I can't seem to find answer/solution to this problem and hoping for advice. the goal is a simple rectangle with a circle attached to the end like a Mario brothers bullet. I make the two shapes, snap them together Geometry>divide>delete the lines in-between the shapes but then Geometry>combine>the whole thing disappears. off the screen and out of layers panel.  I would provide screenshots but I'm not sure how. I'm very new to all this. thanks for any advice!

Edited November 28, 2023 by jimbob302

[Aammppaa]

By dividing you are creating open curves. At present the boolean operations do not work with open curves as you have discovered! 

 

But why are you dividing and then combining? Just select your rectangle and the circle and Add them all together. 

 

Or if you are in v2, try the shape builder tool. 

[jimbob302]

thanks for the response! I'm trying to combine them because that seems to be the only way I can make the corner tool function properly when adding two shapes together. I've run into this issue repeatedly where I add two shapes together and am unable to radius the intersecting corners. it only works when I select both shapes and combine them. I also want to be able to move all the shapes around and grouping them does not let me use the corner tool to radius those meeting corners.

end goal is making templates for leather wallets. picture a rectangle card pocket with an area for your thumb cut out of so you can slide cards in and out. if I make the rectangle and then place another shape on it to achieve a thumb slot in that first rectangle, I am unable to radius the corners where they meet without combining.  combining on some of my shapes has worked great, on others it makes everything disappear and I don't understand why.

[Aammppaa]

I am not sure why you are having issues with the corner tool after a Boolean Add or Subtract, particularly if you are dealing with basic shapes (circles, rectangles).

 

 

 

 

[R C-R]

8 hours ago, jimbob302 said:

I've run into this issue repeatedly where I add two shapes together and am unable to radius the intersecting corners.

Maybe if you posted an example AD file of two shapes you want to add together we could better understand what the problem is.

[jimbob302]

4 hours ago, Aammppaa said:

I am not sure why you are having issues with the corner tool after a Boolean Add or Subtract, particularly if you are dealing with basic shapes (circles, rectangles).

 

 

 

 

I really appreciate you taking the time to send that. that accomplished exactly what I wanted, thank you. I was trying to use high click and combine through the geometry menu rather than "add" and "subtract" up top

[Aammppaa]

You may wish to explore Compounds also, as this would let you tweak positioning of cut-outs etc in a non-destructive manner.

But it comes with the downside that you can't use the Corner tool on Compounds, so would have to Convert To Curves before the final step of softening the corners.

[Aammppaa]

Here is an interesting approach that gives the benefits of Compounds (a non-destructive workflow) and allows for rounding of the corners.

If you pick apart the attached file you should see how it works.

 

 

 

 

Also: Can anyone can tell me why my embedded screencapture videos appear so large, and how to resize them?

Compound with Corner Tool.afdesign

[R C-R]

57 minutes ago, Aammppaa said:

Also: Can anyone can tell me why my embedded screencapture videos appear so large, and how to resize them?

I think they are automatically sized to fill the available space in the browser window -- at least on my Mac using Safari the size is reduced or enlarged as I make the window larger or smaller. If I use the "Open Video in New Tab" function of Safari, the opened video is much smaller.