How? Contour Gradient Work-Around/Controlling Blend Characteristics

Question

I'm trying to create a contour gradient work-around, somewhat successfully, but not yet happy with the results. Here's my method: create a closed path with the pen tool, (in this case, a four point path shaped something like a banana with the ends cut off,) and offset the path with a negative distance. Now I have two closed paths, one "stacked" on the other, the top path identical to the bottom path only smaller. I fill the resulting closed paths with my color choices, then blend the closed paths. Viola! A contour gradient fill! Sort of... The problem is that the gradient bands are not really concentric. In fact, if I release the resulting blended object to layers or use the "Flatten Transparency" command, I find the components no longer consist of four points. Somewhere in the process points have been added to each gradient band and each successive band is a slightly different shape. The resulting blend is not uniform in one corner of my banana! I'm able to get somewhat acceptable results, much closer to concentric, but I have to rotate the paths through trial and error so the longitudinal axis of the stacked paths is oriented vertically, then blend them. Then I have to rotate the object back to its original orientation to fit it back in its place among all the other elements of my illustration. Tedious and inexact without a crib sheet full of rotational degrees and XY coordinates. SO... my question- Is there some way to control the blend without all the rotating and frustration? Illustrator 13.0.2, Mac OS 10.5.3, G4 Powerbook, 2 gigs RAM

Answer 1

> However, the more "out of square" or "curvier" the objects are, the more points offset path adds. I don't pretend to know how any of this works, but I suppose the added points are necessary....
Depending on the shape, simple geometry issues may require additional anchorPoints to be created. But that is not what Jesse is alluding to. CS3's included "improvements" made ostensibly to provide a frequently-requested ability to convert dashed strokes to closed paths. In the process, the longstanding and far more important normal offset path functionality was wrecked.
It's a serious and destructive bug, plain and simple. It's a product defect that evidently will not be corrected as it should. Users will no doubt have to just hope it gets fixed in the next pay-for major version.
> FH does the same thing.
FH similarly adds points where the geometry requires. But FH does not commit the kind of feature-debilitating path damage that AI CS3 does.
JET