Why is expand appearance greyed out

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Why is Expand greyed out for a selected path? Asked 2 years, 6 months ago. Active 2 years, 6 months ago. Viewed 5k times. Improve this question. Scott k 20 20 gold badges silver badges bronze badges. This is not a graphic design question, more like Illustrator tech support and it's probably going to be closed. Check the help for what's on-topic here graphicdesign. In Response To Monika Gause. Thank you.

From there I wanted to expand the appearance before adding an offset path. This is where expand appearance was greyed out. In Response To patd And you created the pie shape how?

By using the shape widgets? So far there is nothing you need to expand. I am following a YouTube tutorial and this is exactly how she is doing it. Skip the expanding appearance. It isn't necessary to do that step to offset the path. But, if you feel you need to expand, then choose "expand" and don't worry about "expand appearance" being greyed out. You can then complete the rest of the tutorial. Doug A Roberts. There is an appearance of some sort applied to the ellipse, as we can see in the layers panel.

But we have no way of telling what it is or why is there from that video. It doesn't need to be, certainly. Srishti Bali. Hi Pat, Thanks for reaching out. Since it is a vector, there is no risk of losing resolution with enlargement for printing or screen display. The downside of expanding the text is that you and the file recipient will not have the ability to edit the text, for instance when there are spelling mistakes.

Your only option would be to rewrite the text again if you remember the font with the text effects and inputs you had applied. If your recipients have the font you are using installed on their computer, then you may not need to expand the text. Expanding brush strokes and patterns in illustrator is done to break the link to their respective effects, and enable you to transform them proportionately and manipulate them as individual vector shapes.

The best thing to do is to avoid being in this situation in the first place. Copy your object into a hidden layer or save it as a separate document before you choose to expand it.

This way, you can always have it in its unexpanded state. Expand allows you to turn text, patterns, lines and shape strokes into vector shapes with outlines. Expand appearance only applies to brush strokes objects with appearance effects like transparency. If expand appearance is greyed out, then you are trying to expand an object that the function cannot apply to. Also, confirm that your layer is not locked. Some Illustrator users have experienced this with the update.

Try saving your progress and relaunching your Illustrator program. If this does not work, report the issue to Adobe Illustrator Feedback.

Your text is expanded! In fact, expanding the gradient just makes the object less appealing because it creates the banded effect that will likely be noticeable when the shape is enlarged. Before expanding, remember to save your object or text in a hidden layer or separate document in case you may need to reverse the changes or share editable text, strokes, or patterns. Expanding is permanent and cannot be undone after you save the document.

Is Graphic Design a Dying Career? Thanks for the read!