Concatenate CS3
version 13

(c) 1997-2007 Rick Johnson/Graffix

http://rj-graffix.com

Concatenate is a plug-in filter for Adobe Illustrator that connects two or more paths into one continuous path. It's especially useful for cleaning up CAD drawings and EPS files that have been converted to Adobe Illustrator or, for example, filling state/country borders in Mountain High Maps or SDTS maps from the USGS.

Concatenate CS3 is a free compatibility update to Concatenate 10.5 and 12 (CS2) for Adobe Illustrator CS3, and runs on either a PowerPC or Intel Macintosh under Mac OS X. To install it, just drop it into Adobe Illustrator's "Plug-ins" folder.

Windows users: Concatenate versions 10 and 10.5 will work with Illustrator CS3 on a Windows PC, you just won't see the About box.

The filter adds three items to the Paths submenu in the Filter menu: Concatenate, Assimilate, and Connect.

To use the Concatenate filter, select two or more paths that you'd like to concatenate. Then select "Paths -> Concatenate..." from the "Filters" menu. You'll have three options. First is the maximum distance two endpoints can be from each other to be joined. Enter a distance in the edit box or use the default value. Second is the maximum angle the paths can be from each other to be joined. A setting of 180 degrees will include paths at any angle, while a setting of 0 degrees will allow only paths that are within half a degree of parallel to be concatenated. Third, you select whether you want to join the endpoints into one common point (similar to Illustrator's "Average" command followed by the "Join" command). There are radio buttons for three different ways to handle this. If you select the first one, "Add connecting segment," a straight line will be drawn connecting the endpoints (similar to Illustrator's "Join" command), even if the two points are in the same location. If you choose the second option, "Average points," the endpoints will be averaged together, but the control handles will not be affected. This will usually be the most useful option. If you choose the third option, "Average points and handles," the points will be averaged as with the previous option, and the control handles will be averaged as well. Paths in the front will be joined with paths below them, regardless of path styles, grouping or layers. If the concatenated path has its endpoints within the given tolerance, it will make it a closed path.

Assimilate is similar to Concatenate, except that you need only select one open path, and the plugin will search all visible, unlocked layers for visible, unlocked open paths within the distance and angle specified, and then concatenate them.

Connect is faster than the other two operations, but is more limited. It simply adds path segments between all selected open paths in the order in which the objects are drawn.

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Registering

Version 13 (CS3) is a free upgrade to version 10.0 and 10.5 (it will work with a 10.0 registration code, including the Productivity Pack 10.0 code).

Feel free to use this filter for an evaluation period of 50 uses. Until it's registered, it will only concatenate or assimilate 10 paths at a time. If you find the filter useful, please register your software. To do this, you'll need to provide:

- Your name
- Your address
- Your email address, if you have one
- The name, version and platform of the software you're registering

You can pay the $20 registration fee ($60 site license) or $10 upgrade ($30 site upgrade) in either of two ways.

1) Send U.S. funds or Japanese Money order to:

Rick Johnson/Graffix
P.O. Box 373
Waukesha, WI  53187-0373  USA

2) Register online with your charge card at <http://rj-graffix.com/>. Click the "Register Software" link to go to Kagi's secure order form.

I'll send you a code to register the software, by email if possible.

You can find more help registering your software at <http://rj-graffix.com/software/help>.

Be sure to check the Graffix Web site for updates and other new products. Your comments and suggestions are welcome.
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What the heck is Graffix? Some huge corporation? Nope. It's me, an illustrator, and one room where I do my work. You see, I'm not only the programmer and Webmaster, but I spend most of my time actually using the tools I create.

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Legalese:

This software may be freely distributed provided 1) no fee is charged for it and 2) the software is accompanied with this file, both unaltered from the original.

User has 50 trial uses of this software in which to determine whether the software is suitable to his/her needs. Rick Johnson/Graffix assumes no responsibility nor liability for any damages or consequences arising from the use or misuse of this software. Heck, if the wealthiest person in the world and the largest software company on earth can't guarantee smooth sailing under any unforeseen conditions, how can an illustrator in Wisconsin do that?