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I've followed how do I use pathfinder on multiple objects so that I could cut straight down the middle of my vector. Clicking the merge within the pathfinder panel works as intended but the detail of the avatar reduces in quality. I suspect this may be a duplicate on Graphic Design, but I have looked with no luck. If this is the case please don't hesitate to flag and point me in the right direction.
Detailed Problem!
To crop half of the avatar I would use the knife tool - and hold Alt as you drag to get straight blade. Any gradients you would have to check. Merge joins objects with the same fill and removes all strokes and overlap.
Not sure what your final goal is, but if you're just looking to show half of the avatar/artwork, a clipping mask would do the trick, without losing any vector detail.
Simply create a colored rectangle around the half of the art you want to show, then select all (Cmd-A), and right-click. In the contextual menu, choose "Make Clipping Path". You can also find this command under the Object Menu; Object > Clipping Path > Make.
To do this you could combine a couple methods. You need to expand any strokes so all you have are filled shapes.
Then you can use a clipping mask to cut the item you want into the shape (in this case, in half).
Then you need to use TRIM in the pathfinder toolbox. Should trim it all up nicely to the outside of the box.
I use this all the time in pattern design - just make sure you have no strokes that aren't expanded. This approach works on gradients too, but you may have to select gradient pieces and re-merge them after the trim if they are having issues.
