Image Trace option not working

charlotten86139972  wrote I wanted to image trace+expand the pattern so i could have both polka dot and the relief shape of the polka dot as shapes.

There are at least 3 ways to get that without resorting to rasterize/trace. Pathfinder functions and the Shape Builder tool provide extremely deep features for creating new shapes from the interactions of other shapes. On simpler terms, you could just make a Compound Path from (a copy of) the Polka Dots, and then another from the Polka Dots-Compound Path and the White Object.

If i rasterize an object , I should be able to use image trace on it?

Maybe, but that doesn't mean you should. Notice how I characterized it above as "resorting to" rasterize/trace? Have you ever looked closely at the result of your Image Trace? Have you ever compared the original vector object to the same object rasterized-then-traced? Image Trace can be horribly imprecise. If you rasterize and re-trace to accomplish something that can be accomplished without rasterizing at all, it constitutes a serious flaw in your vector drawing workflow. This is why we're questioning your motives.

I can apply the pattern and expand it, but then there is the pattern bounding boxes which still exist and are highlighted when i put the cursor over a polka dot. i don't know how to get ride of those?