I am trying to draw a diagram similar to this:
As you can see, a curvy closed shape has been drawn as a line/path. Then, part of this path (for instance by adding anchor points and cutting at them) has been selected, and a long rectangle has been bent to follow that path.
Since I will be fiddling with such diagrams a lot, I want it to be easy to:
- Resize the diagram
- Have more than one rectangle (or possible other long shape) on different parts of the same curve
- Fill the rectangle using standard fill tools
- Color and style curve
- Color and style the outline of the rectangle
- Add text to the inside of the rectangle that follows the bend.
- Easily alter the shape of the rectangle by adjusting the path that it's made to follow
I don't particularly care if the rectangle is first created and then bent, or if the line segment is somehow "widened" to turn it into a rectangle (ie. an object with an outline and a fill).
It would be nice if I had some freedom with the shape, such as using a very long hexagon or a rectangle with rounded or triangle tips (so that it looks like a long sausage) but I can live without it if it's very difficult.
How can I do this? I have Illustrator CS5.
