Make Live paint group into single shape

Question

I recently followed this tutorial to create pixel art in Illustrator using a live paint group.

The difference between the example and mine is that mine is effectively all one colour. I want to export my picture as an SVG, however I've noticed that when I do this, it exports every “pixel” as a separate item.

Is there a way and can join all of these to effectively export as a single SVG shape?

Thanks.

Answer 1

(I didn't watch the tutorial)

Note: This will remove the "live" aspect of the objects.

• Select the Live Paint Group.

• Click the Expand button in the Control bar across the top of the screen, if you haven't already done so.

• Click the Unite or Merge button on the Pathfinder Panel (Window > pathfinder).

You should then have 1 shape (which may be a compound shape).