Symmetrical copy of path

[davorin]

Hello

How would I make a symmetrical copy of a path in AD? In Illustrator is was damned easy to use the copy tool for vertical line and option-click on one point on the vertical symmetrical axis...and then join the path points together with command-J.

 

I don't see anything here in AD..furthermore you can't even select an open path, continue to draw a path and connect to another open path...

 

[gdenby]

It takes a few more steps inAD at this point. No Flipping on edges, only bounding box center. Have snapping on. Select line, command-K to duplicate, use transform/flip horizontal. Slide the duplicate to the side till is snaps. W. both selected, switch to node tool, and from the context menu bar, use join curves and close curve. Takes me maybe 15 secs.

You certainly can continue to draw a path, and as above join and close it w any other path.

[davorin]

Hmm..thanks..though it is Command-J for duplicate..at least on my computer...

Don't have a context-menu here when node tools is selected....only in the toolbar are the commands

Also with the node tool I can't select a rectangle region to select several points...

 

So if there isn't any flipping on edges or at the mouse click position I assume there isn't anything where I can rotate then an object and copy it at a specific angle...

like in Illustrator select the rotation tool, select the object, option-click at the desired center of rotation and then enter number of degrees to rotate...

 

[davorin]

Ah there is something...though not that obvious (o;

Toolbar has a "show rotation point" icon...this can then be moved to the desired center point of transformation (o;

[gdenby]

Yes, Command J, my typo. And yes, I should have said Node tool context bar. Haven't had breakfast yet.

Hmm, you should be able to make a marquee node selection. You do need to click on the object first. Note, when several nodes are selected, they can be rotateds or scaled from the tranform panel on lower right. 

[davorin]

Well I just started and there are some hundreds pages of work book to go through which finally arrived today (o;

This with the mirror tools is a real bummer when redrawing symmetrical patterns I scanned and placed as a template...is there a trick to have objects mirrored at a set vertical guide line?

 

[R C-R]

36 minutes ago, davorin said:

...is there a trick to have objects mirrored at a set vertical guide line?

No, but there are transform buttons on the toolbar for Flip Horizontal, Flip Vertical, & 2 rotate 90° operations. So one way to almost do this is to select the objects as you have done, CMD-J to duplicate them, click the Flip Horizontal button, & drag the duplicates to the right to manually place them in approximately the symmetrical position.

More interesting for some editing tasks is to group the objects, create a Symbol from them, place a new instance on the right, & flip that. That way, any edit you do to the left group is automatically applied to right instance.

[davorin]

Who mentioned that AD is the Adobe Illustrator killer app? It is not there yet, but hopefully soon :-)

The trick I've done is to draw a small vertical line on the guide line...group it with the objects I want to mirror...duplicate them and drag them to the right where the placed line is now on the left, which is used to align on the guide line (o;

 

[gdenby]

59 minutes ago, davorin said:

Who mentioned that AD is the Adobe Illustrator killer app? It is not there yet, but hopefully soon :-)

The trick I've done is to draw a small vertical line on the guide line...group it with the objects I want to mirror...duplicate them and drag them to the right where the placed line is now on the left, which is used to align on the guide line (o;

 

Yes, that's a standard work around.

I used Illustrator off and on for maybe 25 years. I hadn't read any reviews of AD, but found myself in a position where the Adobe subscription model was not even possible. No reliable net connection, and painfully slow when up. And I really disliked having to "tithe" instead of buying out right, which I would have done if I didn't need a network connection to use a current version. I knew right away that portions of AD were up to where AI was when it was maybe 5 years old, others, 10 years or so. But the interface was good, the performance better. As my younger daughter mentioned, Designer had more blend modes than Photoshop, and was quite impressed w. some of the near real time gradient and transparency alterations.

I later came across stuff that talked about "killer" attributes. A clone, if you will. No, but a very viable alternative for many operations. Unfortunately, this leads to lots of comments from users who say "I did it this way in AI," or "In Corel, you just do this."  

Take a look at the roadmap.

[davorin]

Well I started with Illustrator 88  and version 5.5 was the best in my opinion...then it just got overloaded...

I very like AD and AP and bought them both together with the work books and then cancelled my Adobe subscription  Indesign was always a pain and I am looking forward to APublisher...

Maybe there are some restriction in mimic Adobe features to not get a call from lawyers...but their rotate, mirror, skew tool is perfect for such work...and exists since decades...

Just did a flyer for my girlfriend last week for her business...and it was a snap to create...faster then with Illustrator  But their path tool is currently unbeatable (o;