Can't see or delete image I just traced

[Friendly_partner3281]

Hi everyone 🙂 I've been struggling with this for weeks and weeks. I want to place raster images (mostly JPEG or PNG) in Ai, auto trace them, then discard the original image and modify the vector trace for output to SVG. I am using Image Trace > Expand. But I cannot find the original image I placed to delete it. I have tried all the YouTube tricks such as using the Direct Selection to try to grab white space then Select > Same > Color, ungrouping everything, using Ignore White on the trace, but nothing works. I feel like I am missing a key concept here. 

I have resorted to placing the image, creating a new layer, then manually tracing the image on the first layer with the pen tool. Then I delete the first layer with the raster image. Works great and I understand what I am doing here, but it is labour intensive and I think I should be able to use the auto trace feature instead.

No matter what I select, click on, group or ungroup, I cannot see or understand where the original raster image disappears to. It's driving me nuts. I must be missing a concept here, such as how to separate the raster from the vector and delete it.

Any help appreciated. Thanks everyone.

[Ton Frederiks]

There is no option to keep the image after you expand the trace, it will be automatically deleted.

[Friendly_partner3281]

Hummm. Thanks for responding. Starting to think the image I have been playing with expands to multiple paths and maybe seperate objects, such as an inside trace and outside trace (it is line art). It appears to be mutiple objects stacked one top of one another—which I assumed were the vectors stacked on top of the original raster object.

If you are correct (and I suspect you are now), I wonder why all the online videos show people selecting white space around the scanned graphic and deleting it then? I must have assumed they were deleting the underlying raster image when they were just deleting white space. And possibly the similar paths that seem to be underneath my vector art isn't the image at all (as you say), but in fact an inside vector object of the line art and an outside vector object. There must be a preset somewhere to just trace outside the object as simple outline external to the raster boundries, which is what I need.

You explanation is helpful but no where did I find an video saying that tracing and expanding would delete the original image. I was inder the impression that I had to select the raster image and delete it myself. Fascinating..... thank you very much. My headache will likely dimish now.

[Ton Frederiks]

Selecting white space and deleting is only nessecary when they did not use the Advanced option Ignore Color.

And I have searched in the past for the image too after tracing.

[Friendly_partner3281]

Thank you very much Ton. I appreciate the help. It makes sense now.

- Peter

[Ton Frederiks]

Good to hear that helped.