illustration quiestion

[snypa]

i'm working on these technical illustrations right now and one of them is a wiring diagram. i know... boring, but at least there's a lot of work and the pay isn't bad. anyway, in this diagram i have to make a shape (with a stroke) that overlaps itself. does anyone know to control the way it overlaps. The best i can do right now is to draw a little square to cover the parts of the stroke i don't want. Thanks!

[PrintDriver]

Too vague a description. In Illustrator?
Gotta picture?

PrintDriver is a large format digital print dude. His advice/opinions may not apply to the 4color/offset/web world of printing

[snypa]

yeah ill 10. I have to do each color as a shape because they need to be stroked. if you follow the red or violet, the shape overlaps itself. I'm wondering if there is a way, maybe involving selecting individual points, to control how they overlap. When I fill the object it shows the stroke from both parts of the shape (picture 2).

[PrintDriver]

Ok...

when you create the object, fill it with no stroke.
Goto Pathfinder>Add to shape area (upper left)
Then hit the expand button in the Pathfinder palette. Once you do this you won't be able to move or shift your lines easily so be sure you got em where you want em.

Now stroke your object.

Gonna get complicated on those overlapping colors but you'll manage.
Let me know if this works.

PrintDriver is a large format digital print dude. His advice/opinions may not apply to the 4color/offset/web world of printing

[PrintDriver]

I think I misunderstood you but I'm not sure...

yeah, I misunderstood. sorry. Can't seem to get it either. Let me think on it.
(still trying to figure out how you did what you did actually)

PrintDriver is a large format digital print dude. His advice/opinions may not apply to the 4color/offset/web world of printing

Post Edited (PrintDriver) : 6/4/2004 12:27:43 AM GMT

[snypa]

that didn't work, but i think it's definitely a start. the stroke needs to define whether two of the same color wires are connected or if they just happen to cross each other. your suggestion will work for wires that are connected, but in the other case i need one section of the shape (with its stroke) to cross-over the other. thank you very much for trying to help me on this PD. i'm starting that i'll have to make separate shapes to make this work.

[PrintDriver]

Yeah, that's where I was.
Will get back to ya if I hit on something. I'm vaguely recalling a tutorial on how to create an overlapping 'neon' look which is basically the same idea. Will need to check a book at work tomorrow.

PrintDriver is a large format digital print dude. His advice/opinions may not apply to the 4color/offset/web world of printing

[snypa]

hey thanks, PrintDriver
even though you don't have an answer...yet, i'm impressed by your wealth of knowledge

[woodwardo]

I'm not sure if I completely understand but if I do, it's simple. It should be a matter of just cutting and pasting behind or in front. apple x / select object / apple b (or apple f for front). Or am I missing something???
--wooDy

[PrintDriver]

He has one object that goes in front of another yet behind a third. The overlaps are what is killing me. The neon thing was no good. Nor was one showing a basket weave I found. Well, the basket weave was made of multiple short line segments which is where we were last night.
Sorry man.

PrintDriver is a large format digital print dude. His advice/opinions may not apply to the 4color/offset/web world of printing

[woodwardo]

If tihs is what it is, it's easy. use the white arrow grab the points you want and cut and paste them in front or back. But then again, I may be missing something...

--wooDy

[PrintDriver]

You're right where we were the other night with the individual line segments. You have some weird artifacts in your corners too.

I still think line segments is how ya gotta do this.
Illustrator was not meant to do pcb design.
The correct program would be Vectorworks or Autocad. I still haven't figured Vectorworks out completely - only enough to be dangerous - and I will never be able to afford Autocad (nor would I want it. I'm not that into it).

PrintDriver is a large format digital print dude. His advice/opinions may not apply to the 4color/offset/web world of printing

[woodwardo]

Yeah I guess you're right. They do turn into seperate lines, but it's really not that much of a hassle if you don't expand the stroke. (plus then you don't get those funky corners). Then just add a stroke behind it and it'll look right. I guess there's probably a better tool for the job, like printdriver said... I like the challenge though.
--wooDy

[ylaenna]

I don't see how you can accurately reproduce the image in Illustrator. By "accurately" I mean have single objects overlapping in different ways.

The only way to do this in Illustrator that I can see is to give the illusion that they are single objects overlapping by (like Woody said) having several different segments for each "single" object. Some of the segments will have open ends so that when you add the black stroke, it won't mess up the illusion.

I'd draw each complete object by color first, then copy each object and paste in front or back as needed, delete sections of it as needed, and direct-select end segments as needed to give the illusion of a continuous line. I hope I'm making sense. http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/emoticons/icon_redface.gif

[snypa]

yeah, i know what you mean
i ended up doing something similar

...spending a dime, while earning a nickel