many files coming in from designers have duplicate cutlines

[gabagoo]

I am not sure if it is illustrator that causes this, but I am receiving far too many files for vinyl cutting that have a double cut line somewhere in the graphic. Either in the conversion or possibly the designer putting a keyline around an existing shape with no thickness.

Drives me crazy, especially if I have left the room and come back to see the vinyl sheared right through.

Ii wish the software (signlab / flexi) had some form of warning before cutting.

 

[J Hill Designs]

I know there is a script for illustrator to check for / remove duplicate paths

 

[Asuma01]

If a line is doubled up in Signlab it should be pretty obvious. It disappears when you convert it to a path before to send it to cut. Unless of course its tripled up. So fun!

 

[Fred Weiss]

I know there is a script for illustrator to check for / remove duplicate paths

Invisible, duplicate paths are often the results of the way certain Pathfinder functions are handled in Illustrator. Adobe Illustrator is designed for print and Adobe could care less that these extra paths cause problems in vinyl cutting. There's lots of discussions about this at the Adobe Exchange forums.

Use the attached WR-removeDuplicates.js in Illustrator to remove duplicate paths. To add ... unzip and copy into Presets/Scripts folder. It then will appear in the File Menu/Scripts/WR-removeDuplicates. To use ... select vectors and click on the script. It then removes the hidden vectors and reports what it did. While not perfect it is pretty good at handling this need.

Use Select CS to add the ability to select numerous object types to Illustrator's Select Menu. This is a highly useful plugin. For example, you can use it to select unfilled paths which describes the duplicate paths you're having a problem with. Read Me file is also attached.

 

[MikePro]

thanks Fred! this will be quite helpful.
I've just gotten so used to delete/undo every path prior to cutting (to double-check), as I've wasted so much material in the past when I cut-thru the backing on the second path.

 

[gabagoo]

If a line is doubled up in Signlab it should be pretty obvious. It disappears when you convert it to a path before to send it to cut. Unless of course its tripled up. So fun!

I don't generally convert cutting to paths before cutting, but will try if it helps

 

[oksigns]

I make sure I only deal with the native or eps files, and only let my software look for the paths. If it is not a designated spot color path for cutting, it wont be treated as a cut line.

Sometimes the conversion process for PDF creates unnecessary masks or lines so that is something to consider.

 

[scott pagan]

i know our plotter software sees strokes as duplicate objects (example: an illustrator created circle with a fill color and a stroke color = double cuts, the fill cuts in one direction, the stroke repeats in the opposite direction), so we always check that cut files have no stroke color selected.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

Pain in the A$$ remove duplicate lines option works best for us. It will happen from flexi to illustrator. That's why I always stress please simplify your artwork as much as possible. Sometimes It looks simple and then you look at wireframe and there are things that don't even show in the design.

 

[Bobby H]

I often encounter the duplicate paths thing importing Illustrator-based artwork in CorelDRAW or Flexi.

Usually I can eliminate at least some of the duplicates by removing or flattening/expanding any "live" outline strokes to the artwork in Illustrator and also releasing any compound paths into separate, single path objects. Unfortunately it works to only so far a degree.

BTW, I usually run into the duplicate paths problem when dealing with customer provided artwork. Often it is artwork that existed in PDF form in some way or another at some point. I almost never deal with the duplicate paths problem if I'm the one creating the artwork in Adobe Illustrator. But then I always design my artwork with vinyl cutters in mind rather than the Messy Marvin nonsense I almost always see from print-only graphics people. The only way those guys can learn is if they have to produce anything on a vinyl cutter. It's only then that they get with the program and make artwork vinyl cutter ready.

 

[visual800]

Every file I get is wireframed in flexi. I have never understood designers just layering something 25 times

 

[oksigns]

I know this is late, but I've been designing some decals, refining a custom contour cut over the outer-most letters/numbers, and when I was combining paths in Illustrator CC, it was duplicating the segment of paths I was dividing and I instantly thought of this thread.

Yes, we will use many layers to keep things organized, but ultimately it's good to clean up after yourself- though this is a different beast as I have not seen this behavior consistently in the Design Suite ~5.5

It happens when you have two or more shapes with their own strokes. When you divide them out with the pathfinder tool to edit/create an uninterrupted path for a contour cut, duplicate paths are preserved for each basic shape that was used to form the one. If you used two ovals to create a contour shape, clean up with patherfinder>divide, you will have two paths and need to delete the unneeded set.