Opacity Masks - What can you make with them?

[amoore]

WIf you are trying to use the black rectangle as part of the mask for the photo then you don't need to do this. You can simply toggle the "clipping" flag on the resulting object, e.g. delete the black rectangle, select the photo and the blend and select Arrange/Apply opacity mask, then hit Ctrl-Alt-C to toggle the clipping state of the opacity mask group. This will cause all areas of the masked object to become totally transparent outside the area of the mask object(s).

Way cool, Jerry! Once you get the hang of it, OMs are so easy and so flexible.

[gwpriester]

I have to admit, I was skeptical of this feature at first. It looked like something that could be done with ordinary transparency.

I prepared this example for a company that is reviewing Designer Pro 6 to demonstrate the process.

Note how the white shape makes the center pencil totally opaque and lets it jump out from the rest of the image.

I am starting to like this new feature. A lot.

[JokeArtist]

You'll have to forgive me but I don't think I understand opacity masks ... everything I've seen could have been done with cutting out and transparencies in less time I would have thought? Or am I seriously missing out on something here?

[covoxer]

You'll have to forgive me but I don't think I understand opacity masks ...

You are forgiven.

everything I've seen could have been done with cutting out and transparencies

True.

in less time

False.

Or am I seriously missing out on something here?

I don't know. On some "Drugs and Drink" maybe? (reading member profile)

[StevenWWinters]

... everything I've seen could have been done with cutting out and transparencies in less time I would have thought?

I haven't experimented, but in looking at the examples, I wondered the same thing...

[sgiff]

Opacity masks? I'm curious all of this excitement over a feature that has been in Xara for years. I don't understand, is there something different here? I've always been using them just right click on any b/w or even color bitmap in the bitmap gallery and hit apply as transparency. This feature has been around forever.

[JaffDave]

I think the keyword here is that you can use OM with any drawn shape not just bitmaps. Just another way of achieving the desired result. I like options!

[sgiff]

I think the keyword here is that you can use OM with any drawn shape not just bitmaps. Just another way of achieving the desired result. I like options!

Ummm, actually in past versions you can do just that select anything you create in xara go to your bitmap gallery, right click on a bitmap and select apply as transparency. Voila you have an opacity mask.

[GerryI]

Opacity masks allow you to use vector objects to control the transparency of other vector objects.

Try using a text story with a complex fill and feathering as an opacity mask and then editing the text in place. Then try the same thing using only the old bitmap transparency feature...

Gerry

[MarkMyWords]

I'm in two minds about this one myself. Perhaps in some circumstances it might save time, but I haven't yet found exactly how. Perhaps we have all acquired a particular way of using vector objects and need to look at this from another angle?

I like the new enhance transparency though. Not sure if this could be done before, but I think being able to "enhance" part of a complex vector image, including many objects, even parts of multiple objects, will be quite useful.