illustrator question

[Doug Bernhardt]

Sorry if I'm off the topic of hand lettering somewhat here but I know of no better place to post and get a good answer to this. I did subscribe to Linda.com but have closed off for the summer and now find myself in need of advice.

If I have drawn a letter with the sharp points the illustrator leaves you with at the ends of serifs and square corners, is there a command to use to round these points off with? I don't want a stroke and fattening of the letter as the weights are already correct. Have heard that it's quite simple in Omega software but as don't have any 'pooters in the shop it's not a software that I'll need or want.

Thanx in advance

[Roderick Treece]

I would normally tell you to call Danny Baronian's 24 hr Illustrator hot line but I'll try and tell you my self. In the pen pallet there is the Convert anchor point tool. it looks like a v on it's side. If you click that tool on you square anchor point and then draw it out the handles will come out then you can adjust them.

[Doug Bernhardt]

Hi Rod....use that convert anchor point all the time but theres another way that is far more accurate somewhere in there.

[Danny Baronian]

Rod's right, but there's another way of using the convert anchor point. While drawing using the pen tool (P), if you make a mistake and need to adjust a vector handle, or change the direction, press the alt key with a mouse down, and you get the convert anchor point that displays as a v in place of the cursor. Move it around to move any vectors without affecting the last drawn vector.

But... after re reading this before posting, I think Doug's asking about how vectors are shaped at the beginning and end. If that's the case, select the pen tool, or the vector drawn, go to menu item 'window' and select stroke, which opens the stroke tab. Select the arrow in upper right section, select 'options', and the tab will expand, allowing you to choose start and termination vectors with either round or square caps, corners or strokes.

Note - if you plan of using strokes with rounded end caps other than print or display, you will need to expand the stroke to display properly.

If this isn't what you're after Doug, let me know.

FYI, since we're all on a computer to participate in the forum, this is a perfect place to post questions of this nature. If not, we'll just ignore you!

[Terry Westlin]

I don't have AI loaded anymore and mainly use Corel but this is what I do.

Insert your text, convert to curves. Then you can pick the whole image or just nodes (anchor points) you need to change such as serifs, click on the fillet flyout and pick the radius you need. There should be something in AI that works the same.

I use this all the time with my cutter so it doesn't lift the corners, it just rounds them a little.

Hope that helps a little

Terry

[Doug Bernhardt]

Thanx....can see some time spent experimenting with that one might prove worth while

[Danny Baronian]

Terry, to my knowledge, AI doesn't have a fillet tool, despite the fact that users have requested the feature for years.

Short of that, I have found Xtreme path to be a great plug in, that more than makes up for Adobe's deaf ear.

In adding a fillet, the limitations most programs or plug in's have is it won't fillet anything other than right angles, including Xtreme paths. It will not do acute angles. I have no idea what Corel does, or does't do regarding fillets, as well as Omega, as it's a program I rarely use. I do know though, that Omega is a very robust program, made specifically for sign making, and may not have the limitations AI, and other programs have.

The problem with selecting an entire object and adding fillets is that they are added throughout the graphic, whereas it may only be needed in one or two specific areas.

[Terry Westlin]

Danny glad you found something that works for you.

I only select the entire object if I am cutting small or intricate designs and text with my vinyl cutter. I don't have tangential cutting so this has been a nice workaround for me. Keeps the corners from pulling up with the drag knife.

[Mike Jackson]

I haven't used the features in Omega for a while, but it definitely does this task. You have the option of letting it automatically round or filet outside corners, regardless of the angle, or inside corners, or both. You set the radius and just hit one button. There is also an option to do it manually. After setting the style of corner and the radius, all you do is click the corner point with the cursor.

I can't tell you of a way to do this task in Illustrator.

Mike Jackson

[Doug Bernhardt]

Thanx Mike....I've come to realize there's no easy way. Shame. I remember discussing this with Studden a few years ago as he was also hoping for similar results with Illustrator. As far as I know he's still using Omega. When I make progress I'll let you know what happens. Have tried to place circles at the ends of the desired changes and hoped "minus back" might work but nadda.

[erik winkler]

You CAN use the round corners command of Omega also in Illustrator.
If i recollect correctly you can find it under filters: reshape or something.
If you want to use the vector lines latter you must ' expand appearence' first.

[Mike Jackson]

Erik,
Maybe you can find some time and find the commands and report back with the specifics?

[erik winkler]

I am sorry Mike I can not help you now since I am not at the firm this week.
It's my mothers final week.

[Lee Littlewood]

I'm interested too. We have Flexi at the shop but I just have Illustrator at home, and it is amazing how many lettering things Illy doesn't do.
In Flexi I would probably go through the corners with the 3point arc tool - two clicks and hit 'enter' - gives great control but gets tedious if you have lots of corners.
In Illy all I can think of is to put a stroke on the outline and go to the stroke menu, select "rounded corners" (if it will let you - there is something I seem to be missing 'cause it doesn't always work), then "Expand" the strokes, then go through and throw away the inside vector. Ugh.

....................................

Eric, I'm so sorry.

...................

[Mike Jackson]

filet1.JPG (125.78 KiB) Viewed 23500 times

Here's a screen grab of the tools in Omega.
Convert text to curves. Select it. Select the letters you want to round, with the detail editor tool and select Fillet Corners from the menu.
Turn on the appropriate corner types and enter a desired radius.

Click continue and it does all of them at one time.

The only Caveat I saw is you will get a No Results if there are selected shapes that don't have any corners, like an O.

If someone can do a step by step on how to do this in Illustrator, I am sure a lot of people will like seeing it.

Mike Jackson

[Kelly Thorson]

Effects>Stylize>Rounded Corners Choose from the drop down menu and set pt or type in your own value.
I'm not sure which versions of AI this is available in.
This can mess with other parts of your text so do on a copy and compare.

[Danny Baronian]

Using Effects stylize rounded corners doesn't treat all serifs / objects the same, some are rounded, some semi rounded, others with one side square the other round.

First illustration is an example of Effects > rounded corners. To the left the original letter, to the right Effects > rounded corners applied. Note red circles: Of 6 serifs, only 4 are acceptable, the other two are misshapen. The other circles represent areas that were also modified along with the serifs, that should not have been modified.

On the last screen shot is a plug in I use, and how it's done. In practice, it can be done quickly, but each needs to be done separately. The plug in is called Xtreme Path.

Xtreme Path also has a fillet tool that can either be used unconstrained, or with user input data, which would make the objects / serifs look as Mike illustrated in Omega. Problem is, each corner has to be treated separately.