Problem with Expanding Pattern Fill

[meredithd12778761]

Hello, everyone, and thank for your time.  I'm a newbie at Illustrator and I'll try to keep this brief.

I am experimenting with creating patterns via creating artwork, dragging it to the swatches panel, and then using it as fill.  I make a containing shape of any sort and then add my newly created swatch as fill.  However, when I expand the shape with the pattern fill and go into "Outline" mode, I notice that everything is expanded, but my pattern fill is beyond the confines of the containing shape.  I can even select the "extra" pattern and delete it.

The reason I would like this to work is that I am studying to be a graphic designer and I want to be able to make things print ready.

Would anyone have some insight into why this is happening and how to correct it?  Or even better, how to prevent it from happening?

Thank you so much for taking your time with this- I appreciate it!

Meredith

[Bill Silbert · Accepted solution]

This is completely normal behavior for Illustrator. When you fill a shape with a pattern fill the shape acts as a window but the actual pattern becomes a series of tiles that lie within that window. If you were to open up the shape you would see that there is more pattern to be seen. The pattern that you see initially though is what's called an effect. It only shows in Preview mode and if you go into the artwork mode you will only see an empty box. If you select the shape that holds the pattern and expand it through the Object menu it will still appear to be bound by the window in the preview but in the artwork mode the "man (or pattern) behind the curtain" will be revealed for all to see. The expanded pattern when it is seen in the preview mode does not show the excess pattern because the original shape now acts as a clipping mask. The art that can be seen in the preview mode can be edited with the direct selection tool but nothing outside the perimeter of the mask can be selected directly. If you are worried about using a pattern fill as final artwork it is not necessary to expand it but if you do it is also usable art.

[meredithd12778761]

Bill- sorry this is late and thank you for taking the time to answer my question-  I appreciate the help!  Take care.

[Bill Silbert]

Just happy to help!

[collinb10276234]

Hi Bill! I know this original post was from a few years back but I'm hoping you still check this and are available to help.

When I try to expand my object that has a fill in it, the entire fill pattern shows up on the screen. The fill is not cropped by the object it is in. I don't know what I'm doing wrong or have changed since the last time i did this ... a few months ago I used the same image just a different fill pattern, and it expanded correctly.

If you could point me in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it!

[Monika Gause]

Please show us screenshots with the object and the layers panel (it needs to be expanded, so that contents of layers are visible)

[collinb10276234]

Thank you! I was able to figure it out.