Combining rivers/paths in Black & white

Mavlun

Hi, so I'm trying to build a BW map that has a large number of rivers, and I've been trying to get them to look connected like in this old 16th century map.

http://prntscr.com/oboyei

Problem is if I choose hollow Fill Style, there are always some edges at the connecting points of the rivers that mess it up, such as here:

http://prntscr.com/obozd2

This obviously wouldn't be a problem if I were using the Solid FS, but I kind of wanted to get closer to the source material with hollow rivers.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Monsen

This can't be accomplished by using simple lines. You'll need to use proper polygon instead, and instead of using a hollow fill style on them, set them up with a greater than zero width, as this will give the hollow effect you want. Then, with polygons, you can use the Break command to take out parts of them where rivers meet.

Loopysue

Alternatively, you could draw the rivers in solid white and use a glow effect to darken the outer edges?

Mavlun

@Monsen

Hi and thanks for the assist.

I attempted your method, and the issue is that even when I Break the polygons, as well as Trim, there's still a leftover connection point. What I intend is to get that smooth transition from one segment into another.

Example: http://prntscr.com/obrq7b

Monsen

As long as they are polygons, you can just trim away those lines at the end where they meet though (will technically end up being a path, and not a polygon once you break them though, but a path should be fine when you don't want it filled). And make sure to utilize modifiers like endpoint to ensure the start of the next path is exactly at the endpoint of the one it meets up with.