Expand Appearance

Convert the current Live Effect result into ordinary Illustrator vector artwork.

Choose Object → Expand Appearance when you need direct access to the generated paths or must deliver artwork to someone without Vexy Linestra.

Before Expanding

Expansion is a one-way production step. Duplicate the object or save a live master document first. After expansion, the Linestra parameters are no longer available on that expanded copy.

What Illustrator Receives

Linestra produces a group containing native paths, compound paths, filled strips, circles converted to Bézier paths, and outlined glyphs. The group includes the clipping information required by the selected fill.

Different fills expand differently:

  • Linear and other variable-width modes become filled outlines.
  • Halftone and Stipple become many filled dot paths.
  • Contour and Dither may contain compound paths.
  • Low-Poly becomes triangle paths.
  • ASCII becomes outlined Roboto Mono glyph paths.

After Expansion

You can ungroup, release or retain the clipping mask, recolor paths, edit nodes, run Pathfinder operations, or prepare the artwork for print, plotting, laser cutting, and other production workflows.

Complex fills can contain many objects. Save before expanding Stipple, Dither, Fractal, String Art, or dense ASCII artwork.

Appearance after Expansion

The selected static color becomes ordinary path styling. Dynamic Color becomes explicit colors on generated objects. Effects placed above Linestra may remain as appearance entries until you expand those as well.

Recommended Handoff

Maintain two files:

  1. A live .ai master containing source artwork and editable Linestra effects.
  2. An expanded .ai, PDF, SVG, or other production file for delivery.

This keeps future revisions possible without forcing recipients to install the plug-in.

See Tips & Best Practices for efficient finalization.