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Stroke lines & Expanded lines explained

Stroke Lines

Lines can be left as strokes (not expanded) and are easier to edit if needed.

Stroke line wireframe view

This is how it appears when viewed in wireframe view using most vector editing programs. Made up of single lines which can be edited more easily than if the lines were expanded, as below.

Object with stroke lines resized

When a vector made of stroke lines is scaled up or down the appearance will change, as the line thickness remains the same. The example below shows how it would appear when scaled down. The opposite will happen when scaled up, the lines will appear thin.

strokelines
strokelines wireframe
strokelines scaled down

Expanded Lines

An expanded line will appear the same as the stroke line version until it’s resized.

Expanded lines in wireframe view

The expanded lines are now made up of 2 lines where previously it was a single line as above.

Object with expanded lines resized

Whether the expanded vector is scaled up or down it will always appear the same.

expanded lines
expanded strokelines
expanded lines scaled down

To prevent any future problems with your vector drawn logo, we will always draw with the lines expanded. So whether your logo is scaled up or down to any size, it will always appear the same. But if you do need it left as stroke lines then we can do that where possible if requested.

It is possible to make the line thickness to remain constant so it appears correct when scaled up or down.
In Adobe Illustrator for example, there is a setting in the preferences that can be ticked on or off – SCALE STROKES & EFFECTS. But if you send your artwork to a printer for example, it will be unlikely they will have their software setup this way. So they will probably return your artwork and ask for the lines to be expanded.

How to expand strokelines

In Adobe Illustrator go to the main menu. Then Select OBJECT>EXPAND

We only work with Adobe Illustrator as it is the industry standard. But it is usually a similar method using other vector editing software.