Collage Technique

Tip from Ivan Louette

Clipview doesn't take account of the brush applied to the clipping shape. There is an alternative which preserves interactivity in most cases, but particularly with bitmaps.
1° create a document with two layers + a guide layer,
2° put one copy of your image (or your vector objects) in guide layer and another in layer 2,
3° apply bleach transparency 100% to the copy in layer 2 (it disappears),
4° lock layer 2 and guide layer,
5° draw a shape with black fill and outline in layer 1 (bitmap re-appears inside your shape and on your outline), here I used an irregular brush stroke (see above right).
6° now you can edit your shape, modifying brush width and other settings.
7° When you are satisfied, lock and hide layer 2,
8° unlock guide layer and select the red dotted line quadrangle,
9° create a bitmap copy WITHOUT ALPHA CHANNEL; now you have your black shape well centered in the quadrangular bitmap.
10° open the bitmap gallery and drag and drop a copy of your first bitmap on your page,
11° while keeping it selected, select the black shape bitmap in the gallery and click on "transparency".
12° to avoid some disturbing lines on the edges of your bitmap, go to transparency tool and select single tile in the status bar.

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