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148
Adobe Illustrator Help
Transforming and Distorting Shapes
Using Help
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Contents
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Index
Back
148
After you combine paths using the Pathfinder effects, you can select individual paths and
move them, or change the appearance attributes. You can also change the stacking order
of the paths in the Layers palette to alter the shape and color of the resulting art. Once
applied, Pathfinder effects can be included as part of a style.
To combine paths with a Pathfinder effect:
1
Select a group, or target a layer or sublayer in the Layers palette.
2
Choose Effect > Pathfinder and choose a Pathfinder effect. (See
“Using effects to
combine shapes nondestructively” on page 147
.)
To quickly apply the same Pathfinder effect again:
Choose Effect > Apply
<effect>
.
The command is applied with the most recently used settings.
Creating a final shape quickly
If you know what shape you want to create, and you don’t need the live, editable
attributes of a compound shape or Pathfinder effect, use the filters in the Pathfinder
palette. The Pathfinder filters produce final objects directly. Using Pathfinder filters is the
same as creating a Pathfinder effect or (when using Add, Subtract, Intersect, or Exclude) a
compound shape, and then expanding it—it’s just a faster way of getting the same result.
To create a final shape using Pathfinder filters:
Select the objects you want to combine, and then in the Pathfinder palette, do one of the
following:
•
Click a Pathfinder button.
•
Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and click a Shape Modes button.
Note:
For a description of each button, see the respective name and description in
“Using
effects to combine shapes nondestructively” on page 147
.
Converting strokes to filled objects
The Outline Stroke command traces the outline of all stroked paths within the selected
artwork and substitutes a filled object with the same width as the original stroked path.
This commands lets you modify the outline of an object more than you could if it were
only a stroke.
The Outline Stroke command is useful when you prepare artwork for trapping color
separations.You can apply it as a filter or as an effect. For more information on effects,
see
“Using effects” on page 235
.
To create stroke-shaped objects from strokes:
1
Do one of the following:
•
To apply the command as a Path command, select the artwork to process. The artwork
can contain filled and stroked paths; however, only stroked paths become stroke-
shaped objects. Then choose Object > Path > Outline Stroke.
