Simplifying Complex Artwork


Even though today's computers and current RIPs are significantly faster than their ancestors, there are still some benefits to eliminating complexity where possible. Paths with too many points are rough-looking. And extraneous points can result in incorrect boundaries for artwork, since the bounding box of an Illustrator file is determined by the outermost points in the file. Fortunately, Illustrator offers some tools for polishing your drawing. Choose Object > Path > Clean Up to delete those little stray points that you create with inadvertent pen clicks, as well as objects with no fill and stroke, and those pesky empty text paths that spring up when you swear you didn't really click anywhere with the Type tool (Figure 10.8).

Figure 10.8. Illustrator's Clean Up dialog provides controls for eliminating common junk for a much cleaner drawing.


Given their names, it's easy to confuse Clean Up with another function, Simplify. Clean Up deletes unnecessary objects in the drawing. By contrast, Simplify (Object > Path > Simplify) modifies objects by reducing the number of points in those objects (Figure 10.9).

Figure 10.9. Simplify, indeed. Note the striking reduction in number of points from 2579 to 359!


When using Simplify, select the Preview check box so you can immediately see the effect of your settings before you commit to the change. In general, keeping the Curve Precision value around 9095 percent will achieve a satisfactory smoothing without significantly degrading detail (Figure 10.10).

Figure 10.10. Using Object > Path > Simplify reduces the total number of paths in the document. Used judiciously, it can smooth a drawing without adversely affecting it. Reducing the number of points from 2579 (left) to 359 (right) does alter some subtle segments in the process, but it does not substantially degrade the overall look of the drawing.


However, it's possible to overdo things with the Simplify function. Dipping much below 95 percent for the Curve Precision value will quickly erode detail in the drawing by deleting too many points (Figure 10.11).

Figure 10.11. Going too far: The result of using a Curve Precision value of 70 percent.





Real World(c) Print Production
Real World Print Production
ISBN: 0321410181
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 132
Authors: Claudia McCue

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