Help needed please - masking & cutting, desperate!!

Hello I'm Chantelle.

I have recently created a picture. First i had to cut out a horse with the pen, then moved it onto a new background, however what i have found is that the mask tool, literally does just that - it only masks the image behind, so when i have moved this image onto a non white background the areas where i have masked after the initial cut out (E.g spots that i couldn't get with the pen the first time, gaps between arms ect.) comes up white against the background and the image is still behind, so i can make the Opacity 0% or i'll just see what is behind the mask... I need to actually delete the image behind the mask. Or can i make the mask the colour of the new background. Thank you so so soooo much for your help, i really appreciate it

Attachment 102517 Attachment 102518

You want to use Opacity Mask instead of Clipping Mask. If you want to totally eliminate content outside a mask in Illustrator (giving you a true crop), you can use the following method:

Select the path that you would have used for the clipping mask and, instead of making a mask, fill it with, oh, white. Then, set the opacity for that masking object to 0% using the transparency palette/panel. Then, with that object and the underlying raster image selected, flatten transparency. (Use 100% vector on the quality slider and make sure the 'Preserve alpha channel' option is unchecked.) Ungroup the result.

You should now be able to independently select the various portions (inside and outside the mask) and discard those you don't need. The links palette/panel will show you what's going on.

You can can then if you want to soften the edge by using Effect -- Stylize -- Feather

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Albacore

You want to use Opacity Mask instead of Clipping Mask. If you want to totally eliminate content outside a mask in Illustrator (giving you a true crop), you can use the following method:

Select the path that you would have used for the clipping mask and, instead of making a mask, fill it with, oh, white. Then, set the opacity for that masking object to 0% using the transparency palette/panel. Then, with that object and the underlying raster image selected, flatten transparency. (Use 100% vector on the quality slider and make sure the 'Preserve alpha channel' option is unchecked.) Ungroup the result.

You should now be able to independently select the various portions (inside and outside the mask) and discard those you don't need. The links palette/panel will show you what's going on.

You can can then if you want to soften the edge by using Effect -- Stylize -- Feather

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Thank you for your help


I have now done this

Select the path that you would have used for the clipping mask and, instead of making a mask, fill it with, oh, white. Then, set the opacity for that masking object to 0% using the transparency palette/panel.

However i'm stuck on the rest.

Then, with that object and the underlying raster image selected, flatten transparency. (Use 100% vector on the quality slider and make sure the 'Preserve alpha channel' option is unchecked.) Ungroup the result.

You should now be able to independently select the various portions (inside and outside the mask) and discard those you don't need. The links palette/panel will show you what's going on.

You can can then if you want to soften the edge by using Effect -- Stylize -- Feather[/QUOTE]


If you could help me that would be amazing, i just don't know where i flatten tranparency, or where the 'quality slider' is. and how to disgard the portions i don't need. I know you said the links on the palette panel with show me whats going on... but i'm still stuck.


THANK YOU!

Here is my image ATM I have just done your first instructions

Attachment 102528

OK then Rasterize from Object menu. Then use the Pen Tool and draw around one of the white areas. Then again repeat the Opacity Mask again but this time click on Invert Mask, again Rasterize the bitmap. Keep repeating the process until all white areas are removed. That is the simplest instructions that I can give you. This type of job is best done in PhotoShop and then brought into AI for text as AI is a vector programme