Illustrator imports... THE REAL BIG DEAL

General Moho topics.

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stephklein
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Post by stephklein »

I'm using Illustrator 9 (PC) and Moho imports the AI8 files instantaneously, so there's either a Mac issue or a CS issue. Maybe for some reason Adobe changed the way AI8 files are created by IllustratorCS. Have you tried saving as an even older version file (like Illustrator 7, or 6)?



(oh, and the discussion wasnt really started by your small remark... it started when someone assumed i was ill-informed... but we'll leave that be)
-Steph Klein
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box
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Post by box »

It IS a CS/moho Problem. I created some shapes with AI 10, saved as v8 and imported this into moho flawlessly. The same file, opened with CS and exported back to v8 took 2 min. to import into moho.

Please, can anybody post tests with CS Windows or CS2?
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slowtiger
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Post by slowtiger »

I can't speak of recent Illustrator versions since I'm still happily using FreeHand 5 ... which is able to export in Illustrator 5.5 format. Import in Moho works smooth and fast on my Mac, the only drawback I've experienced so far was that Moho quadrupled the number of control points, blowing up the filesize from 32 k to 128 k. (That's why I redid the whole character in Moho ...)

The .eps export/import from FreeHand didn't work at all, holes were closed, all color fills wrong. I'm not complaining, I just use the procedures which work.
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stephklein
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Post by stephklein »

Because Moho handles control points differently, it always adds tons of nodes when you import from Illustrator. however I've found that it's pretty easy to quickly go over the drawing and delete most of the points, and make only minor adjustments to end up with the same drawing in Moho.
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Visions of Domino
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Post by Visions of Domino »

My problem with AI files is not that they import wrong (so far they've been perfect), but that they import REALLY slow, and once imported, its REALLY slow to work with them, constantly freezing when selecting the AI layer. I have tried to save to different versions, and from different programs such AI CS2, MS Expression, Flash, with no luck. I could install Freehand 10 that I have laying around, but I'm not so optimistic anymore.

I understand the points issues MOHO has with AI, but is there any way to reduce the number of points? I have got a hold of a tool from 7feet (picked it up in a zip collection of his tools) that is called Point Reduction, but am unable to find out wat it does. I can't make it do anything. Is it dead or can it help reduce the amount of points on AI files and allow me to work with them?
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7feet
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Post by 7feet »

Is it dead or can it help reduce the amount of points on AI files and allow me to work with them?
Now there's the question. I'm not sure of the version in there, and I'd never been entirely satisfied with the way it worked, but I know I had one that was generally acceptable. It was pretty much the first script I wrote (actually an extension of something Myles had made) and should allow you to tweak out points. I just tried it, and it seems to work to some degree, but is it doing what I want? Probably not.

As this seems to be one of the thorniest issues in the Moho canon, I'd like to do what I could. Maybe you (VoD) can post that file - or a similar one - so I can mess around. I don't personally do a whole lot in illustrator programs, so an evil example of the problem would be helpful.

It's still a fine line to walk. The concept in the script was to get rid of points that are (somewhat) extraneous without killing the detail. I have a newer version or 2 sitting on my computer but their unacceptably buggy at the moment. And none of them are smart enough to do the job right.

It comes up so much, I really do want to look into it, even if it's not my personal cup o' tae.
myles
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Post by myles »

Visions of Domino wrote:I have tried to save to different versions, and from different programs such AI CS2, MS Expression, Flash, with no luck.
I can't speak for Flash or AI CS2, but iIf you use simple (non-variable-width) outlines ("PS Stroke" in Expression-speak) rather than skeletal strokes in Expression, you should get a reasonable number of points. The outlines are going to look a little flat and clinical, but you can tweak outline width once you've got your work into Moho. Skeletal strokes have to be converted to shapes during .ai export, creating way too many points. Note: use 7.0 .ai export.

If you hand-drew the points with a tablet or mouse rather than using the Bezier pen you may need to do some serious object path smoothing first in Expression to reduce the number of points - something in the order of 5.0.

Regards, Myles.
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted."
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Visions of Domino
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Post by Visions of Domino »

If you hand-drew the points with a tablet or mouse rather than using the Bezier pen you may need to do some serious object path smoothing first in Expression to reduce the number of points - something in the order of 5.0.
Yes, done with a tablet. I'll try smoothing, I didn't know about it.
Maybe you (VoD) can post that file - or a similar one - so I can mess around. I don't personally do a whole lot in illustrator programs, so an evil example of the problem would be helpful.
You'd like an AI CS2 file that doesn't work with MOHO?
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7feet
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Post by 7feet »

Well, maybe not that evil, but whatthehell, I'll look at it. But something that will, at least somewhat, import would be good too. I was thinking evil more in the "bringing the system to its knees" way, not so much "it just don't work".
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