Which is the inverse operation to ''Expand'?
Which is the inverse operation to ''Expand'?
Question
I am new to Illustrator and can't figure out how to make a single object from many paths and shapes.
I used Image trace to trace a black&white image (settings: abutting, create fills and ignore white option selected). After this, I expanded the object and then I changed black colour to another. Now I want to make the drawing as it was before I expanded it. I tried to use compound and pathfinder but it didn't worked, or maybe I didn't use these functions correctly.
Hope somebody can help me with this.
After image trace :
After expand:
After recolour:
After I used Unite from Pathfinder(the other options from pathfinder don't work too):
Best regards,
Daniel
Popular Answer
As stated in the comments, there's no direct inverse of Expand
other than Undo
.
The issue you appear to have is due to the Image Trace feature.
When the image was traced and expanded you then have both back and white objects. Using Pathfinder > Unite
then makes everything the same fill color as the topmost object. Which was probably a white object.
WHat you should use rather than Unite, is Pathfinder > Merge
. This will ensure different fill colors remain separate objects.