A:
Compound Paths
Any time a Pathfinder command results in a shape that is more than a single, continuous path, you get what’s called a compound path. Although compound shape is merely a descriptive term for a shape that is more complex than a rectangle, ellipse, or polygon and, in the grand scheme of things, hasn’t much of a meaning, compound path is a more important term because it refers to a certain type of path. A compound path is a new, more complex type of path with different considerations than those for a simple, continuous path. It’s multiple separate paths behaving as one.
Here we start to learn
Any time a Pathfinder command results in a shape that is more than a single, continuous path, you get what’s called a compound path. Although compound shape is merely a descriptive term for a shape that is more complex than a rectangle, ellipse, or polygon and, in the grand scheme of things, hasn’t much of a meaning, compound path is a more important term because it refers to a certain type of path. A compound path is a new, more complex type of path with different considerations than those for a simple, continuous path. It’s multiple separate paths behaving as one.
Here we start to learn
1. Draw a perfect circle (you know two ways to do that quickly), and fill it with a solid color but without a stroke.
2. Atop the circle, create a five-pointed star that is larger than the circle (see Figure A), and give it, too, a solid color fill and no stroke color.
3. Select both the star and circle and go to Object >Pathfinder >Exclude Overlap. Your result should be similar to mine (Figure B), with the overlapping area knocked out and the resulting shape acquiring the star’s fill and stroke attributes. Look closely at this new object. If you select it with the Direct Selection tool, you’ll notice all the anchor points throughout. There’s no way that object is a single continuous path. It can’t be—it has 10 different filled areas, 10 different closed paths. That, ladies, and gentlemen, is a compound path— multiple paths behaving as one.
Try changing the object’s fill color—all areas will change simultaneously. In many cases, you’ll find that’s the desired result. When it isn’t, when you want to separately color the shapes in this compound path, remember this crucial piece of information.
4. Although this will work however you’ve selected the compound path, let’s keep it selected with the Direct Selection tool so we can more closely observe the changes to the object as we…choose Object >Paths >Release Compound Path. Do you see the difference? It’s subtle. Undo the last command and look at your compound path star. Where’s the object center point? Right: In the center of the star. Now press Cmd+Shift+Z/Ctrl+Shift+Z to redo the release compound path command. Where is the center point now? Uh-huh. That’s right: There isn’t 1 but 10. All the shapes have been released to individual paths, with their own centers and their own independent paths. They can even be moved or edited independently if you wanted to do that (but not now).
5. Deselect all, then select one of the star points. Give it a fill color. Good. Now give the next star point a different color. Keep going until you’ve filled all five. (Figure C) shows how my star looks so far (it also shows the center points and paths, in case you need to see them).
6. For this particular project, we don’t want all the star points to be different colors, though. We want them the same color. In fact, we want the remaining circle sections to also match each other, but not with a solid color fill; we want them to have a radial gradient (see Figure D). See what you can do to match your circle sections to mine.
No luck on getting the circle parts to fill with a radial gradient like mine in (Figure D) Let me guess: You got a separate radial gradient in all five sections, didn’t you? That’s because we haven’t done step 7 yet.
7. Applying a gradient, object effects, and a few other things to multiple paths applies a new instance to each path. To get the desired effect for this project, we can’t have separate paths. We need a compound path—but only of the circle pieces, not the star points, too, or we’ll end up back at the same problem we faced in step 3. Select all five sections of the circle together and go to Object >Paths >Make Compound Path. Now we’ve turned these separate paths back into a compound path, which means they’ll once again behave as if they were one path. Try giving it a radial gradient fill now. Better results, right?
Go ahead and deselect the circle parts compound path and select the individual star point paths. Make a compound path of them as well, just for efficiency and expediency. Now assign their fill color; I went with a solid red, but you’re free to use any color or even another gradient if you like.
What else can you do with compound paths? You can use them as containers for placed images. Select your circle sections compound path, choose File >Place, and import a photo. It will place right into the compound path. Think about the possibilities that opens up for creative image frame shapes and vector elements. Compound paths can also hold text, although the shapes we have with this star would be better suited to containing decorative text rather than copy you expect to be read. Click in it with the Text tool and start typing to see what I mean. Of course, being a container, a compound path can hold other containers. Experiment and you’ll find some really interesting ideas!
Waiting for your feedback…..
Profesor AZii
2. Atop the circle, create a five-pointed star that is larger than the circle (see Figure A), and give it, too, a solid color fill and no stroke color.
3. Select both the star and circle and go to Object >Pathfinder >Exclude Overlap. Your result should be similar to mine (Figure B), with the overlapping area knocked out and the resulting shape acquiring the star’s fill and stroke attributes. Look closely at this new object. If you select it with the Direct Selection tool, you’ll notice all the anchor points throughout. There’s no way that object is a single continuous path. It can’t be—it has 10 different filled areas, 10 different closed paths. That, ladies, and gentlemen, is a compound path— multiple paths behaving as one.
Try changing the object’s fill color—all areas will change simultaneously. In many cases, you’ll find that’s the desired result. When it isn’t, when you want to separately color the shapes in this compound path, remember this crucial piece of information.
4. Although this will work however you’ve selected the compound path, let’s keep it selected with the Direct Selection tool so we can more closely observe the changes to the object as we…choose Object >Paths >Release Compound Path. Do you see the difference? It’s subtle. Undo the last command and look at your compound path star. Where’s the object center point? Right: In the center of the star. Now press Cmd+Shift+Z/Ctrl+Shift+Z to redo the release compound path command. Where is the center point now? Uh-huh. That’s right: There isn’t 1 but 10. All the shapes have been released to individual paths, with their own centers and their own independent paths. They can even be moved or edited independently if you wanted to do that (but not now).
5. Deselect all, then select one of the star points. Give it a fill color. Good. Now give the next star point a different color. Keep going until you’ve filled all five. (Figure C) shows how my star looks so far (it also shows the center points and paths, in case you need to see them).
6. For this particular project, we don’t want all the star points to be different colors, though. We want them the same color. In fact, we want the remaining circle sections to also match each other, but not with a solid color fill; we want them to have a radial gradient (see Figure D). See what you can do to match your circle sections to mine.
No luck on getting the circle parts to fill with a radial gradient like mine in (Figure D) Let me guess: You got a separate radial gradient in all five sections, didn’t you? That’s because we haven’t done step 7 yet.
7. Applying a gradient, object effects, and a few other things to multiple paths applies a new instance to each path. To get the desired effect for this project, we can’t have separate paths. We need a compound path—but only of the circle pieces, not the star points, too, or we’ll end up back at the same problem we faced in step 3. Select all five sections of the circle together and go to Object >Paths >Make Compound Path. Now we’ve turned these separate paths back into a compound path, which means they’ll once again behave as if they were one path. Try giving it a radial gradient fill now. Better results, right?
Go ahead and deselect the circle parts compound path and select the individual star point paths. Make a compound path of them as well, just for efficiency and expediency. Now assign their fill color; I went with a solid red, but you’re free to use any color or even another gradient if you like.
What else can you do with compound paths? You can use them as containers for placed images. Select your circle sections compound path, choose File >Place, and import a photo. It will place right into the compound path. Think about the possibilities that opens up for creative image frame shapes and vector elements. Compound paths can also hold text, although the shapes we have with this star would be better suited to containing decorative text rather than copy you expect to be read. Click in it with the Text tool and start typing to see what I mean. Of course, being a container, a compound path can hold other containers. Experiment and you’ll find some really interesting ideas!
Waiting for your feedback…..
Profesor AZii
1 comments:
A compound path is just when you combine multiple individual paths into one single path. Shapes must be converted to paths before being included in a compound path.
The Clipping Path India
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