Illustrator, Really? Fast Image Crop

Question

Hi guys,
I decided to start this post with "Really?" like a SNL sketch...hehe. I have been using Illustrator for quite a while but i am not expert with it. One feature that really bothers me is that i can't really fast crop an image unless i draw a rectangle on top and then apply a crop mask. Why so many steps? Some might say illustrator is for vector and if you want image and text editing go to Photoshop or InDesign. I don't agree with that. I use it for a fast presentation and friends that just started to use it last week tell me "Why i cannot crop an image fast?"
So is there any way to fast cropping an image in the CS5 Illustrator that i might not be aware? I might consider an external plugin or script...but again paying for bottle water is always a rip off. That should be a internal feature long time ago, even Corel Draw has it.
Thanks and cheers,
S.-

Answer 1

we're all regular users here and we're trying to help...maybe if your choice of words would have been "is there a way to make a clipping mask in Illustrator faster than the way Indesing does it?" then the answer would have been "no", end of story...
I don't understand your quest for speed, usually working with illustrator is not associated with churning out the most artwork per minute as humanly possible, but who knows, you might have a legitimate reason for shaving off micro seconds of an operation, otherwise you wouldn't be asking.
but now that we know what you need, being, a quick way to apply a clipping mask and a quick way to modify such clipping mask, I think this is the best Illustrator can offer, based on what others have said above
- right after placing your image, hit Ctrl+7, no need to draw a rectangle, or if it is already placed, select it and hit Ctrl+7 or as Monika said push the "Mask" button on the Control Panel.
- to modify the mask A La Indesign, with your masked image unselected, grab the Direct Selection Tool (A), click on the Mask (not on the image), and grab the Selection Tool (V) (or hit V on your keyboard) to get the bounding box. At this point you can  modify the mask exactly the way you do it in indesign.
man, if that's not fast enough for you, then, are you racing with your coworkers? maybe try bugging Adobe with a feature request pronto.