How to average and join end points in Vectornation by Zaweba
Average and join in Vectornation by Zaweba brings two open ends together at their average position and joins them with a corner or a smooth join.
Open paths that should meet but do not are one of the most common small faults in vector artwork. A traced outline arrives with a hairline gap, two halves of a shape drawn separately almost touch, a line drawn by hand stops a fraction short. Vectornation by Zaweba has a single command for closing these gaps cleanly: Object, Path, Average and join, on Ctrl+Alt+Shift+J.
It was added in version 0.9.12 and does two jobs in one step.
What the command does
Select the end points you want to bring together and run Average and join. The command averages the selected end points, moving them to a position between them, and then joins them into one point. You choose whether that join is a corner or a smooth join.
Averaging matters. If you simply joined two ends that were some distance apart, one of the paths would have to stretch across the gap, which can leave a strange straight segment. By moving both ends to their average position first, the command shares the adjustment between the two sides and the result looks natural.
Corner or smooth
The choice of join decides how the two paths meet. A corner join leaves a sharp point where they meet, which is right when two straight edges or two distinct curves meet at an angle, such as the tip of a leaf or the corner of a badge. A smooth join makes the curve flow through the new point, which is right when the paths are really one continuous line that happens to have been broken, such as the outline of a circle or a wave.
If you are unsure, try smooth first on organic shapes and corner on geometric ones. Undo and switch if the result looks wrong.
Jobs where it helps
Clean-up after image trace or an import is the classic use. Shapes from other software sometimes arrive as open paths with nearly matching ends, which cause trouble when you try to fill them or send them to a cutter. Average and join closes them properly.
It is also useful when you build a shape from parts. Draw the left half of a symmetrical shape, mirror a copy, line the two halves up and average and join the ends at the top and bottom. The result is a single closed path rather than two pieces sitting side by side.
Lettering and logo work benefit too. Strokes drawn separately can be joined into one outline so that the letter fills as one shape.
Getting the selection right
The command works on the selected end points, so pick them with the Point picker rather than selecting whole objects. Zoom in close; ends that nearly touch can be hard to tell apart, and selecting a point in the middle of a path by mistake will not give you what you want.
Work one gap at a time when there are several. Joining pairs one by one keeps you in control of which end meets which.
How it fits with the other path tools
Average and join sits with the other path commands in Object, Path, such as clean up, reverse, simplify and offset. After joining, you may want to use Remove points and keep the shape or Refit if the join has left more points than the curve needs. If you need a line to reach another path rather than to meet another end, Extend to the next path or the Line trimmer is the better tool.
A final check
After joining, fill the shape with a colour for a moment. If it fills as you expect, the path is closed and sound. If the fill leaks or looks odd, there may be another gap elsewhere, or a join may have caught the wrong end. Small checks like this keep files clean, and Average and join in Vectornation by Zaweba makes the fix a single keystroke.
