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I'd like to convert this shape into a path from the center so I can easily adjust the weight of the graphic with a stroke.

Drawing it anew won't preserve the round elements perfectly.

enter image description here

2 Answers 2

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The techniques described in: Convert outlined stroke to single stroke or Technique for finding the centerline of a curved object? are about as good as you're going to get without manually redrawing the shapes yourself.

For anything with a consistent line width then Illustrator's Offset Path will generally give you a good result. You can see from my example that there are some issues where the paths meet, but you still have a good result:

enter image description here

But in this case there's no real need for any of that; the shape is made entirely from circles vertical lines.

This took me about 10 seconds to redraw:

enter image description here

The paths aren't completely accurate but if I'd have spent maybe a minute more measuring the line widths then it'd be pretty spot on. Make use of some guides at edges of all the lines like this and you can be pretty accurate with minimal effort:

enter image description here

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  • Thank you very much. Yes, redrawing this wasn't that difficult but what would you recommend as a method for something without hard edges? If some of the corners were brought in, or there was a cutout from one of the circle paths?
    – Matthew
    Jan 20, 2017 at 0:25
  • The methods in the two previous Q&As I linked to in my answer should work well enough in most cases. If there are any problem areas the best thing to do is to break the shape down in to smaller pieces and work it out piece by piece (regardless of how you're doing it). There will be cases where Illustrator simply doesn't have the tools to do it though, in which case you're probably best off measuring the lines and redrawing yourself (or using some CAD tools possibly).
    – Cai
    Jan 20, 2017 at 1:39
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Make a rectangle Select the rectangle and make Art brush Draw a Line and apply the brush strokes Draw a circle and apply the brush strokes Copy the circle and the line and reflect Drag the copy circle and line little to snap the circle Select the circle and delete the below node to make the arc shape Extend the line to align both same heightenter image description here

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  • Why would you make an art brush from a solid rectangle rather than using a normal stroke?
    – Cai
    Jan 20, 2017 at 15:54
  • You can solid rectangle also but Its better to make art brush reason not to forget how much strokes point given 2.2 or less or more going and finding it. If the brush made u can easily make any shape and apply the strokes.
    – atek
    Jan 20, 2017 at 15:58
  • Or you could just add a stroke... not sure what adding an intermediary brush achieves. But whatever works for you.
    – Cai
    Jan 20, 2017 at 16:00
  • why i have apply brush and not stroke reason if u increase the size u do not have to apply the strokes more and adjust it automatically increase the thickness as it is
    – atek
    Jan 22, 2017 at 3:24

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