Really Weird problem with Combine Paths
crazyengineer
Newcomer
No idea what I did to cause this.
But I used the "Path" tool to trace a map image on a lower layer (several actually) to make one big land mass. I used combine path to combine the different chunks until I had one path, connected to itself. I then did "Path to Poly", fine, then went to set the fill properties...and it set the fill of the path line itself, not the inside. That's weird.
Thinking I had a missing link or something, I tried to use a path to just make a poly of a chunk of the map. But this I think may be the cause of the problem. So, I went and selected a large, chunk, exploded it, deleted a line chunk at either end, then combined the remaining line chunks into a path with "Line to Path". If I then clicked on the path with, say delete, it highlights the whole path and says one entity selected.
But then, if I draw a new Path with the path tool, and try to combine that bath with the path that was part of my huge path but excised out using "Combine paths" - it creates 2 joining segments, one from the front and one from the end of my dummy path I just drew, but they connect to the front and end of the first line segment of the complex path. F/S don't fix the problem, just move around the incorrect lines.
Any advice on how to clean this up would be appreciated. Smaller little islands I traced and filled worked just fine, so it must have been something I screwed up when combining all my path segments before.
Comments
If your path or polygon line has a width greater than zero the fill will be applied to the line rather than the interior.
To get around this, and if you want to have a thick line around your land, either use an Outer Glow effect on the land to achieve the effect of an outline, or duplicate the land onto a new sheet called COASTLINE and set the properties of the shape on the coastline to have a line width greater than zero with a solid fill of an appropriate colour.
That wasn't it (I don't think). Turned the path to a poly, did a change properties on it, set the line width to 0 (which it said it already was), checked the checkbox next to it, hit ok. Did another change properties to set the fill, same outcome.
Check that the Path actually was closed properly. Use Info -> List on it, and make sure the entity type is a 2D Polygon and not a 2D Path.
Not that, it's a 2d poly, output of info included in image. Is it possible that the problem is just that the polygon is too big? It takes up most of the map which is 2400x1200
That polygon is set up with a hollow fill style (see the second line of the polygon description). Change it to Solid or any bitmap fill, and it should fill.
I was giving the before info. Setting the fill just fills the line:
Can you post the .fcw file so we can have a look at it.
Sure thing. This is before trying to change the fill (so you can actually see the outline). Hope it opens ok, was fiddling with making my own template so not sure how nice it will play with other computers. Thank you!
If you use the move node tool to try and move the 'outline' you will discover that the polygon is the line. It's obediently filling with any fill you give it. There's just nothing in the middle.
How did you create the landmass?
Something else pretty weird from my point of view. The map seems to have no template - no drawing tools and no fills. All I get is red Xs.
Here's a fixed version.
As Sue also noticed, the line for your polygon was double, so your actual polygon ended up being that o-width space between the "inner" and "outer" lines.
I split it open, then ran DELDUPS to get rid of duplicate nodes, then joined it again.
@Monsen Not related to the original question, but why do I get red Xs when I open the map? I've got all the products bar one. Is this map based entirely on all those third party assets I don't have?
I followed one of those how to make a template tutorials, created a new one, so don't know if it is supposed to include it.
So, what did I do wrong to turn the line itself into the polygon? All I was using was path and combine paths for most of it (then an explode and create path from line). Is it bad to use a selection box to select sections to turn into a path?
Also, can you tell me exactly what you did to fix it? Just so maybe I understand the tools better, and know what to do if I manage to screw it up in the future.
Thanks so much!
Also, when I open the fixed file, CC3+ crashes. Running version 3.94 Don't know if it's my bizarro template that's doing it.
Ah, I see.
If you created your own drawing tools that would explain why I haven't got any of them, since they don't come with the FCW.
If you moved any of the graphics assets as part of the process that would definitely cause the red Xs in my view of the map.
What seems to have been the problem was that there was a double set of lines defining the outline, and not a single one. So when it was turned into a polygon, those double lines caused it to be a very long windy polygon with basically 0 width forming the outer coastline.
I just used Break
to split it open, and then I used the DELDUPS command to delete duplicate nodes (List would then show the amount of nodes was halved), then I reformed it with Path to Poly again.
Try this file, hopefully that one won't crash.
Finally got a chance to play around with this, and I'm still not able to fix it myself.
I'm Running CC3+, and it says it doesn't know what CC2BREAK is. I tried using DELDUPS on the design both as a path and a poly and it didn't remove any nodes.
Could you try and walk me through exactly what you did like I'm an idiot. I really appreciate the help, I just really want to understand what all the commands are doing and how to use them. I love CC3 and I have big plans for it, but in cases like this I feel like I don't even have the basics down.
Sorry, the CC2BREAK thing was just the forum code not replacing the button properly. It should say Break
OK, so I tried that, and it seemed like it removed a bunch of the path, so wasn't sure how to use it to break it up the way you had.
Nevermind, figured it out using break. Weird how it only selected one line when using delete selects too. Thank you for your help.
I found trim and break took me some getting used to using it. I still make mistakes, particularly when I am tired, but they do come in handy on walls and roads.