As you begin to work with artwork inside of Illustrator, especially artwork that was created by other people, you may run into some problems that you need to remedy with paths that were created. Now, when I first started working with Illustrator, I ran into this problem a lot and really didn't now how to fix it. Well, as a matter of fact, I actually created this problem a lot, and so in this movie I'm going to show you how to take to separate paths, and join them together. Or average them together to create one single path. Basically, what I'm talking about, if we focus in on this area here.
Let's just zoom in with the zoom tool a little bit. See how this area here, is way far apart. And that's because I have two separate paths here basically I drew one half of the leaf and then drew the other half of the leaf and didn't really take the time to connect them, and what happened was something got sort of messed up along the way and, there winds up being a big gap here. So what I want to do is I want to take this and turn these two shapes into a shape that look something similar to this. By the way, I'm panning around in here by using the spacebar key on my keyboard and then just clicking and dragging around.
And, so what I'm going to do is zoom in right here. You have two options when you're joining paths together. You have the Join command and the Average command. The problem is you have to figure out which one to use in a given situation. Let me give you a little rule of thumb. If the two paths that you're trying to join, are relatively close together, and in the same general area that you want them to be in. You can use join command. If however, the paths are something like this, where at the end, they're sort of far apart, and not really at the end where you want them to be. Let me zoom out here, so we can get there a little bit faster.
Like this. Then that means you're probably going to have to use the average command, but when all else fails use a little trial and error. Let's zoom back over here, and let's try this out. Okay, so first thing we're going to do is zoom in all these two points, and I'm going to grab the direct selection tool and I'm just going to move this guy over to see if I can get it close. Once I get those two close together, I can then drag a marquee selection with the Direct selection tool around the end points.
When I have those end points selected, I can go up to the object menu go down to path, and select join. When I do that, it joins together and you can see the seam is pretty much gone. But when I zoom out and pan over, look what happened to the end. The end sort of gets cut off. That's not what I want at all. So I'm going to undo that. And instead of using the join command over there on that other end, let's try the average command on this end. I'll make a marquee selection around these two points just like we had before and then we'll go up to the object menu again, choose path and select average.
Inside of the average dialogue box just go ahead and select both for your axes. This is usually the best guess for how to join two things together. Hit OK and those should snap together. You may see a slight seem in the middle which can be fixed just by using the path finder and merging these together. But if I zoom out you can see now that I have pretty much fixed the problem that I set out to fix. I have joined these two paths together. They are now one path. If I grab the selection tool. I can select them, and they can move as one pretty simply.
If I wanted to, I could also go to the end of these paths and now join these two points that I didn't join before. So let's do that. I'll switch to the Direct Selection tool by pressing the letter A, select these two points. Go to Object>Path>Join. And now when I do that the seam actually disappears. And if I grab my selection tool, you can see that now everything operates as one. I don't need even have to drag a selection around. It's just fixed the problem altogether. The next time you have some artwork that you need to connect two halves within the piece of artwork, try using the join and average commands, and see if it doesn't help you get where you're going just a little bit faster.
Author
Updated
10/13/2014Released
6/17/2013First, author Justin Seeley explains the basic elements that make up vector graphics—paths, strokes, and fills—and shows how to use each of the program's powerful drawing tools. Then he shows how to create documents and liven up a project with color, plus build complex shapes from simple paths and trace bitmap images and line art. The course also explores the benefits of using layers and symbols, and shows how to edit text, draw in perspective, and much more. The final chapter explains how to output your work in several formats and use Illustrator files in Photoshop and InDesign.
- Understanding vector graphics
- Creating documents for different contexts
- Organizing artwork with rulers, guides, and grids
- Making detailed selections
- Resizing, rotating, and transforming objects
- Creating swatches and color libraries
- Working with fills and strokes
- Using the Shape Builder and Image Trace features
- Drawing and editing paths
- Understanding the difference between point and area type
- Adjusting the appearance of artwork with live effects
- Printing, saving, and exporting artwork
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
Views
Q: This course was updated on 6/18/2014. What changed?
A: We revised chapters covering paths, working with type, and the Pen tool. These updates reflect changes to the Pen and Pencil tool behavior in the June 2014 update to Illustrator CC. These tools now offer greater fidelity and previews. We also added one new video, "Packaging your artwork for commercial print," which covers the enhanced packaging workflow.
Q: This course was updated on 10/13/2014. What changed?
A: We added tutorials to cover the most exciting changes to Illustrator CC 2014: the Join and Curvature tools and the all-new Design Libraries. These new movies are marked with the "(CC 2014.1)" tag.
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Adobe Illustrator
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What is Illustrator?1m 14s
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Introduction
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Welcome59s
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1. Getting Started
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Setting preferences8m 12s
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Touring the interface6m 37s
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Exploring the panels3m 18s
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2. Working with Documents
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Creating files for print3m 24s
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Creating files for the web3m 29s
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Navigating within a document5m 21s
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Using preview modes3m 10s
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Locking and hiding artwork3m 43s
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Creating and using artboards7m 44s
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3. Selecting and Transforming Objects
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Using the Magic Wand tool5m 45s
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Using the Lasso tool4m 9s
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Grouping objects3m 7s
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Using isolation mode4m 48s
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Resizing your artwork3m 55s
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Rotating objects2m 10s
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4. Working with Color
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RGB vs. CMYK1m 46s
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Creating spot colors3m 40s
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Using the swatch groups2m 33s
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Working with color libraries3m 17s
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Importing swatches4m 4s
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Using the Color Guide panel3m 51s
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5. Working with Fills and Strokes
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Working with fills4m 58s
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Working with strokes8m 46s
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Using width profiles3m 31s
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Outlining strokes2m 5s
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6. Working with Paths
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Understanding paths2m 34s
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Understanding anchor points3m 43s
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Open and closed paths4m 21s
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Joining and averaging paths3m 57s
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7. Creating Shapes
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Understanding drawing modes4m 23s
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Creating compound paths5m 15s
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Creating compound shapes4m 11s
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8. Don't Be Afraid of the Pen Tool
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Exploring the Pen tool2m 53s
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Drawing straight lines4m 33s
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Drawing simple curves3m 26s
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9. Using Type in Illustrator
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Adjusting your type settings6m 22s
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Creating point and area text2m 54s
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Basic text editing2m 30s
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Creating threaded text3m 44s
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Creating text on a path4m 22s
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Converting text into paths2m 20s
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Using Typekit desktop fonts2m 54s
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10. Adjusting Appearance
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Applying multiple fills3m 1s
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Applying multiple strokes4m 20s
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11. Working with Layers
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Exploring the Layers panel4m 18s
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Creating and editing layers3m 27s
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Using the Layers panel menu2m 42s
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12. Working with Images
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Working with the Links panel3m 37s
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Cropping images with a mask2m 56s
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Tracing photographs7m 29s
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Tracing line art3m 48s
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Converting pixels to paths2m 39s
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13. Creating and Using Symbols
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What are symbols?2m 45s
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Using prebuilt symbols3m 3s
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Using the Symbol Sprayer4m 19s
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Creating new symbols3m 50s
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Breaking the symbol link3m 19s
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Redefining symbols2m 5s
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14. Drawing in Perspective
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Defining a perspective grid4m 29s
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Applying artwork to the grid3m 51s
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15. Printing, Saving, and Exporting
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Printing your artwork3m 58s
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Saving your artwork1m 31s
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Saving templates4m 19s
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Creating PDF files5m 23s
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Saving for the web4m 46s
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Conclusion
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Goodbye1m 12s
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Video: Joining and averaging paths