illustrator + bitmap fill

[bb2]

Hi

im wondering whether its possible to apply a bitmap fill to a shape in illustrator.

I tried loading a bitmap, adding it as a pattern and applying the patter to my shape but this causes the bitmap to repeat. Is there another way to do this in illustrator? Should i be creating a clip mask instead?

[Albacore]

The answer to your question is just about yes, but is it convincing no. Would I use it instead of the bitmap fills in Xara, No. Bit maps are not the strong point of Illy but vectors and the print medium is for I would always check the output and colours of an Xara PDF in AI before I would send it for printing. It is in just the last release that Flash can really be used with Illy which will give it a better tool to use for web design it was OK before for headers and small animations but now with the integration with Flash it should be a better tool to use.

A quick resume' of AI abilities with bitmaps can be read here (around the middle of the article): http://thephotofinishes.com/adillustratorcs2.htm