Working with clipping masks

Clipping masks crop part of the artwork so that only a portion of the artwork appears through the shape or shapes you create. In Adobe Illustrator, you mask objects by using the Clipping Mask > Make command.


Masking object placed on top of artwork (left) and Clipping Mask > Make command applied (right)

You can also make semitransparent masks with the Transparency palette. (See About opacity masks.) And you can create clipping mask sets that mask multiple objects with the Layers palette. (See Creating clipping masks.)

To see whether an object is a mask:

1. Select the object.
2. Choose Window > Layers.
3. From the Layers palette menu, choose Locate Object. The name of a clipping path appears in the palette with a solid underline. Clipping groups appear with dotted-line separators.

Note: You can also select all masks in your artwork by using the Clipping Masks command in the Select menu. (See Modifying and selecting masks.)

Related Subtopics:

Creating masks
Modifying and selecting masks
Filling and stroking masks