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meredithd12778761
meredithd12778761
New Participant
August 1, 2017
Answered

Problem with Expanding Pattern Fill

  • August 1, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 8428 views

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

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Bill Silbert

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.

1 reply

Bill Silbert
Bill SilbertCorrect answer
Braniac
August 1, 2017

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
    meredithd12778761Author
    New Participant
    August 4, 2017

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

    Bill Silbert
    Bill Silbert
    Braniac
    August 4, 2017

    Just happy to help!

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