Very advanced user questions regarding the export of vector graphics, their dissection and hairline gaps between shapes

Hi. I am having a couple of workflow issues.

Firstly -

When I export my Sketchup model to a vector format (EPS or PDF) I notice there are tiny hairline gaps between the shapes that Sketchup generates. Also, strangely enough, the gaps get bigger or disappear depending on what zoom level you are at. It actively change when zooming in or out. My work around is to use the offset path feature to create overlap for the paths, but this effectively doubles the number of points and therefore the file size. Is anyone out there familiar with this or know of another workaround that doesn’t drive up file size? (Please reference “Figure A” in the attached image for a visual representation.)

Secondly -

When you extrude a circle and export the resulting eps file it exports shapes for the individual segments of the curved surface instead of one smooth shape. Does anyone know of a workaround or setting to resolve this issue? (Please reference “Figure B” in the attached image for a visual representation.)

Thank you!

Chris

All 2D output from SketchUp is segmented, as Sketchup doesn’t support advanced Spline or Nurbs geometry. That the segments sometimes become visible is a nuisance.

What software are you using to postprocess? Instead of offsetting, wouldn’t just assigning a line width using the face colour to the shape outlines help closing the gaps without increasing the object count too much (thinking Illustrator here)?

Anssi

You are correct I am using Illustrator for the post processing, but I am going to be outputting hundreds of images all in all about 1000 images. The line would definitely reduce the file size, but it would also dramatically increase the time because when you turn on a line width it doesn’t automatically grab the face color. Plus you have to do those individually as opposed to selecting the whole set of objects and selecting to offset those paths. I have searched for ways to add a stroke color equal to the face color automatically but it appears that I am the only one who’s ever wanted to do that. I may be using the offset path method and just use SVGCleaner to reduce the filesize to offset the increased file size. Thank you for your thoughts!