andrew's vector plugin's volume 19 manual for illustrator

Plug-ins notes

file:///C|/...ndrew/Products/Documentation%20NOT%20FOR%20RELEASE/Illustrator%20plugins/Volume%2019/GX19_Documentation.htm[30/10/2008 19:33:24]

PointEffects (Andrew's Vector Plug-ins Volume 19)

Introduction

Plug-in set comes with four plugins to manipulate path points in 1000s of exciting ways. Take a path or multiple paths andapply.

Hope you enjoy the plugins as well as the extras

Andrew

Installation of plug-ins

Please place the

GX19_Bloater.aip

GX19_CornerPoint.aip

GX19_PieSlice.aip

GX19_Split.aip files

in the c:\program files\adobe\illustrator CS\plug-ins folder [pc Illustrator ® CS] or c:\program files\adobe\illustrator 10\plug-ins [pc illustrator 10] or CS2 or CS3 or CS4

For the mac, please place the

GX19_Bloater

GX19_CornerPoint

GX19_PieSlice

GX19_Split

files in HD:Applications:Adobe Illustrator CS:plug-ins [mac Illustrator ®CS] or HD:Applications:Adobe Illustrator 10:plug-ins[mac Illustrator 10] or CS2 or CS3 or CS4

Please note, for CS2 (MAC).. all the items in the mac folder 'Plugins for Illustrator CS2' must be included in the plugins path,otherwise the plugins will be ignored.

Possible installation paths

PC CS4 C:\program files\adobe\adobe illustrator CS4\plug-ins\graphicxtrasPC CS3 C:\program files\adobe\adobe illustrator CS3\plug-ins\graphicxtrasPC CS2/12 c:\program files\adobe\adobe illustrator CS2\plug-ins\graphicxtrasPC CS/11 c:\program files\adobe\illustrator CS\plug-ins\graphicxtrasPC 10 c:\program files\adobe\illustrator 10\plug-ins\graphicxtras

OS X CS4 HD:applications:adobe illustrator CS4:plug-ins:graphicxtras OS X CS3 HD:applications:adobe illustrator CS3:plug-ins:graphicxtras OS X CS2 HD:applications:adobe illustrator CS2:plug-ins:graphicxtras OS X CS HD:applications:adobe illustrator CS:plug-ins:graphicxtras OS X 10 HD:applications:adobe illustrator 10:plug-ins:graphicxtras

(if the 'graphicxtras' folder does not exist, simply create it in the plug-ins folder or use another folder name if you wish. Youcan also just place the file in the top level plug-ins folder if you wish but putting it in a sub folder makes it easier to find at alater date)

Alternate plug-in installation location

Because of recent improvements in security, you may wish to install the plug-in sets in an alternate location such as an useraccount and not the default plug-in folder. If you are using a basic level account and one without admin features, you mightnot be able to save the AIP plug-in files to the usual folder. Set up an alternate or secondary plug-in folder in your useraccount and then copy the files there.

Plug-ins notes


To specify an alternate plug-in for Illustrator ®

1) Go to the edit > preferences > plug-ins

2) Check the additional plug-ins folder option

3) Specify / browse for your required file in your user account (such as 'third party plug-ins' etc)

Initial use of plug-ins

Please access via the filters menu of Illustrator ® via the <AVP Paths> menu. (CS3 CS2 CS 10)

Please access the plug-ins via the object > filters menu (CS4)

The plugins all work on paths or a path, they will not work on images etc (as the plugins manipulate points only).

Important - visual rapid changes

*** NOTE: Please be very careful with some of the functionality if you suffer from light sensitive problems / issues as usingcertainly functionality and rapidly changing settings and random fill colors or path strokes, can create an intense set of colorchanges. This might be same for many different path combinations. This is mainly connected with the interactive dragbuttons. Basically, be careful of rapid changes of settings!

Applications support

MAC OSX 10.2 10.3 10.4 .5 98 ME NT XP Vista Adobe ®Illustrator ®10 CS (11) CS2 (12) CS3 CS4

Questions

Please contact me on [email protected].

Other plugins available on the site

http://www.graphicxtras.com Upgrades are generally available, either as free updates or inexpensive updates/upgrades.Please store the reference serial number or details of order

Please backup the plugins. Please copy them onto a CD or DVD as well as keeping the serial numbers safe. The updates ofthe plugin sets can be downloaded from the site

Copyright

The plugins are copyright of 1999-2008, Abneil Software Ltd (Andrew Buckle). This product was released by Abneil Softwareltd (UK based company)

Trademarks

Illustrator and Adobe and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. We have no connectionwhatsoever with Adobe. Adobe product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated.

Dialog additional features

All the dialogs have additional buttons.

'Tumble' button

Randomizes the settings, great for experimenting with 1000s of different settings and path creations

'Shuffle' button

Doesn't change the visual settings but randomizes any random elements set (such as random centers)

'Presets'

Basic presets dropdown, select an item to change a number of fields (the others are set to the default settings). Reset is thefirst item

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.graphicxtras.com/

Plug-ins notes


'Drag buttons'

Besides some of the fields there is a little box. Select this box and hold the shift down and drag across (or in the case ofvertical related items, up and down), to modify the settings. A great way to rapidly change a setting(but be careful if yousuffer from rapid changing lights / bright lights etc as the changing of paths can be rapid depending on the complexity andsystem)

'Dialog' buttons

Click on the top buttons to go to different dialog fields, the current dialog is in bold

Bloater plug-in

Plugin to distort a path or multiple paths.

Bloater - Bloat dialog

'Distortion type options': Type of path distortion to apply, manipulating the anchors etc in different ways

'Bloat distortion warp options': Type of warping to apply such as an angular warp or line warping. This can generate eithersubtle or extreme warping designs. Depends on the path and the center options, subtle changes to either can result in manydifferent distortions. If the path is outside of the 'distortion zone', there will be minimal distortion, if any

'Radius': Radius of the distortion effect

Plug-ins notes


'Factor': Factor applied / strength of distortion

'Jitter': Random jitter applied to the points / distortion

Plug-ins notes


Bloater - Center dialog

'Distortion center options': Center of distortion, use supplied or document center or edge or the bottom of the path orperhaps a random selected center based within the document space.

'Center': Use supplied center (requires dropdown to be set to user defined center)

Plug-ins notes


'Interpolate / original': Interpolate between original shape (points) and new shape (points), as well as direction points. Thefirst field is for the main points of the path, the second for the direction points. Set to 0 for maximum effect, set to 100 forthe least change

Plug-ins notes


Bloater - Repeats dialog

A catch-all dialog more than just repeats of the distortion effect. The dialog also allows for interesting sketch effects. If theweight setting is zero, the sketch feature is ignored. If set to greater than 0 and the path has a stroke (the plugin doesn'tgenerate one), a path is generated based on the original shape of the selected path. If the weight sketch is set to 0, then thepath will be no different from the original. Setting the weight sketch to greater than zero, the points will be jittered from theoriginal position. The generated path can also be colored either to black / random colors / randomly black or color / randomopacity applied etc. To create a more extreme sketch effect, re-apply the plugin a few times using the ctrl-E option. If thecolor option is set to a random selection of color / black or random opacity or reducing opacity etc, repeat applies of theplugin will create interesting sketch designs. Use this perhaps with text or perhaps a live trace (expanded and stroked) pathand repeat with a small weight settlings (some experimentation will be required)

'Repeat applies': Number of applies of the bloat effect

'Repeats scaling': Reduction or increase in apply

Plug-ins notes


'Width / overlay': If set to 0 and there is no path stroke, all the other sketch features can be ignored. If the path has astroke (converted text, please add a path stroke to the text before using the plugin; likewise, a live trace, add a stroke suchas line / stroke width 1pts to the expanded trace). Once set, the plugin will generate an extra path based on the originalshape of the selected path pre-bloat. This is layered on top of the bloated path. Use the features below to add a sketchy feelto the path

'Width sketch': If set to 0, the generated path will match the original path shape exactly. If set to 10pt then all the path'spoints will be jittered between 0 and 10pt from the original position, creating a sketchy effect.

Plug-ins notes


'Sketch color options': By default, the overlay sketch path is black but you can change this to use the original path strokecolor, a random selection of black or color, alternate selection of black and current, random opacity, reducing opacity appliedto sketch path, and many more options. Some of these will have no real effect on a basic application of the plugin, but onclicking OK, without changing the selection of paths, re-apply using ctrl-E option to create multiple sketch paths and thesewill vary in color and opacity creating complex sketchy designs, rough drawn images and more.

Repeat applies using ctrl-E

Bloater - Settings dialog

'Fixed direction points': Do not move the direction points

Plug-ins notes


'Direction points follow center': Direction points based on the supplied center

'Warp [R]': Paths are additional warped by a random envelope

'Settings [R]': The settings for the distortion are randomized

Plug-ins notes


'Points [R]': Points are bloated or modified or not, randomly

'Reverse': The direction of the point bloat is reversed

'Symbolize': This only takes the pre-warp pre-sketch symbol and adds it to the symbol palette. Useful if you wish to buildup a large selection of 'bloat' paths.

CornerPoint plug-in

Plugin to manipulate points of the selected path

CornerPoint - Points dialog

'Out direction': The point's out direction point direction is modified by this percentage

Plug-ins notes


'In direction': The in point's direction point is modified by this percentage (if the path is a rectangle etc, you will see nomodification as the in and out are 0, really only works with well rounded path)

'Shift anchor': The anchor points are shifted by the supplied amount. Not much use if all points are modified but you can setthe points apply pattern to something like 1-1 and alternate paths will be shifted, leaving the others behind in the originalposition

CornerPoint - Apply dialog

'Apply pattern': By default, all points are modified. By changing the apply pattern, some points can be skipped, others canbe modified. 1-1 will modify alternate points

Plug-ins notes


'Interpolate': Interpolate between original and calculated. The first is the point, the second, the direction / anchors.

'Rotate': Rotates the entire path. Great for creating patterns and designs from the modified paths

'Link options': In and Out etc are linked in different ways, sounds full, but can be used to create some really odd andinteresting patterns

Plug-ins notes


CornerPoint - Settings dialog

'Maths [R]': The calculations are randomized

'Points [R]': The points are modified or not, randomly. Great for creating some truly weird path effects

Plug-ins notes


'Settings [R]': The settings are randomized

'Warp [R]': The path is warped by a random envelope and envelope settings

'Anchor center': The anchor points are placed at the center of the path

Plug-ins notes


'Even-odd': How the path overlaps are modified

PieSlice plug-in

Plugin to split a path into pie slices or fragments, great for zoom designs, abstract designs, and more

PieSlice - Slices dialog

'Slices set': The plugin can be used to create a single set of slices from a path, but the plugin can also be used to create sixsets of sliced paths from the selected path. Most of the settings depend on the current slice set (up to 12 slice groups)

Plug-ins notes


'Slice type options': Type of slicing to apply, by default, a basic slice to the middle of the path but the slicing can also beapplied just horizontally or vertically and randomly

'Approach': The approach percentage to the center of the path for the 'final point' of the slice

Plug-ins notes


PieSlice - Size dialog

'Slice rotate': The slice is rotated by this angle (in degrees). useful for creating different path patterns from the same path.

'Scale': The slice path is scaled, can result in some very unusual paths

Plug-ins notes


'Shift': The slices are shifted

'Shift options': Type of shift applied

'Repeats': Number of repeats of the slice groupings (works best with randomization)

Plug-ins notes


PieSlice - Center dialog

'Slice center options': The center can be a user defined center or the center of the path or document, etc

'Center': User defined center (depends on the user defined option being set). Useful for creating zoom effects

Plug-ins notes


'Center variant options': An additional variation in the center position such as accumulated on a slice by slice basis

'Center variant': Variant value, depends on the option setting above.

PieSlice - Points dialog

'Dividepoint': The first part of the slice (the plugin works based on the point to point around a path and creates the slicebased on two points and then filling in the third and final point based on the approach and center value). The divide pointworks out the midpoint for the line to the center.

Plug-ins notes


'Threshold gap': Some paths have 100s of points and sometimes the distance between the points is very small. Use thethreshold setting to remove very small slices from the slice generation

'Random create': Set at 100%, all paths are created, set at 50%, paths are created 50-50

'Point flow': The plugin works by creating a slice based on adjacent points (by default, 1). Set the slice point flow to 2 andthe adjacent point will be skipped and the adjacent point to that will be used in the slice

Plug-ins notes


'Point to point options': A variety of slice applies to create many different path designs

Pie Slice - Settings dialog

'Delete original [after OK]': The plugin by default deletes the original path but you might wish to keep the path as abackground or design element. During the preview (if ON), the path is still displayed. It is only deleted after you click the OK(the plugin needs to work on the active path during the preview as well as finally processing the path after the OK)

'Fill [R]': Fills the slices with a random color

'Swatches [R]': Fills the slices with a swatch color randomly selected from the swatches palette. This supersedes the fillsetting. If you want to fill the slices with blues, fill the swatches palette with blues.

'Opacity [R]': Slices are filled with different opacities

Warp [R]': The paths are warped by random envelopes and random settings

Plug-ins notes


Split plug-in

Path split plugin / sketch effect plugin. The plugin really requires the path to have a stroke width before use.

Split - Split dialog

'Shift': Shifts the split points by a certain distance, vertical or horizontal. The first row relates to the 'first' point in the split,the second row to the 'second' point in the the split (or end). By default, the shift is randomized / jittered but this behaviorcan be removed via the settings dialog

Plug-ins notes


'Direction': The direction points are shifted, this creates distorted split paths. The direction points are randomized by default,modify this behavior via the settings panel

'Radial': Radial displacement applied

Plug-ins notes


Split - Apply dialog

'Splits generated': Number of path stroke splits to apply. By default, the path is split once but repeated splits can create afar sketchier effect

'Apply pattern': The path points are used in the split or not, to create gaps in the path split

Plug-ins notes


'Width': An additional random amount added to the path width

'Random create': The split points are created or not. If set to 100%, the path is created (depending on skip / createpattern via apply). If 50% then the split has a 50 50 chance of being created.

Plug-ins notes


'Points dropdown': By default the plugin splits the paths into a path based on each point and the subsequent point. Thedropdown varies this to create the path based on the first point and the third point.

Split - Size dialog

'Resize': The path split paths are scaled

Plug-ins notes


'Rotate': The split paths are rotated.

'Alignment': The split path has additional rotation added to align to various 'centers' such as the original path center ordocument view center, use to create a variety of sketch / split path design patterns.

Split - Factors dialog

''Shift factor': Shift applied varied from split to split. The factor is applied equally to the current first point / second pointshift for horizontal and vertical point movement. If the shift is set to 0, the shift factor is ignored

Plug-ins notes


'Width factor': Width factor applied to modify the width setting from split to split. More useful if multiple splits set

'Radial factor': The radial factor applied split by split

Plug-ins notes


'Resize factor': The resize is modified per split by this factor

'Rotate factor': The rotate value is modified per split by this factor. If the rotate is 10 for the first splitting of the paths andthe factor is 50%, then the second set of split paths will be set at 5 degrees, and so on. Ignore if the rotate is 0.

Plug-ins notes


'Rotate / element': Ignored if the rotate is set to 0. If set to 50%, each element is rotated 50% of the original rotatesetting. This is not based on the split setting but the individual segments or elements of the split paths.

Split - Settings dialog

'Opacity [R]': The opacity of the split path fragments are randomized

'Blend [R]': The split path's blend modes are randomized

'No fill for split': Forces the split paths to have no fill

'Stroke [R]': The fragments are set to different stroke color

'Resize[R]': The fragments are randomly scaled creating big and small pieces of the broken split path

'Rotate[R]': The fragments are randomly rotated between 0 and current angle setting. If the current angle set is 45 then thesplit paths are rotated between 0 and 45 i.e. 23 degrees, 30 degrees etc

'Radial [R]': Random radial displacement, to create a variety of radial path distances (also useful for desert sun effects)

Plug-ins notes


'Delete [after OK]': Delete the original path (by default, ON). The path is visible during the preview but will deleted on OK.The path can be kept (if set to OFF) as a background or as a useful design element

'Place split above': Place the split paths above the previously created paths

'Close split paths': Close the split paths

'Warp [R]': Warp the split paths using random envelopes and random envelope settings

'Shift [R]': Sets the shift to a jitter / randomized. On by default. If not set, the lines are evenly spaced based on the shiftsetting.

'Direction [R]': Sets the direction points to randomized distance, create random bends and sketchiness. If not set, the bendsin the split paths will be the same.

Plug-ins notes


'Link shift': Links all the shift settings to the first column / first row (and any associated randomization)

andrew's vector plugin's volume 19 manual for illustrator

Documents

plugins pc illustrator

plugins mac illustrator

level plugins folder

plugins notesfile

graphicxtras folder

pluginsmac illustrator

filters menu of illustrator

mac folder plugins