Optimize Width Markers Location

The Optimize Width Markers... menu item appears in Illustrator’s main Object > Path submenu:

Optimize Width Markers Menu Item

The menu item will only be available (ungrayed) if the selection contains one or more paths. Choosing the menu command brings up the Optimize Width Markers dialog:

Optimize Width Markers Dialog

1. Optimization Amount

Controls how many width markers will be removed from the focal strokes of the selected path(s). It can range from 0.1 to 10, with higher values removing more width markers but also resulting in potentially greater changes to the path’s width profile. 

Optimize Width Markers Example

Note that markers are only removed, not replaced by new markers at different positions along the path.

2. Ignore paths with fewer than __ markers

When enabled, paths with fewer than the specified number of width markers are ignored when doing optimization. This will speed up the operation when dealing with large numbers of paths, some of which may already be optimized.

3. Original/Current Marker Count

When the Preview checkbox is enabled, shows the total number of width markers on the original path(s) versus the number that resulted using the current optimization settings.

4. Preview Checkbox

When enabled, the selected paths are updated on the screen to show how they would appear if their markers were optimized using the current settings. The control can be toggled on and off to gauge how much the optimization has changed their width profiles.

If you use the Optimize Width Markers menu command frequently, you may want to assign it a keyboard shortcut using Illustrator’s general Keyboard Shortcuts dialog.