Expert: Laith Ibrahim - 9/8/2008

Question
Hi,

I am having some difficulty with P&B when trying to erase or subtract a portion of my illustration AFTER using P&B.

For example, I create a flower from a polygon or star shape and give it about 15 sides, use P&B and create a nice flower.  Now, I only want the TOP half of the flower, so I have tried to use the rectangle around the bottom portion of the flower and use the subtract from shape area under the Pathfinder toolbar and I have also tried just using the eraser tool.  Both create the same problem as the flower now puckers down to the erased area and distorts my original flower.

How can I cut off the bottom half of the flower without layering a rectangle over top and filling to cover it?

I am fairly new to Illustrator CS3 so any guidance would be appreciated very much!

Thanks!

Answer
Hi Sherill,
I created a flower and used the rectangle to cut the bottom portion of it and it worked for me without any problem. However, the eraser tool didn't give good results.
The best thing to do when you have such issues is to select your object and then use the "Expand Appearance" tool (from the top menu go to Object > Expand Appearance". Now you'll easily get rid of the bottom part of your flower without any problems.

I'm sure this solution will work for you.
Please let me know if you need any further assistance. I'll be glad to help.

Best regards,

Laith