ToolShed has a new function to fade the fill and/or stroke of a path object. Its appearance would be similar to an object whose opacity has been changed except that the opacity remains unchanged. Only the colors are lightened.
If the object had previously been faded, you can check “Invert fade” to darken the colors , equivalent to undoing a previous fade long after Undo no longer appeared in the Edit menu. Fade is added to the FREE functions of the plugin, and will continue to work even if the plugin is never activated.
This function can be called by selecting Fade… from the Object menu.
You can download it here. Each trial period includes 1,000 free uses of all features which you can use at your leisure, with no time constraints.
If you create technical illustrations, you probably use CADtools. I use it, and wouldn’t consider doing the work that I do without it. There are times, however, when I wish I had tools that are a little less technical and let me work more visually. Then again, I still need precision, especially when it comes to getting the pieces of a technical drawing correctly oriented to each other. I have drawings, of course, that show these spatial relationships in top and side views, but how does one translate that to Illustrator artwork?
I established a couple of rules for my plan. OK, guidelines, but firm guidelines. I really don’t want to measure things and type numbers into dialogs. Even worse, I don’t want to then have to do math on those measurements to account for foreshortening and other factors. Over time, a method of achieving this slowly took shape.
It all hit critical mass when I met Ron Kempke. Actually, he found me, asking if I could write a plugin that simplified entering into Illustrator the equations he’d worked out over decades of doing technical drawings. His samples were definitely cool, but it was a real stretch for me to grasp the meaning of Sigma, Psi, Beta, Gamma, and an assortment of Greek characters he used to define these concepts. After a few conversations and exchanges of annotated diagrams, it looked pretty hopeful for translating those equations into C++ code, then wrapping a user interface around it to let illustrators like lazy me use the math without having to think about it. And not just for isometric, but for any off-axis view one may want.
Enter AxoTools.
The gist of the idea is that illustrators identify common reference points in each view of their drawings that refer to the same point in 3D space as well as a point in the axonometric view that’s comprised of those drawings. As a result, we can make some otherwise cumbersome things happen quite easily.
Artwork projected to a corresponding plane can be created in place so that the adjoining surfaces automatically meet where they should.
Artwork can be created wherever it’s convenient, then moved or modified by dragging a tool a corresponding distance and direction on an ortho view.
When one reference point is moved, all other reference points are automatically moved accordingly so relationships between them last.
A few other tools are included to round out the package:
Axo Rotate tool allows you to rotate an object within the axonometric plane it’s in. The tool displays a protractor for that plane, and allows you to press Shift to constrain the rotation to increments of 15 degrees.
Axo Scale tool can scale an object along the X, Y, or Z axis.
Axo Draw tool draws lines constrained to the current axes, automatically concatenating them as you go.
The Axo Tool that defines and moves reference points also moves selected art or individual anchor points constrained to the nearest axis.
Questions? Concerns?
I have too many panels hogging my screen space, so I don’t want to add still more. No problem, you can collapse the panel to just the projection options and do your projections with menu commands.
Navigating menus is too slow, and I want to work quickly. No problem, part of the purpose of having menu counterparts is to enable keyboard shortcuts. This makes the process very quick!
Scrolling around a large artboard between the various views is cumbersome with or without AxoTools. No problem, AxoTools adds menus for quickly going to any of your defined views, and using keyboard shortcuts, that’s now very fast.
Can I define my axonometric view in CADtools and use AxoTools to project and position my art? Yes, AxoTools can import the axonometric settings from CADtools 11.01 or later. AxoTools was designed to complement CADtools by providing a more fluid way to work, alongside the precision of CADtools.
Can AxoTools export my projected art to a 3D file format? Sorry, no, AxoTools is not real 3D for Adobe Illustrator, but its tools for projecting and moving art make it a lot easier for technical illustrators who need to think 3D in a 2D environment.
AxoTools is now available on the plugin download page, available for Illustrator CS6 and CC for Mac and Windows. I hope you find it as indispensable in your workflow as I find it in mine!
The Tangent Arc Tool in the ToolShed plugin has just been updated with a simple, but important improvement. Now when you begin drawing an arc, it can begin at any angle you want. Just click, and a guide line will be drawn from the clicked point to the current cursor location (press Shift to constrain to an increment of 45°). Once you press your mouse or stylus and begin to drag, the arc’s start angle will be locked in and your cursor location will determine the arc’s endpoint.
ToolShed 16.2.2 also adds stability improvements and is recommended for all users.
If you haven’t tried ToolShed, you can download it here and enjoy 1,000 free uses spread out over as much time as you need.
Stabilized Pencil tool adds a “leash” to a pencil to smooth its motion, similar to Photoshop’s smoothed brushes. Keep sharp corners where you want them and smooth the broad strokes. Pulling the pen point begins with a slight buffer, and a ring around the pen point indicates that there’s “slack” in the leash, so your stroke won’t start with a jerk. The new path is simplified according to settings you choose. If the new path is drawn at the endpoint of another, it’s then automatically concatenated into one continuous path.
Customize its behavior by double-clicking the Stabilized Pen tool icon to access its Preferences. There, specify a leader length (or 0 for none) and path smoothing settings to match Adobe’s Object > Path > Simplify option. You can also choose whether to display the onscreen help text and annotations. Press the Alt/Option key when releasing the mouse button to skip the path simplification — the “high res” path can then be simplified later.
The ToolShed plugin has three tools and seven functions. I hope you find it useful. There’s a pretty good chance I’ll be bringing more tools to the shed in the not-too-distant future, which will make it an even better value.
Adobe’s Pen tool is great for smooth free-flowing lines, but sometimes the curves we draw need to be real circular arcs. One could, of course, create an ellipse, constrained to equal width and height proportions, then trim and place it into position. And if the paths need to be tangent, well, it just takes a little patience and careful prodding.
Now there’s an easier way. The new Tangent Arc tool in the ToolShed plugin creates circular arcs of any radius, from a minimal curvature to nearly a complete circle, with lines that are constrained tangent to another path, or to the end of another path. Arcs are automatically concatenated to each other, so there’s no need to go back and join them later. A guide line shows the trajectory of an arc’s endpoint to guide your positioning for a smooth transition to the next arc, or for a tangent straight line you make by pressing the Alt/Option key. If you press Shift, the angle of the straight line or arc is constrained to increments of 15 degrees.
The ToolShed plugin is priced at only $15 for a collection of 10 tools, and with more tools coming soon it’ll become an even better value.
This tool has made parts of my work easier, faster, and more fun. I hope it does the same for you. Download the plugin and try it before you buy it.
Have you ever needed to offset an open path in Adobe Illustrator and after running Illustrator’s Object > Path > Offset Path… function, needed to clean up a lot of extra paths? It happens to me, too, several times a day, sometimes several times per hour. Or at least it used to!
The ToolShed plugin now includes a menu item Object > Offset Open Path… that lets you offset an open path with another open path, just as it did through about version 6, and on nearly all other illustration or CAD software. Create additional offset paths by increasing the “Number of offsets” and see the result of your settings with the help of a live preview before you commit to the changes. Fine tune your values by pressing the arrow up or down keys along with shift, Alt/Option, and Ctl/Cmd modifiers for larger or finer steps. You can even customize the values of those steps to save in your preferences, working in points, mm, inches, whatever your preferred measurement among Illustrator’s options.
There’s even an option to choose “Offset mirroring” to add offset paths to both sides of a path.
For even quicker results, try the Path Offset tool to drag an equidistant path and use the up and down arrows to add intermediate steps or Alt/Option to mirror offsets to both sides of a path. If the modifier keys are too cumbersome to remember, optional context-sensitive help text following the cursor can remind you of your options.
It also works on closed paths, so it can serve as your all-purpose path offset tool. Of course, this is in addition to the six other functions already bundled in ToolShed at the same insanely low price!
It’s only $15 for an individual license for all tools in the ToolShed plugin, or free for Productivity Pack licenses.
All Graffix plugins for Adobe Illustrator are now compatible with Adobe Illustrator CC 2019. Updating the icons and cursors for ultra high-res screens is a project in progress, but for now the plugins are compatible and the UI scaling works. If you have any trouble loading or using the plugins in CC 2019, please let me know and I’ll do everything I can to get you running ASAP.
You’ll probably find this most useful if you sometimes need to clean up CAD or GIS files, or tidy up artwork done by “other” people.
Click:
On an endpoint or intermediate anchor point to delete it
On a path segment to add an anchor point
Shift click:
On an endpoint or intermediate anchor point to make it a corner point and collapse its handles
On a control point to make its anchor a corner point (no change in the location of the control points)
On a path segment to make the adjoining anchor points corner points and collapse the control handles for that segment
Option/Alt click:
On an endpoint to extend its control handle
On an intermediate anchor point to make it a smooth point and rotate the control handles to become tangent
On a control point to rotate it to become tangent to the adjacent segment’s control handle
On a path segment to make its anchor points smooth, extend the control handles, and rotate the handles to become tangent to adjacent beziers
Shift-Option/Alt click:
On an endpoint does nothing
On an intermediate anchor point toggles it between a corner and smooth point
On a control point toggles its anchor point between a corner and smooth point
Don’t want to memorize modifier keys? No problem, just select the option to display help text showing your options for whatever you’re doing!
So, essentially, clicking adds/deletes points, shift clicks make things angular, Option/Alt clicks make things smooth, and shift-option toggles them.
When the tool’s cursor is over a selected path, its control handles will be highlighted even if Illustrator currently doesn’t display them, and anchor points will be marked with a square for corner points or a circle for smooth points.
Dragging a control handle adjusts it, constrained to its original angle.
Dragging a selected anchor point will move it, constrained to the path’s tangent angle, even if it’s under other art objects.
Shift-drag a control point or anchor point to constrain its movement to each increment of 45 degrees.
Drag a segment to find another path to assimilate and a smoothed segment will be added connecting the two paths.
Available now for Adobe Illustrator CS6 through CC 2018, Mac or Windows. From $10, or FREE for Productivity Pack licenses.
Stabilized Pencil tool adds a “leash” to a pencil to smooth its motion, similar to Photoshop’s smoothed brushes. Keep sharp corners where you want them and smooth the broad strokes. Pulling the pen point begins with a slight buffer, and a ring around the pen point indicates that there’s “slack” in the leash, so your stroke won’t start with a jerk. The new path is simplified according to settings you choose. If the new path is drawn at the endpoint of another, it’s then automatically concatenated into one continuous path.
Now there’s an easier way. The new Tangent Arc tool in the 
For even quicker results, try the Path Offset tool to drag an equidistant path and use the up and down arrows to add intermediate steps or Alt/Option to mirror offsets to both sides of a path. If the modifier keys are too cumbersome to remember, optional context-sensitive help text following the cursor can remind you of your options.
