This way, you can always make adjustments later.Įxpand Appearance: If you apply a Pathfinder operation to objects with strokes or effects, you might want to go to Object > Expand Appearance to convert them into editable shapes. Grouping Shapes: Before applying any Pathfinder operation, consider grouping your shapes (Ctrl/Cmd + G) to preserve the original objects. Unfortunately our Shape Join tech is not currently in public hands.Tips for Using the Pathfinder Tool in Adobe Illustrator Out of interest, we could get our AG Tech Shape Joining to work out of the box, but that's only because with have some pretty sophisticated pre- and post-processing functions in there which was overcoming the limitations by reducing point count using SSR. The default is 20 which is chosen for it's typically optimum compromise between point count and profile change. If there is an absolute requirement to get this to work, you'd first need to use VectorFirstAid with a higher SSR value. I forget the exact number at present, but that's not something you can - nor should attempt to - overcome.

Because of this, Pathfinder and other methods will simply never work with Illustrator. Can't add an anchor point.īasically, the total of 33k points in a single path is above Ai's internal path handling limits.

Selected a single end point on each open pathĬan't join the points.

Deleted the facing verticals to open both main paths (16,870 points on each even after SSR) using the Direct Select Tool.

So I investigated further using these steps: It's still not enough to let native Pathfinder work. I used an SSR value of 10 which keeps the detail and only results in minor changes which will be completely unnoticeable for this use.

Using our VectorFirstAid plug-in and it's Super Smart Remove (SSR) point function, I managed to get each compound path down from 33,239 points to a healthier but still substantial 20,361. I did some test runs using native Ai CC (2017.) tools as well as Astute Graphics' plug-ins and the AG Tech which we previewed last November. Not only are you running into limitations within Ai but you're also likely to get problems further down the line, including with RIPs. In reality I would strongly suggest not having such large elements (in this case each being 33,239 points across 1,003 paths combined into a single compound element). Simplify the complex graphics first, then subtract from the simpler graphics, then unite everything - which worked. They became too complex to unite and even simplifying those paths by a small percentage would remove too many points from the simpler areas of the resulting path (all essentially right angles), rounding them off. The issue stemmed from a 'you know better, dummy' moment on my part: I was initially subtracting some very complex graphics from some very simple graphics, then trying to unite the resulting graphics. Good tidbit of info to keep in mind when working with complex paths. Anyone experience this before and find a solution?Ĭombining the the two paths did exceed the threshold for the unite tool. My only guess is the complexity is beyond the tool's capability to merge. The shapes are fairly complex - They've got a lot of anchor points (no, I can't simplify or remove points). I'm pretty experience in Illustrator, but this one's got me. I've got a curious little issue where the Illustrator pathfinder tool won't unite two closed paths.

Adobe pathfinder tool