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.