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Hello,
I am a complete newbie in illustrator. I have watched several tutorials but my illustrator doesn't seem to do any of the things that the tutorials do. For example I bring a document into illustrator and live trace, check that nothing is locked. Once its traced I try to lasso a certain element and nothing happens. I am sure this is something I am doing wrong but for the life of me I cant figure out what to do. Most of my files wil be coming from scans or procreate and want to live trace and move separate elements around the page to make seamless patterns. Any help would be appreciated. I am well acquainted with photoshop but this has me stumped.
You cannot move elements in a jpeg in Illustrator (that is a Photoshop job).
But you can after Live Trace (if they are separate in the jpeg) and the result is expanded.
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Object > Image Trace > Expand?
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Thank you, I will try that. If I open a flatten jpg in illustrator can I cut selected elements and move them around or is that better to do in photoshop first?
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That depends on the nature of the artwork. If it's just some black shapes on a white background, then go ahead in Illustrator. More complex stuff should better not be autotraced at all.
JPEG are always flat.
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Thanks Monika, but even if I just wanted to lasso an element Ona. Flattened jpg, it won't let me select it?
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Lisa,
When you expand as Ton said, you will get paths that you can work on, just as you can on any other paths, including Grouping (such as the paths you wish to move round, you can also copy and just move the copy round) and locking/hiding (other paths you wish to leave as and where they are).
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You cannot move elements in a jpeg in Illustrator (that is a Photoshop job).
But you can after Live Trace (if they are separate in the jpeg) and the result is expanded.