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Notes panels added to ToolShed (beta)

For a couple of years now I’ve had a set of Notes panels in progress for ToolShed, but hadn’t released it because of ongoing display issues with the Windows versions. Since Adobe is rolling out beta features, I figured I might as well do so also, since the Document Notes panel in particular has been really useful for me.

There are three panels you call from Illustrator’s Windows menu, in the Notes menu group. First and probably most useful is the Document Notes panel.

document notes panel

This resizable panel displays text that is attached to the document. I use it to paste instructions sent in an email, which can be visible regardless of where I scroll in the document. It’s especially helpful for a list of callouts that need to be cut or copied out and pasted into the document. The text frame supports text styles and colors, and I can’t change that, so I added a button to remove all formatting from the text to make it easier to read.

In Illustrator’s Attributes panel, you can add notes to any selected artwork. The Artwork Notes panel gathers a list of all art that has notes attached, and displays them in a list.

artwork notes panel

You have two options. You can Alt/Option-click on the item to select it, or double-click it to edit the note in a dialog (you can also edit it in the Attributes panel).

artwork note dialog

Next is a Layer Notes panel where you can assign notes to layers. Alt/Option-click on the item to select the layer, or double-click a row to bring up a dialog to edit the note.

layer notes panel

I hope you find these additional features helpful. If you have suggestions on how to improve it, please let me know. Many of my plugin features came from user requests.

Rick

Remove Duplicate Paths added to ToolShed

ToolShed has added a new feature in a free update: Remove Duplicate Paths. Here’s how it works. In this exercise we have a blue rectangle, an orange open path with four segments directly on the rectangle’s sides, and a yellow path over two of the segments. You can select paths to evaluate for duplicate paths, but since this test document has only these three paths, you can choose Object > Path > Remove Duplicate Paths with nothing selected to parse all paths in the document.

remove duplicate paths 1

A dialog will inform you that it removed six duplicate segments, or four from the orange path and two from the yellow path.

remove duplicate paths 2

The blue path was found to have duplicate segments, so it has been selected.

remove duplicate paths 3

Note that the path on the bottom is preserved, and identical segments above it are removed.

Here is an example of a more complex file, which is probably more typical of where you would use this feature. A CAD drawing of a historic railroad caboose was imported into Adobe Illustrator, and we’ll check for duplicate paths. Because there are so many paths in this file, you will be given a progress dialog.

remove dupe paths, caboose drawing 1

When it finishes, you will be shown how many duplicates were found.

remove duplicate paths, caboose drawing 2

Finally, you will see the selected paths where the duplicate paths were found.

remove duplicate paths, caboose drawing 3

In this case, we can see that the paths with duplicate segments were areas with a filled, non-stroked path, so the presence of duplicate segments is OK. We can simply Undo the operation and be assured that we have a clean drawing to work with.

As with other ToolShed functions, it can be recorded as part of an Action and assigned a keyboard shortcut to streamline your workflow. I recommend using the free Select Menu plugin to lock or hide paths that you don’t want parsed for possible deletion.

Download ToolShed now, or simply click the Update button when your current ToolShed plugin prompts you for the update. Remove Duplicate Paths added to ToolShed plugin for Adobe Illustrator 2022-2025 only.

Rick

Improved Offset Open Path in ToolShed

ToolShed v. 25.1.1 now  has an improved Offset Open Path tool and menu function. Here’s what makes it great:

Offset Open Path comparison

When you use Adobe Illustrator’s built-in Offset Path function (Object > Path > Offset Path…) on an open path, it offsets the path in both directions, then connects the end points. If the path happens to cross over itself, it treats it as a shape. ToolShed’s original Offset Open Path (Object > Path > Offset Open Path…) called Adobe’s function, then trimmed away the excess segments. The new version offsets a path that’s more true to the original. An open path now offsets as another open path, even if the path crosses over itself.

Offset Open Path tool

Offset Open Path works as both a menu item with dialog and as a tool. Click on a path to drag an offset copy. As you drag, press Alt or Option to offset paths on both sides of your path. Press Shift to flip the offset path from one side or the other. Press the Up Arrow key to add additional offset paths between the original path and the new one you’re dragging out of it. Before releasing the mouse, press Control (Windows) or Command (Mac) to delete the original path and leave only the copy/copies.

offset open paths dialogWhen used on a compound path, it creates offset copies of every path in the compound. The new offset paths are also combined into a new compound path.

Click on a path to bring up the Offset Open Path dialog. It does not matter whether the path is selected.

Here you can enter the distance of the offset, as well as the number of times to offset the path. You can enter the offset distance in terms of mm, cm, points, pixels, or inches, regardless of your current ruler units. You can even express it as a simple equation, such as 25.4mm/4 or 1-1/2″.

Check “Preview” to see a preview of the offset paths.

Press Up/Down Arrow keys to increase/decrease the value.

Click OK to apply the offset paths, or press the Esc key or click Cancel to cancel the operation.

Both the tool and dialog work on all selected paths.

Offset Open Path freeAnd there’s one more key feature: It continues to work for FREE when the trial ends! The dialog is simplified to just an offset value and the tool is disabled, but it works as an open-path counterpart to Adobe’s version. Long-time users may recall that Adobe Illustrator’s Offset Path function offset open paths until about 1996, when it changed to the closed-path behavior we see now. It took nearly thirty years, but I’m pretty happy to be able to give back what Adobe took away from us!

I hope you find it useful.

Rick

ToolShed adds Isolation menu items

isolation menuThe newest (free) update to ToolShed plugin for Adobe Illustrator adds menu items for isolation, which enables you to isolate items such as text objects that otherwise cannot be isolated, and you can even enter isolation mode with nothing selected to begin work in a new blank isolated space. In addition, you can now assign keyboard shortcuts to navigate isolation mode, and even record these steps in Actions.
Object > Isolate
  • Begin Isolation: With nothing selected, Illustrator will enter isolation mode at the top level of the current layer, ready for you to paste or create new art. With an object selected, Illustrator will enter isolation mode as usual, except that if the object type cannot be isolated by Adobe Illustrator, it will be placed into a temporary folder and that folder will be isolated. Note: Only one item at a time can be isolated, so if you select multiple objects to isolate, only one of them will be chosen to isolate.
  • Isolate Parent Object: If the item you have isolated is part of a group, this will isolate the group that contains the currently isolated art.
  • End Isolation: This works exactly the same as the native Illustrator counterpart, but is included here to allow you to assign a keyboard shortcut or include it in an Action.

When recording Actions, use Insert Menu Item to include these functions.

These new menu items are FREE, no activation required.
Rick

Reverse Stacking Order added to ToolShed (free)

Changing the stacking order of objects has been addressed in ToolShed’s free menu items to arrange them by location or size, but many people simply wanted to reverse the order in which objects were layered. They also wanted to preserve the objects’ original locations across different layers and with other art objects between them. ToolShed’s new Reverse Stacking Order menu item provides that in this new free function.

Object > Arrange > Stacking Order> Reverse Stacking Order

reverse stacking order reverse stacking order 2

ToolShed contains a few tools that require activation to continue to work after the trial period, but like most of the functions in ToolShed, this menu item is entirely FREE. You can download it now for Mac and Windows, CC 2019 through 2023.

Rick

Stacking Order added to ToolShed

Have you ever needed to change the stacking (drawing) order of objects and used menu commands like Object > Arrange > Bring Forward or dragged them up or down in the Layers panel? Every once in a while, the order you need corresponds to the objects’ position on the page. With the latest version of ToolShed (16.3.7), there’s a new feature in the menu Object > Stacking Order… that addresses that.

Your alignment choices are, obviously, listed in the dialog shown above. The default stacking is bottom-to-top, but the checkbox in the dialog changes that to top-to-bottom. As you work, it helps to keep in mind Illustrator’s coordinate system, which is by default that positive values grow to the right or down. This may be confusing when stacking by the bottom edge, which is again measured from the ruler’s origin, not from below.

I hope you’ll find this simple addition useful.

ToolShed adds Fade function for path object coloring

Fade Fill and Stroke dialog

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.

Tangent Arc Tool update

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.

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