/t5/illustrator-discussions/undoing-something-i-have-rasterized-by-mistake/td-p/9218655Aug 13, 2017
Aug 13, 2017
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HELP!!! I was wondering if someone could help me with undoing my mistake. To work on my images I always do the following before adding in colour to my digital drawings: Object>Expand Appearance then Object>Live Paint>Make. After doing so, I recently did the following: Object > Rasterize, meaning I now have an image I can not edit. I since closed and saved (forgetting I had made a mistake to part of my image) and therefore can not use the Undo tool to get the image back to where it was when after expanding and clocking 'Live Paint'.
After searching on previous forums I found that Object>Rasterize is destructive and cannot be undone. I now know that I should have gone to Effect>Rasterize instead. Is there nothing I can do to undo?
/t5/illustrator-discussions/undoing-something-i-have-rasterized-by-mistake/m-p/9218656#M57068Aug 13, 2017
Aug 13, 2017
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Since it is now a raster object you might try to use image trace to once again make it raster. You will need to experiment with the many possible settings in the Image Trace dialog box (found under the Windows menu) to find a way to bring the result even close to what it originally looked like. Remember to hit the Expand button in the Illustrator top menu bar after you've run the trace to make it into editable vector objects. Since you haven't shown what the original looks like it is difficult to say how successful this will be but it will give you something to work with.
/t5/illustrator-discussions/undoing-something-i-have-rasterized-by-mistake/m-p/9218657#M57069Aug 13, 2017
Aug 13, 2017
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Meg,
It is always recommended to make backups/save different versions under different names/at different places, and you can also duplicate the layer and go on in the new layer when you have reached important steps, so the work made hitherto is kept. And always leave copies of artwork behind when you do something irreversible/destructive.
Depending on your OS (settings) you may consider whether something like Time Machine or an Image can rescue your artwork.
Time Machine is a Mac thing, the closest Windows thing being an Image restore or something, hence my mentioning their depending on OS.
The loss of artwork is always frightful. I really feel with you.
Sometimes, it is very difficult/impossible to get into back into the state of creating it; at other times it may be easier to recreate, maybe even improve. I hope it is the latter, although it may be an (almost) intolerable amount of work.
When it is the former, you may be aware of it; and then it is crucial to carefully save every step of the way.
Some weeks ago I researched it on a similar occasion. There are actually Windows alternatives for Time Machine. I guess there are several online magazines writing about the subject, this is just one example, maybe research this further:
Unfortunately, I have nothing to fall back on. I usually make back-ups but didn't with this one for some reason. I'm so disappointed! I've tried Expanding like people have suggested but this seems to just make the image black and white and half of it disappears.
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