invisible strokes keep staying

Question

I want to divide this fire figure into many parts and want to apply different colors keeping the main outline fixed. so I drew several strokes over it, converted them all into 'outline stroke', and then selecting all those (fire figure and strokes) I apply divide from pathfinder. but some invisible lines keep remaining when I see it in outline mode. if I delete them some parts of the fire got deleted. I think some anchor points are responsible for this. those lines I want to delete and the fire I want to keep sharing the same anchor points. is there any solution for this?

Thank you.

Answer 1

It's difficult to be definitive without having the actual file.

However, you may be experiencing some issues because you are "outlining strokes". That is unnecessary.

• Draw the strokes
• Select all
• Pathfinder > Divide.

That will cut the underlying shape where the strokes are and remove all the strokes.

In most instances Pathfinder doesn't like working with strokes, but the Divide command is one area where simply using strokes can be beneficial.

I suspect the "some areas of fire get deleted" you mention is also due to the expanded strokes. Expanded strokes become shapes.. and have fills.... and if you remove them you remove those fills.