[Vincent Rosati]

Create your object with the Rectangle or Ellipse tool.
Then with it selected, Effect/Distort../Zig-Zag.
Adjust the settings as necessary and hit OK.

If you need to edit the shape further, to get it ‘just right’, you can Object/Expand Appearance.

Now you have the shape that you can fill with whatever or use as a mask.

Vince

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[Vincent Rosati]

Save the AI file as version 8.
There are a number of Illustrator import preferences you should familiarize yourself with in C4D also.

Vince

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[Vincent Rosati]

I’m sure that if you saved the file as a raster image you would see the drop shadow.
That would work, but I’m kinda’ being a smarty pants.

If your subject is white and you just can’t see it in the preview, maybe you could add a layer in the file with a dark background.

I don’t think that Adobe ever liked the idea that Apple added PDF support to Preview, so perhaps there are just going to be some limitations.

Vince

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[Vincent Rosati]

Just curious if you’ve made any progress with this?

I had a thought that.. in Illustrator it takes an extra level of care to make sure that you are working on exact pixel-rows. Maybe some of the color seams are in sub-pixel positions, and when the document is rasterized you’re not getting pure colors at the seams.
You could check the objects in the Info palette.

You could check the seams of the rasterized image in Photoshop using the eyedrop tool.
Or, just create the file in Photoshop using the Marquis Tool and the Paint Bucket. Using the Rectangle tool would present the same sub-pixel issues as you would have in Illustrator. …it this even has anything to do with the issue 🙂

Vince

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[Vincent Rosati]

Converting to Vector in IA will result in stylized images, they won’t be photographic.
But you would open the raster image in IA, and with the image selected click Live Trace on the main menu. There are presets or you could go into custom settings to make adjustments that better suit your needs.

I’d look into Genuine Fractals, it’s a Photoshop plugin.

Vince

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[Vincent Rosati]

Maybe try turning off PDF compatibility in Edit/Preferences.
You might have to restart for this to take effect, unsure.

Maybe set a low resolution in Effect/Document Raster Effects Settings, in the documents that you are using.

Vince

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[Vincent Rosati]

It does sound like something is wrong with the install. Perhaps reinstalling might help, but I’d do some searches to see if there are easier solutions.
I’ve had to this myself in the past. Can’t remember the fix right now, but it was a similar problem. Something about deleting the ‘AdobeFnt.lst’ file, and maybe another file.??

Yes, Suitcase is a paid app. I’m not sure about the extra cost you mentioned. Maybe it’s the auto-activation plugin?? That’s not compatible with my system, so I don’t know about that.
Maybe try Font Nexus, it’s free.

If you do resolve your initial issue, maybe you could complete this thread with the steps that you used.

Vince

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[Vincent Rosati]

Usually depends on how much time you are willing to put into it.

You already tried to Simplify. Did you try 98% or 99%?
Sometimes making the object larger before performing the Simplify will help.

Sometimes I’ll put an odd colored rectangle on top of a complex path, select all, Pathfinder/Divide, use the Direct Selection tool to select and delete the outer stuff, then Select/Same/Fill Color and Copy Paste to isolate stuff.

If you are trying to make a square, maybe try doing one side at a time using Pathfinder/Minus Back, by putting a rectangle behind the pattern, once for each of the four sides.

Maybe try separating the operation into half of the pattern, or a quarter, then recombining the parts.

You could try working the edges with the Knife Tool, but that will be time consuming.

There is always a way, but sometimes it’s just not worth the time to ‘perfect’ a vector if it’s going to be used for print, maybe if it was for die cutting.

Vince

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[Vincent Rosati]

I’m in CS2 on PC. My Character palette displays in the system default font. However from the main menu, Type/Font/… displays the font preview.
You might also want to look into Suitcase or some other font management tool.

Just some thoughts.

Vince

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[Vincent Rosati]

Ann’s point is important, we’d need to know how you intend to display the work to best answer your question.

I’m in PP1.5 so there might be some differences, and I’m on a PC. But anyway, to make a project that has a non-standard frame size, you would need to create a new project, go into Custom Settings, and in the Editing Mode select your desktop editing mode: mine is ‘Video for Windows’, I’m unsure what it would be for Mac.??
Then you can set your video frame size to whatever you want.

Then you could import the original project into the new one.

Vince

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