Extra line

Weirdness… We’re keeping an eye on the N here…

Design in Illustrator:

What the app sees:
image

What gets printed:

Where the heck is that line coming from?!?!

Thanks!

Tom

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Probably a stray node. Does it print it that way every time? Have you tried rasterizing the file?

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Printed it twice. Same result.
I suppose I could rasterize it, but help me understand why that would be a good thing? I mean, the whole point of an svg is to be able to scale it. :slight_smile:
Is there a way I can try and find this “stray node?” I mean, if I just Ctrl+A, nothing gets highlighted at that spot. But, I’m SO not a an Illustrator expert.

I am not an AI expert, but there are many here that are. Share the file and I know someone will solve the riddle.

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Because it would avoid exactly this problem. With a bitmap, what you see is what you get. Vectors are subject to a dozen known issues (e.g. stroke thickness, unclosed paths, overlapping objects, winding order, clip masks, etc.) and countless surprise rendering bugs.

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Thanks for the advice so far. And, sure. I hope somebody can find this thing. It’s so odd to me!
Design1.ai (1.3 MB)

I took a look at this file in Outline Mode. There are numerous overlapping lines, open shapes, etc. Looking at the N, there are 2 parallel lines on each N. There are some strange things going on with the A as well.

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Excellent detective work!

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Thanks. I was aware of what you’re describing, but I still don’t see anything that would cause the line in the N to be engraved.

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So just for fun I removed this…
image
…and that appears to have resolved the issue. But I still don’t understand what that shape had to do with the other shape at all. I mean, the shape I deleted and the shape that printed aren’t really similar at all. Not the same size or shape. So I guess I’m happy for the result, but I still don’t understand how that process solved it.

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What might have happened is that shape had perfectly-aligned vertical lines which effectively removes the overlapping areas.

Not sure how you came up with the original (I know you used AI) but that file is a hot mess of redundant and overlapping objects.

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LOL. I don’t know either, actually. I commissioned somebody to create the design for me. And, in my opinion, she definitely did a fantastic job with the design itself. Guess her AI skills might not be the best around though. :slight_smile:

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I would probably have converted the filled shapes to raster/bitmap at a high resolution, then traced the outline again to produce a clean vector image.

Using an outline view shows you what the GF will see. I use it most of the time as strokes and fills are irrelevant.

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Oh… Interesting. So rasterize it at some high resolution, then trace it again giving me scalability again. I like that idea.

THANKS!

Glad to help.

I rarely use other people’s designs but I’ve run into situations like this, and it cleans them up nicely.

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I’m an artist, but of the musical variety. My visual artistic skills are below that of your average toddler. :slight_smile: So, I’d sooner pay somebody with that talent and try to explain what’s in my brain. :slight_smile:

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This method is reduces image fidelity, especially in areas of fine detail, and is generally avoided in the professional graphics community. (When you convert back and forth you always lose something)

There are lots of ways to clean up files while staying in vector. Usually involving Pathfinder, Shapebuilder and Live Paint tools.

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