unclosed paths

**prawny** · 05 March 2006, 05:37 PM

when creating vector images for clients and exporting to illustrator.eps i am constantly being told that i have left unclosed paths in my image. However this is really confusing for me as i always create a solid shape and fill it. Also as far as i know you can't fill an unclosed path in xarax. i cannot fix the problem because i cannot see an unclosed path in xara and i don't have illustrator.

Is it possible to be able to see where the unclosed paths are and consequently fix them?

thanks for any help

**Egg Bramhill** · 06 March 2006, 01:18 AM

Hi Prawny

Could you post the xar file that's causing the problem?

Egg

**prawny** · 06 March 2006, 09:29 AM

I am told there is an unclosed path around the nose of this illustration. I can't see a problem. Thanks

**Egg Bramhill** · 06 March 2006, 01:38 PM

Hi again Prawny,

I've looked at your file and can't find any unclosed paths. What/Who is informing you of this error?

I also exported it as an .ai.eps and imported it into Flash 8 and it imported fine. See attachment. I don't have Illustrator.

One other possible path could be to export as pdf and see if this opens in your clients software.

Egg

**SCync** · 06 March 2006, 03:48 PM

There's definitely something funky going on with the object that makes up the nostril. When I import it into AI, both as .ai and .eps, or the vinyl cutting software, FlexiSIGN, the nostril comes in as a stray point.

**Albacore** · 06 March 2006, 05:12 PM

Using RGB Colour your file opened in AI easily without any hassel at all. Don't know what your clients are saying. May be they are using a version of AI below ver. 8. Saved your picture for the web using AI.

**prawny** · 06 March 2006, 07:35 PM

thanks for all the comments and for trying to help.
I appreciate your efforts

I sell my work on some of the stock sites, but have been getting images rejected for having open paths. It's very frustrating when i can't find any open paths because i can't fix them.

**SCync** · 07 March 2006, 03:18 PM

I've attached a couple of screen caps. The first highlights the stray point (open path) as seen in AI(CS) - Select All. It is created from the nostril object shown in the second sc (Xara).

**Egg Bramhill** · 08 March 2006, 02:58 AM

That's interesting. Somehow Prawney you appear to have created an object with only one node, and this is why AI's reporting an error.
I couldn't create a single node shape by drawing a line and trying to join the ends. They won't join. However I managed to create one using my tablet and the Freehand Smoothing set to 100.

SCync seems to have found your problem. Avoid single node shapes if exporting to AI.

Egg

**SCync** · 08 March 2006, 04:35 AM

I'm not quite understanding how to make the single node object, but still I get a lot of this stuff, as I cut vinyl signage. Would be interested to hear how to spot this, pronto. i.e. without having to go through FlexSIGN analytics, or the such.

Egg, I'd also be interested in how you duplicated this with your tablet, which I can't seem to to do.