Optimize and Vary Width Markers

The Optimize Width Markers... menu item appears in Illustrator’s main Object > Path submenu:

Optimize Width Markers Menu Item

The menu item will only be available (ungrayed) if the selection contains one or more paths. Choosing the menu command brings up the Optimize Width Markers dialog:

Optimize Width Markers Dialog

1. Optimization Amount

Controls how many width markers will be removed from the focal strokes of the selected path(s). It can range from 0.1 to 10, with higher values removing more width markers but also resulting in potentially greater changes to the path’s width profile. 

Optimize Width Markers Example

Note that markers are only removed, not replaced by new markers at different positions along the path.

2. Ignore paths with fewer than __ markers

When enabled, paths with fewer than the specified number of width markers are ignored when doing optimization. This will speed up the operation when dealing with large numbers of paths, some of which may already be optimized.

3. Original/Current Marker Count

When the Preview checkbox is enabled, shows the total number of width markers on the original path(s) versus the number that resulted using the current optimization settings.

4. Preview Checkbox

When enabled, the selected paths are updated on the screen to show how they would appear if their markers were optimized using the current settings. The control can be toggled on and off to gauge how much the optimization has changed their width profiles.

If you use the Optimize Width Markers menu command frequently, you may want to assign it a keyboard shortcut using Illustrator’s general Keyboard Shortcuts dialog. 

The Vary Width Markers... menu item appears in Illustrator’s main Object > Path submenu:

Very Width Markers Menu Item

The menu item will only be available (ungrayed) if the selection contains one or more paths; however these do not need to already be of variable width. Choosing the menu command brings up the Vary Width Markers dialog:

Very Width Markers Dialog

The varied markers are created randomly; each time a parameter is changed, a different random seed will be used to create the marker variations. 

1. Min Variation

Specifies the minimum width, as a percentage of the original width, that a new width marker can randomly be assigned. It can range from 0% (new markers can be all the way down to zero width) to 100% (new markers will never get smaller).

2. Max Variation

Specifies the maximum width, as a percentage of the original width, that a new width marker can randomly be assigned. It can range from 100% (new markers will never get bigger) to 1000%. 

Very Width Markers Min. and Max. Examples

3. Spacing

Specifies the space between the new varied width markers along the path, from 1 pt to 144 pt. Caution should be used when applying small values to long paths, as Illustrator may have trouble with paths that contain very high numbers of markers.

Very Width Markers Spacing Examples

4. Existing Marker Handling

Specifies the mode used to handle existing width markers when using Vary Width Markers on a stroke that is already variable width:

In Replace mode, the original stroke width profile is used to set the initial widths of the new markers, which are then randomly varied. The original markers are not kept.

In Merge mode, the new markers are initially set to the average width of the existing stroke (i.e., as if it were uniform width), and then randomly varied. This mode is generally only useful when adding a variation with large spacing over an existing variation with fairly small spacing.

In Leave Unchanged mode, new markers are added (unless they are too close to an existing width marker) with their initial width set to the current stroke profile’s width at each spot; only the new markers are then randomly varied. 

Very Width Markers Existing Marker Handling

5. Vary From Side to Side

When enabled, the width added or subtracted randomly from the new width markers may be unequally distributed on the left and right, creating non-centered markers: 

Very Width Markers Vary from Side to Side

6. Preview Checkbox

When enabled, the selected paths are updated on the screen to show how they would appear if they received varied markers using the current settings. The control can be toggled on and off to force a new random seed to change the variation without changing any parameters.

Both Optimize Width Markers and Vary Width Markers can be recorded and played back as Actions. 

Actioned Very Width Markers