Made the switch.

[MichaelAlmand]

I used to use corel now i switched to illustrator. The only thing i dont like about illustrator is withe the strokes around anything i have to break it all apart and weld it so i can cut the outline. Is there a better way to do it so the stroke has a full background?

 

[Fred Weiss]

If it is strictly an outside outline, then:

• Copy and paste back in place
• Offset path

If it is an overlaying outline centered on the original path, then:

• Stroke the original path
• Convert stroke to path

 

[Double Diamond]

If it's an outline for text, then you need to ungroup the text before the weld and it will weld in one step. This feature needs to be practiced some. You will find it also has less random parts to delete if you do it at a larger scale. Some fonts like papyrus don't work well when they are small. Text and parts work better for the weld if they have a fill too, not just a stroke weight. This gives it three lines instead of two when you outline stroke, and the unite tool works as long as the text is ungrouped.
Hope this helps. DD

 

[Typestries]

Had adobe not KILLED freehand, you could do it in one simple click! Yet another thing that FREEHAND does quickly and easily that illy does not!