Draw inside function won't work with hand drawn shapes

Question

I want to Draw Inside this shape that I have drawn by hand, scanned in, and then Image Traced. Under Image Trace I ticked the Strokes only setting, as the Path setting was not working for me as it created shapes within the outlines that were being drawn inside of.

However any time I select the set of paths to be able to draw inside them, the Draw Inside function is either inaccessible or will not draw inside or anywhere at all.

I did get it working once somehow when I first changed the trace setting to stroke, but it left a strange jagged hole where the paintbrush should have been, and I haven't been able to get anywhere close upon retrying the same steps.

Also whenever I try to make a compound path it says that I can't.

Could this just be that my computer cannot handle it? It has been fine so far but is 10 years old nevertheless. Help!

Doug A Roberts · Accepted Answer

Presumably you want to paint in the boundaries of the hand while keeping the linework intact?

I would probably make a copy to paint in. Keep your original as-is.

Make a copy, Paste in Place, make a Live Paint group. Close the open wrist at the top with a new path.

Fill it all black (or whatever). Go to Object > Live Paint > Expand, then open the Pathfinder panel and click Merge.

You should be left with a single object that can be used with Draw Inside.

Doug A Roberts · Answer

To achieve drawing inside, the function needs to be used on a singular path with a definite 'inside', not a collection of paths.The second screenshot appears to be a live paint group?

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded