Htydjtk

so my probleme is quite simple. i have 2 circles away from each other and not intersecting, I want to connect those 2 cirlces with a rectangle in the middle.
heres what I have

and heres what i want

however as u can see its not perfect.
I would like to know how.
(Ai cc 2018)

One easy option is to merely draw a path with rounded end caps.

• Switch to Outline Mode (View > Outline)


• Turn on the Smart Guides (View > Smart Guides) if they aren't already on


• Ensure the center marker is enabled in the Attributes Panel:

Using the Line Tool, merely draw a path from the center of one circle to the other. The Smart Guides will tell you when you are at the center with the cursor.

Then merely adjust the stroke weight to match the width of the circles and tick the Rounded End Caps option on the Stroke Panel

Related:

• Illustrator: Is there an efficient and accurate way to join two circles by their tangents (and keep it editable)?


• How to smoothly connect a circle with rectangle shape at the tangent?


• How to draw circle tangents and removing the inner lines?


• Merging a semicircle with two parallel lines

One possibility is to use a Blend.

1. Select both your shapes and click Object > Blend > Make




2. then Object > Blend > Blend options




3. Under Spacing, choose "Specified steps", set it to something high like 500 steps

However, the above comes with disadvantages:- It creates 500 individual shapes, and even if you Expand then Unite them with the Pathfinder, you'll still have over 1000 anchors, and Simplifying doesn't really work either.

Another possibility is to do it the way you have already done, but to edit the position of the anchors of the rectangle manually using the Direct Selection Tool (A), so that they intersect with the outermost edge of each circle, to reduce the humps that you can see in your example.

There are various ways to get the effect of what you're asking in Illustrator, but they are slow and labor intensive. There is currently no way to do it by simply drawing tangents, unless you use a third party plugin. Fortunately, there is a cheap plugin made by Astute Graphics that allows you to very easily draw tangents between objects. As of today it's priced at $6.51, although there may be an exchange rate charge if you're ordering from a different currency that pounds, if I recall correctly. See video link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=13&v=fu4Sn6_Epdo

I've been using Astute plugins for years and they are all extremely well made and I think every one has a video tutorial.

I suggest you draw it. Having snap to point and smart guides on you can draw a line between the circle centers. Select the line and goto Object > Path > Outline Stroke. Then you have a rectangle.

You must select straight stroke ends in the strokes panel, if they are rounded.

If the circles are equal and the rectangle must be as wide as your circles are, then you simply draw only a rounded rectangle or a rounded line and no circles at all.