Expert: Amy - 9/8/2006

Question
Hi Amy, PC CS2.  I am trying to add "weed lines" to some lettering I am cutting in vinyl on a plotter.  The cutting program accepts AI v3 files.  Basically a cutting head will cut an outline of the vector shape (art, letter, etc.)in a sheet of vinyl stuck to a backing sheet, then I go over the vinyl and weed out all pieces which aren't part of the design.  To make the process easier you put weed lines in to help break up the field of discard vinyl.  The tactic that works best is to have a line cut up to and touch a letter outline but not go through it, then resume the line on the other side of the letter and continue on until the next letter or shape.  

What I've been doing is convert the letters to outline, save as an ai3 format, open the file in a cutting program and have it automatically add weed lines.  Unfortunately they are not always placed in the most convenient places.

I've tried adding my own lines in illustrator but it is time intensive and imprecise to try to manually place all of these lines between letters.  My thought is to use the pathfinder pallet and add the two shapes, (in this case an outline of the letter on top of a line running through the middle) but when I add, subtract, or divide, I cannot get the line to break apart at the intersection.  Either nothing happens or the line just disappears.  I have found that if I Object>Expand the line it will work but essentially turns the line into really narrow rectangle and the cutter head will try to trace the really small rectangle and distort the outline of the letter.

So, that was probably more info than you wanted to know, but in a nutshell I need to add single element lines that horizontally bisects a string of text or shapes but does not actually cross through (or behind) the inside of the letter outlines.  My challenge is that apparently I can not create a compound shape with a line unless I expand it first which then no longer makes it a line but rather a shape. Thanx for your help,


Answer
Okay, I think I've got it down.

Create text
select all
create outlines
Draw your weed lines right through the letters.
Select all weed lines and send to back
Select all

Using Pathfinder, choose TRIM.

Although they have changed the Pathfinder buttons/menus since version 9, you should be able to find the equivalent to TRIM.  The key is that the lines have to be behind the text object.

Good luck!
Amy Pace