Compound paths

Make Compound Path is an Astute Graphics live effect with one simple function: to turn multiple paths into a single compound path. It has no parameters.

As with most live effects, Make Compound Path appears in the main menu, under Effect > AG Utilities. It can also be applied directly from the Appearance panel using the “Add New Effect” button at the bottom of the panel.

The Make Compound Path effect is mainly useful when followed by a native PathFinder effect such as “Intersect”. For example, if a group of four circles has an “Intersect” effect applied, normally nothing happens. But if it is preceded by Make Compound Path, then the Boolean operation works as expected:

AG Utilities Live Effects - Make Compound Path

Release Compound Path is an Astute Graphics live effect with one simple function: to break compound paths into their individual subpaths. It has no parameters.

As with most live effects, Release Compound Path appears in the main menu, under Effect > AG Utilities. It can also be applied directly from the Appearance panel using the “Add New Effect” button at the bottom of the panel.

The Release Compound Path effect is useful mainly in cases where subsequent live effects act differently when applied to a compound path than from a group of normal paths. For example, applying an Astute Graphics Dashify live effect to a path (which breaks it into a compound path of many subpaths representing the dashes) and subsequently applying a native “Roughen” effect produces dashes that all have the same roughened profile. But if Release Compound Path is added after the Dashify, then each dash receives a different random roughened profile:

AG Utilities Live Effects - Release Compound Path Example