Adobe Illustrator for Windows - Is there any way to fill the outline of a pattern brush?

Author

Is there any way to fill the outline of a pattern brush?

Fred_Goldman@adobeforums.com

2006-08-24, 7:03 pm

I would like to take the outline of this pattern brush that came with AI and fill it, so that you can only see the outline and the rest is filled with a solid color. Does anyone know if this can be done?

<http://mysite.verizon.net/zevt/Ornate.ai>

Just right-click and choose Save As...

Fred_Goldman@adobeforums.com

2006-08-24, 7:04 pm

Please don't tell me I have to trace it.

Teri Pettit

2006-08-24, 7:04 pm

Fred,

I'm not quite sure what you mean by the "outline" of that Gold Leaf brush, since it is composed of a whole bunch of filled paths and compound paths that don't even all touch at the edges.

<http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/adobe/frame_applied.gif>

Notice how some of the filled shapes do not meet the others:
<http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/adobe/frame_detail.gif>

Is what you mean to approximate a single filled-and-stroked shape, something like this?

<http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/adobe/frame_solid.gif>

If so, that can be done by dragging out the brush definition, adding some new paths to close up the gaps in the corner design, and then combining them with the Pathfinder palette. For the side tile, I just made a solid rectangle. Then just drag the side t
ile into the Brushes palette to define a new pattern brush, and alt-drag the corner tile onto the blank area where corner tiles go to add it to the design.

<http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/adobe/frame_outlines.gif>

Notice how I've made the ends of the design stick out a tiny bit past the bounding rectangle. This helps eliminate the anti-aliasing artifacts in a screen preview. The brush will print fine even when the anti-aliasing is there, but if you are going to out
put your designs for the web you will want to avoid it.

<http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/adobe/frame_edge.gif>

To get the stroke to go along the outside edges only and not along the interior edges where the tiles meet, I copied the paths in front, direct selected the straight edges from the front copy and deleted them, and made those paths stroked only.

You might also want to straighten out the tiny little curved places on the inside edge. They make sense with the full ornate design, but when simplified they just look funny.

Fred_Goldman@adobeforums.com

2006-08-24, 7:04 pm

Hi Teri,

Thank you for the explanation! I'm having trouble on the first part. I'm dragging the points to get them to touch another part of the illustration, but when unite them with the pathfinder it never works into one shape.

To be more specific I'm using the gold leaf blush (it really is very nice, it looks like a lot of work went into the corner piece) as a gold stamping on the cover of a book. I would like under the gold stamping for there to be the same shape with three po
ints larger all around. I also want this shape to be filled in black.

Here, I'll upload what I mean.

<http://mysite.verizon.net/zevt/Ornate2.ai>

I would like the black to have the same outside shape as the gold leaf brush.