CS3 Outline Stroke Parallel Lines Bug

Hello everyone...
I'll try to explain my issue as best as possible. I am using Illy CS3 on Win XP Pro.
I am creating installation instructions for an electronic product and need to show wire routing.
I created an art brush of two parallel black lines two different ways (two black lines and two black lines with a white line between them) and am getting the same result when I apply the Object>Path>Outline Stroke command.
What is happening is instead of Outlining each of the strokes and individual paths, Illustrator is outlining the space between the two strokes as one filled, closed path.
Perhaps this is expected behavior. However, Illustrator CS4 (which I use at home on a Mac) outlines the stroke as I would expect it to with the two lines as individual paths.
Does anyone know of a workaround or any way for Illustrator CS3 to behave in a similar way to how CS4 handles the strokes?
Any help is truly appreciated.
Many Thanks!

I can't follow your description, and can't replicate the problem trying to follow it.
> I created an art brush of two parallel black lines two different ways (two black lines and two black lines with a white line between them) and am getting the same result when I apply the Object>Path>Outline Stroke command.
Explain "two black lines and two black lines with a white line between them".
Brush 1 built from:
Two parallel open paths, each with a black stroke?
Brush 2 built from:
Three parallel open paths, equally distributed, the two outermost ones having a black stroke, the middle one having a white stroke?
When you say "situated between them" are you talking about stacking order (paths with different weight strokes stacked in same location) or spacing (three parallel paths distributed vertically)?
You say you've created these two ArtBrushes and are then applying Object>Path>Outline Stroke. Are you in fact talking about outlining the strokes to the artwork
before converting it to an ArtBrush, or applying Outline Stroke to a path to which you already applied the ArtBrush?
Describe EXACTLY, step-by-step, command-by-command, the simplest steps necessary to replicate the problem. Don't use ambiguous terms like "line". Use the terms of the program.
JET

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CS3 Outline Stroke not working?

Hi there,
I am using Illustrator CS3 on my mac, and when I use the outline stroke command, no matter what brush i've used for the stroke, it makes right angles. so if i use a round brush and make a line, so it looks like a skinny rounded rectangle - when i do the outline stroke command, i get a rectangle. i know this worked properly for me in cs2, but i'm not sure if it has worked right for me in cs3. any thoughts on what might be wrong? thanks!!

You shouldn't be using Outline Stroke on a live Brush path. Use Expand Appearance. (Often good to follow with the Merge Pathfinder.)
If you just want to outline a uniform-weight path with rounded caps and joins, you don't need the Brush. Just give the path a thick stroke, set its caps and joins to round and *then* use Outline Stroke. (Bugs in CS3 notwithstanding.)
JET

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I don't know if anyone else has noticed this. But since upgrading to CS3, I've got a serious problem moving the points from a stroke I changed to an object with the Outline Stroke command. I use this quite often, since I like the control it gives me over the look of a line.
But with CS3, when I move some point at the end of the line, it turns out that there are sometimes even 3 overlapping points. This is very annoying. I could lasso select, but then, of course, I need to be in outline view or else I select the underlying object. The Clean Up command does not help. This is really not workable. It used to work so smoothly, and now there's overlapping points all over the objects.
I've been looking to see if there is any documentation about this. But I cannot find anything. Have there been any changes in how the outline is created? Are there points added when you move one? Are there new settings / options I have not found yet that can reset the behavior to CS2-and-before style?
Help wanted. Thanks.
Mark

> Also, I noticed that some hard corner points are very hard to move. Because when you try, it turns out you're pulling a bezier handle. It's impossible to move those points without just pulling the handle.
Are you referring to paths in general, or paths created by Outline Stroke?
If the former, I haven't noticed that happening at all. I see exactly the opposite. Due to the larger hit radius and the preference given to anchor point hits over direction point hits, as well as the highlighting of anchor points within the hit radius, it is
easier in CS3 to be sure of moving the anchor point instead of accidentally hitting the adjacent bezier edge or a direction handle that happens to be very short. (Of course if the mouse is outside the hit radius of any anchor point but within the hit radius of a bezier curve or direction control point, it will adjust direction handles instead, but that has always happened, and the anchor point hit radius is bigger now.)
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It seems that Outline Stroke in Illustrator CS3 is broken in more ways than one. The bug I'm struggling with at the moment is that Outline Stroke seems to ignore the strokes alignment. For example, if I have the stroke of an object set to "outside" or "inside" (instead of center), outline stroke creates the outline of the stroke as if it were "center" aligned. I've checked that in CS4 this bug has been fixed, but I don't have access to CS4 at work. Does anyone know of a work around or patch that resolves this, or is an upgrade to CS4 the only option?
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TomWardrop wrote:
On a side note, Illustrator CS3 has to be the buggiest adobe application I've ever dealt with. It has so many little annoying bugs, most of which are fixed in CS4. I shouldn't have to pay for an upgrade to CS4 just to get bugs fixed though, that seems wrong.
You must not have used version 10.
As for the outline issue... try Object > Flatten Transparency

Scale a line, not it's outline/stroke...

If I have a curved line, made up of several vertices, and I want to scale it only in the X, how do I do so without affecting/distorting its stroke/outline?
It seems every method I try distorts the outline of the line, and I don't want this.

I think I've got it. This means that a rectangle element in the Shape Object isn't actually anything UNTIL it has a fill and/or stroke.
It exists only as a notion of such a thing until such time as it's filled... but that still doesn't really explain why the other attributes work, and opacity doesn't... in some sense. I think.
If you're going to pass all the other transforms through, then opacity should also be something that can be passed through... I'd say...
but I'm on the record a million times for not agreeing with how Adobe sees software and design to be... so I'll stop now.

[svn:fx-trunk] 7155: Line bug fixes when using gradient strokes

Revision: 7155
Author:   [email protected]
Date:     2009-05-20 14:39:39 -0700 (Wed, 20 May 2009)
Log Message:
Line bug fixes when using gradient strokes
SDK-21272 - Lines with gradient (LinearGradientStroke) draw as solid color if perfectly vertical / horizontal
StrokedElement was not taking the stroke weight into account when passing the bounds to the stroke. The gradient strokes rely on the bounds to help them transform the gradient to fit the shape of the stroke.
SDK-21274 - Line with gradient stroke does not draw properly
This bug occurs when the Line has a non-zero x and/or y values and is sharing a DisplayObject. StrokedElement was passing the stroke the measuredX and measuredY position as part of the bounds. Instead, I've changed it to pass in drawX + measuredX and drawY + measuredY which accounts for the drawing offset position.
QE Notes: Test Line w/ gradient strokes
Doc Notes: None
Bugs: SDK-21272, SDK-21274
Reviewer: Evtim
Ticket Links:
    http://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/SDK-21272
    http://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/SDK-21274
    http://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/SDK-21272
    http://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/SDK-21274
Modified Paths:
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This bug figures out also when creating a custom spark ComboBox, then trying to programatically update the userProposedSelectedIndex property. The proposed selected index is selected, but does not apply the same skin as when mouse is on rollover or item is selected due to up and down keys.
The issue seems like updating the status of the item renderer to rollover or selected to get the same skin applied.
Please could you attach DropDow nList.as that you edited ?
Thank you so much.

Outline stroke not working in CS6

so I just create a straight, uniform line and press Effect > Path > Outline Stroke... but nothing happens
not sure if I'm doing something wrong... or if there is a bug?
thanks,
Terrence.

thanks for your reply...
the line has a black, 10 pt, uniform stroke on it.... I click the outline stroke command and nothing happens... an fx does appear in the appearance palette, but when I click the Outline Stroke item there nothing opens... every other effect opens a dialog window...

Reverse outline stroke

Hi,
Let's say that I have an open path, drawn as a line in an illustration. Now, that path has been outlined (outline stroke) to a closed path, styled by it's fill.
I am currently in the process of restyling such an illustration, and I would like to get it back to being an open path (that I can style by the stroke).
Is there an easy/convenient way to do it? I tried with a cutting the path to two open parallell paths, and then blending them, but it didn't capture all the twists and turns properly...

> I tried with a cutting the path to two open parallell paths, and then blending them, but it didn't capture all the twists and turns properly...
Fraxinus,
Blends work by averaging the positions of sequentially-corresponding anchorPoint and handle coordinates. If the two paths being blended have different number of points (as yours most probably do), a Blend is not likely to give you the kind of shape-accurate result you are trying to achieve.
Best bet is to just redraw the paths. You could tweak and twiddle with the paths you are trying to blend, adding points here, removing them there; but you'd end up doing more work than just re-drawing the centerline anyway.
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JET

Outline stroke command?

I'm making an extension panel, and I want to convert some fat roundendcapped lines to paths, but it seems there's no command for this in the SDK.
Object -> Path -> Outline stroke
Is it true?
If so, do you know a workaround for this?
I made an Action that calls Outline stroke from the menu, but then I got stuck again, because I can't find a way to call that action from my panel.
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I think it's also possible to use the AIArtConverter suite to do this.
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AIErr error=kNoErr;
AIArtHandle MyPathToConvert;
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Dear Adobe Users, Please come to my aid, I am at my wit's end.
I am trying to recreate the effect described here (http://opentype.info/blog/2012/08/09/the-google-maps-effect-in-adobe-illustrator/) - to whit, a a non-destructive, merged series of paths with a complete outline, with paths that can be resized at will without affecting any other paths, and any overlap areas should merge.* I have only been able to replicate it once and I cannot seem to do it a second time. Every single time I go to Effect > Path > Outline Stroke, nothing happens: an ‘outline stroke’ effect tab is added on the appearance panel, but nothing at all happens to my lines, they don’t change in the slightest.
I can add all the outline stroke effects I want (in the appearance tab) - no effect. I can double click on the outline stroke - nothing happens. There's nothing to edit. I can move it around - no effect. I can get OBJECT > Path > Outline stroke to work, of course, but that is not non-destructive: it destroys my paths, and I can't add new paths or anything.
I cannot copy-paste the successful attempt into new layers. I cannot duplicate the layers into new files and have the effects still work. I cannot copy existing paths into the layer and use the eye-dropper to copy the effects.
Please, someone, come to my aid! What did I do right, and how can I do it again?
Copy of file:
upload files free
* I am aware that the article is from 2012 and was thus done on CS5, not CS6, but like I said, I did get it to work once in CS6 already.

I tried that, it didn't work. It just adds another stroke under the first - it doesn't work as an outline

Simple stroke FROM outline stroke

Hi,
of course, I know how to create outlines from a stroke.
But for a specific project, I need to be able to do the exact opposite.
I have lots of vector illustrations like the one attached, that are made of outline strokes, and I need to convert them to simple lines. I know they will loose their shapes, but this is not a matter.
I would like to get a simple line that will follow the shapes, like an "average center line" of these outline strokes.
Finding a way to do this dynamically would avoid me to re-draw all the lines with the pencil.
Does a solution exist ?
Best regards,
Page Publique

For some of the shapes (e.g. the arrows) it would be possible to just delete one of the lines and then use "offset path"
You might try to convert this to pixels and then trace it using only strokes. That would be the only partly automatic solution.

Outline Stroke in cs4 adds unwanted duplicate/overlapping point, why?

When I create an outline of a line, say a simple 2 point straight line, I get the result of a filled 4 point rectangle, or so it would seem. When I individually drag each point out using the direct selection tool I find that there are actually 5 points - 2 are sitting on top of each other. Does anyone else have or has had this problem.

This is fixed in CS 5.
Notice that the stroke panel's drop down now reads mm when you set strokes to mm
Notice that the stroke panel's drop down now reads mm when you set strokes to mm
So there are improvements in CS 5 that have never been resolved in the past.
Even in CS 10 I believe the drop down still reads as points and sets the width of the strokes as points and then converts it.
So there has been a lot of hard work.

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// This script will create parallel lines which can be used for designing pages with lines
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preferences.rulerUnits = Units.PIXELS;
bgLine = new SolidColor();
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newDocumentRef = null;
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And here is another alternative....
#target Photoshop
app.bringToFront();
function main(){
if(!documents.length) return;
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g = win.graphics;
var myBrush = g.newBrush(g.BrushType.SOLID_COLOR, [0.99, 0.99, 0.99, 1]);
g.backgroundColor = myBrush;
win.orientation='row';
win.p1= win.add("panel", undefined, undefined, {borderStyle:"black"});
win.g1 = win.p1.add('group');
win.g1.orientation = "row";
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win.title.alignment="fill";
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g.font = ScriptUI.newFont("Georgia","BOLDITALIC",22);
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win.g5.orientation = "row";
win.g5.alignment='fill';
win.g5.spacing=10;
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win.g5.st1.preferredSize=[150,20];
win.g5.et1 = win.g5.add('edittext',undefined,'0');
win.g5.et1.preferredSize=[50,20];
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win.g10.orientation = "row";
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win.g10.st1.preferredSize=[150,20];
win.g10.et1 = win.g10.add('edittext',undefined,'0');
win.g10.et1.preferredSize=[50,20];
win.g10.et1.onChanging = function() {
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win.g15 =win.p1.add('group');
win.g15.orientation = "row";
win.g15.alignment='fill';
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win.g10.dd1 = win.g15.add('dropdownlist');
for(var t =1;t<21;t++){
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win.g10.dd1.selection=0;
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win.g100.bu1.preferredSize=[110,25];
win.g100.bu2 = win.g100.add('button',undefined,'Cancel');
win.g100.bu2.preferredSize=[110,25];
win.g100.bu1.onClick=function(){
win.close(0);
var horz = Number(win.g10.et1.text);
var vert = Number(win.g5.et1.text);
var lineWidth = win.g10.dd1.selection.index + 1;
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win.center();
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