: How to bend a rectangle along a path? 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

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Posted in: #AdobeIllustrator #Diagram #HowTo #Shapes

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.

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