6 replies to this topic

[DOT Cartographer]

Please see the attached jpg. I export from Arc as AI file, open in AI, and lines are sufficiently fluid. When I apply a linestyle from my library, all segments and choppy curves are revealed. How can I avoid/hide this? Thank you!

(PS--this is on the heels of my exploration of the Join/Concantenate options, which I'll be forced to use if no better solution arises)

Attached Files

•  Linestyle.JPG   41.95K   32 downloads

[David Medeiros]

Arc exports lines as segments, you'll need to join each segment to remove the gaps and slivers. Applying the illustrator simplify command set to 99% change the straight line segment curves to smooth bezier curves.

If the lines are joined then look at your line settings to see what the miter limit is and if the elbows are smooth/round or hard corners. Playing with these setting might also help.

[Charles Syrett]

I don't use either Arc or Illy much, but from a quick glance I'd say Arc exports (perhaps by default) with round end lines. I'm sure if you took your Illy lines and gave them round ends, the two samples would look almost identical. Try the other things David suggests as well.

Charles Syrett
Map Graphics
http://www.mapgraphics.com

[DOT Cartographer]

This is exactly right! Rounding the Illy line made the difference. Thank you!

[gregory]

The reason you got lines in that way is correct. It just mean that gis data are broken into many branches.
There are at least two other ways you can avoid it and do your data to be more integrated:

1) GIS
use dissolve in gis using any proper tabular value your data have to use it (commonly road number, category, etc.)

2) Illustrator

Concatenate plugin - http://rj-graffix.co...re/plugins.html

Hope it helps,
G.

[David Medeiros]

This is exactly right! Rounding the Illy line made the difference. Thank you!

Keep in mind that this is just a band aid solution, it covers the segment gaps with the round line ends. The lines will still be broken into many little segments making editing and line smoothing very difficult. If you need to do any work with these lines, selecting by line type or name you'll be much happier if you find a way to join them first. Gregory mentions the concatenate plugin above. This plugin works pretty well, but if I remember correctly it's a bit slow and frustrating to use. If you have the ability to join by line name or type in Arc first do it that way, you'll be much happier.

[Charles Syrett]

Keep in mind that this is just a band aid solution, it covers the segment gaps with the round line ends.

Exactly. There are also good reasons to avoid using round end lines in drawing apps. If you're doing a street map, and if the T-junctions in your data are exact, then wide strokes with round ends will often result in what looks like a slight overshoot line. It's even worse if you're doing double lined roads -- complex interchanges become a nightmare. Having said that, it's still possible to create very good maps using round-end lines ( the Canadian CCCMaps come to mind), but it requires extra skill and patience.

Charles Syrett
Map Graphics
http://www.mapgraphics.com