How to create a patterned path with small triangles along it in Adobe Illustrator (Archaeology Limit of excavation hatchures)

Question

I am wondering how to create a dotted line with small triangles pointing out off the body of the line. I can see Adobe Illustrator has options for arrowheads but i don't want arrowheads on the ends i want them in the middle. I have attached examples of my dashed line settings and how I want the triangles to look.

This 'limit of excavation' line is a specific planning convention in archaeology so when digitising site plans it would be good to come up with a 'style' or similar i can apply to a path that will automatically apply the triangles.

Please understand I am a noob so if it's a really complex solution I might not have the Illustrator skills to apply it.

I have seen some things about the pattern brush? But i don't understand how this works to be honest. I also want the style applied to a path specifically and for it to not distort.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Pattern Brush....

The initial stroke settings I used are below, so you can see the dashes/gaps I chose. However, whatever dash pattern desired can be input. Overall, the goal is to show the shape (triangle) in conjunction with a dashed stroke.

The length of the dashed stroke path stops just before the next dash would appear on the right. This is done to provide a pseudo "guide" for the necessary length of the no-fill/no-stroke rectangle. So that when the pattern brush is created and repeats, the art has the necessary spacing between the brush pattern tiles.

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To change scale/color....

Based upon the base art I created (which was larger), my brush may work better scaled to 35%. In addition, I set the Colorization Method to "Hue Shift". Hue Shift means the stroke color will dictate the brush color. i.e. If I want the brush to be blue, I merely need to set the stroke color to blue.

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For Pattern Brushes, corners can be an issue. If you don't need corners, then this should work. If you do need corners, it may take some effort to configure corner art for the brush (which may or may not be a lengthy explanation).

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_{Dialog and Panel screen shots are taken while using a legacy version of Illustrator. They may not look the same as more recent panels and dialog windows. However, all the same options exist in all versions of Illustrator since 2011. Although more recent versions do have a nice brush preview in the Brush Options dialog window and automated corner options - which may or may not work well for any particular pattern.}