manipulate the form of a letter

[MEB]

You have taken the posts/sentence out of their context. [EDITED] I did mention the need to cut and adjust the paths/elements connecting to the part you want to keep but i see this may have not been clear enough. Thanks for your help and suggestions.

[JimmyJack]

What?? You're kidding right??

 

Maybe I just didn't understand your method....

[MEB]

Hi JimmyJack,

I was editing/completing the previous post and got sidetracked before saving it. I'm sorry for the mess.

You're right, i could have been more clear regarding the steps needed.

 

I also suggested to close both paths first (post #20) so they becomes shapes, then add them as a way to force the joining of the paths.

The problem behind this is in joining nodes from open compound paths with other paths. When we break a complex letter as the example posted in this thread (post #18) we may end up with some.

Here's a sample file showing the issue. Try to join those paths (you can ignore the circle) or join one of them with another one you draw (open):

compound_paths3.afdesign

 

Unless you use Geometry ▸ Divide to break the compound shape first, or use boolean operations to "break" the open compound path "state", there's no way to join their nodes connecting the lines with the Pen Tool, or dragging the nodes and pressing Join Curves. And this is probably the first thing the user will try to do.

In the case of the letter of this thread (post #18) the whole process means breaking the compound shape/path in its individual elements using Geometry ▸ Divide, breaking the nodes of the shapes you want to join with others, perform the joining/edit as you want, then rebuild the whole letter again subtracting the internal holes (shapes) with boolean operations.

 

Not sure this can be considered a bug but the issue is already logged in any case.

[JimmyJack]

Hi MEB,

 

No mess what so-ever!! You are the tip of the spear my man  :) !

 

I agree with everything you're saying. 

And absolutely, in the node breaking technique a Divide should be done first. Otherwise one doubles the work needed as the open curves will become closed again in a Divide later in the process.... requiring another breaking. Node breaking and compound paths and joining etc can lead to a lot of confusion and frustration out there. This is what I was trying to say in my post.

That's why I offered up another solution that doesn't use any of that or the Pen Tool at all.

 

I made a short vid of both methods "side by side" for whoever is interested. 

I used a fairly basic A as an example. But it does have nice curves (with plenty of nodes) that need to be respected.

For a more complex letterform the processes don't change. The sequences just need to be repeated more times.

(I'm moving pretty fast (under 2 minutes for each method).... I wanted to show how it could be done quickly. So bump it down to half speed if needed)

 

I realize that later in this thread, another point about combining elements was raised. I wasn't addressing that, but I included it in the end of each method. With both, if the lines are clean, joining should be okay. Otherwise, by all means, overlap to ensure the Add.

 

Cheers