LiveTrace doesn't respect transparency/clipping paths?

As you can see in the below image, I've placed a PSD file of a donut with a clipping path into Illustrator. When i do a two color Livetrace, AI converts all the transparency to white, merging them with my hilights. I don't want a bounding box, i want my donut to maintain the same alpha/transparency as before, but i want it livetraced. If i click the "ignore whites" checkbox, AI makes both the transparency AND my whites and throws them away. Is there any way to get livetrace to respect transparency/alpha/clipping paths?
thanks

Ok I understand. What to do is to turn it into a live paint group and manually restore the white that urns transparent with the live paint bucket set to white.
since it is a transparent background if I have this correct place it as a psd and I choose to view as a transparent image you will see that at the bottom of the Live Trace Option, not really certain that is even necessary as it an image place as a psd file on a transparent background.
You can add a blur to smooth the edges.
Or you can, if this is a transparent image in photoshop, select it turn the selection into a path and save that as a clipping path to use in AI after yu used the Live Trace.
Of course there is the manual method of using the pen tool.

Similar Messages

Why is the JPG missing its clipping path when opening in Illustrator?

I need to be able to create jpg images images in photoshop with a clipping mask so that my clients can open the files in their own programs with a transparent (not solid white) background. I thought I used to be able to do this. But now when I open the jpg files in my own Illustrator program, it doesn't have the clipping path. I can resave the jpgs as eps files, and the path comes through just fine, but many of my clients can't use eps files and the file sizes of eps files are way too big. I've tried saving the jpg files and opening them up in CS3 and CS6 photoshop/illustrator programs. The clipping path is still in the jpg files when I open them in photoshop; they just seem to disappear when I open the files in Illustrator.
Is there a way to keep the clipping path in a jpeg file when using it in Illustrator?

JPG files cannot have a clipping path. Save as a PNG file from Photoshop for a transparent background.

Help! Getting clipping paths back on exported lightroom images!

A bit of a problem.
I have 22,000 images, half of which were colour corrected in lightroom, but all 22,000 were exported from lightroom.
So, out of the 22,000 exported files I don't know which ones were colour corrected or not, which is not important until I realise that non of my clipping paths stayed with the exported files.
There were clipping paths on about 6,000 of these images.
So first, is there any way of finding from the exported files which ones were worked on in lightroom?
Secondly, is there a clever scripty way of bringing a clipping path from one photoshop file to another photoshop file (pixel perfect).... preferbly maybe having a folder full of doner files that have the clipping paths that a script gets their clipping paths and puts them onto the photoshop files in the second folder (the two folders will have files with same file names?)

Unless you specifically set Lr to overwrite the original export creates anew file, which doesn't include layers, clipping paths, Smart Objects and a bunch of other Ps stuff. Hopefully, your original with clipping paths is still around because that's the only way you're getting them back.
BTW: as you've discovered, editing an image in Lr after t's been edited in Ps is leaving yourself open to a world of hurt, especially when the image includes editing features that Lr doesn't support.

Finding bounds of nested clipping paths...

This topic has been touched on before, muppet & sonic have pointed me in the right direction, but I'm stuck right now....
Seeing as how "saveMultipleArtboards = false" is broken in CS4, and scripting any kind of epsSave results in the artboard size being the bounding box, I am trying to see if I can find out if the "visible to the eye" bounds of artwork exceed the artboard size.
I can easily find non-clipped objects hanging outside the artboard by comparing the document's visible bounds to the artboard size.
Likewise the "visible to the eye" bounds of clipped objects :
var docRef = app.activeDocument;
docRef.rulerOrigin = [0,0];
////Get size of artboard
var myDocsizeArray = [0,0,docRef.width,docRef.height]
////Check for items on page
if(docRef.pageItems.length != 0){
/////Find out if top item is clipping mask
if(docRef.pageItems[0].typename == "GroupItem"){
if(docRef.pageItems[0].pathItems[0].clipping == true){
////Compare its bounds to doc bounds
var myClipArray = docRef.pageItems[0].pathItems[0].visibleBounds
if((myClipArray[1] > myDocsizeArray[3]) || (myClipArray[2] > myDocsizeArray[2]) || (myClipArray[0] < 0) || (myClipArray[3] < 0)){
alert("Outside of artboard")
However, this doesn't work if clipping paths are part of a nested groups. Is there a way to see if a clipping path's parent group is within bounds, or parent's parent group etc. is within bounds. I need to find the topmost clipping path that trumps all the others in any nested group.
Is that what recursive functions are for? ,,,,,,,,,,,
Something that can keep looking in a loop within itself? Very instrospective!
thx

Does this help? I use these to position and find bounds based upon what is visible.
function getRealVisibleBounds(grp) {
     var outerBounds = [];
     for(var i = grp.pageItems.length - 1; i >= 0;i--) {
          var bounds = [];
          if(grp.pageItems[i].typename == 'GroupItem') {
               bounds = getRealVisibleBounds(grp.pageItems[i]);
          else if((grp.pageItems[i].typename == 'PathItem' || grp.pageItems[i].typename == 'CompoundPathItem')
               && (grp.pageItems[i].clipping || !grp.clipped)) {
               bounds = grp.pageItems[i].visibleBounds;
          if (bounds.length > 0) {
               outerBounds = maxBounds(outerBounds,bounds);
     return (outerBounds.length == 0) ? null : outerBounds;
function maxBounds(ary1,ary2) {
     var res = [];
     if(ary1.length == 0)
          res = ary2;
     else if(ary2.length == 0)
          res = ary1;
     else {
          res[0] = Math.min(ary1[0],ary2[0]);
          res[1] = Math.max(ary1[1],ary2[1]);
          res[2] = Math.max(ary1[2],ary2[2]);
          res[3] = Math.min(ary1[3],ary2[3]);
     return res;
function positionVisible(grp,x,y)
     var bounds = getRealVisibleBounds(grp);
     var newX = x + (grp.left - bounds[0]);
     var newY = y + (grp.top - bounds[1]);
     grp.position = [newX,newY];

DrawArt doesn't respect clipping paths?

I'm trying to use DrawArt to rasterize a document, as per the sample code. However, when there's a group with a clipping path, the clipping is not performed; the entire image is drawn rather than just the portion within the clipping path. I can't figure out how to enforce this. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Aaron

Figured it out - I was drawing the group from bottom to top (as per Adobe's sample code!), but this means that I'm drawing the object itself rather than the group that contains the clipping path. The solution is to draw only the top-level group objects (the layers) rather than all the art objects; DrawArt recurses into groups properly.
Aaron

Why clipping path postponed from a photoshop in indesign at operation of addition of the new channel by means of work path doesn't work

why clipping path postponed from a photoshop in indesign at operation of addition of the new channel by means of work path doesn't work

Please elaborate the issue and Supply pertinent information for quicker answers:
The more information you supply about your situation, the better equipped other community members will be to answer. Consider including the following in your question:
Adobe product and version number
Operating system and version number
The full text of any error message(s)
What you were doing when the problem occurred
Screenshots of the problem
Computer hardware, such as CPU; GPU; amount of RAM; etc.

Trouble with clipping paths and expanding

Hey y'all. Okay, so I have a Illustrator element that uses a clipping path.
Even after I run "Expand Appearance" on it, it's not trimming the art to the bounds of the path.
It's making for difficult to position correctly when copying into Photoshop as a Smart Vector or Shape Layer:
And it isn't correct in After Effects either.

What you are describing is just another example of the very common need to trim artwork (including filled, unfilled, open, and/or closed paths) without wrecking its already-applied Attributes, Appearances.
As has been discussed many many times here, Illustrator simply does not provide that basic functionality...neither by its horribly-designed cutting tools nor through its problematic and caveat-riddled Pathfinders. Expanding a Clipping Path doesn't serve as a workaround for this long-missing functionality; nor does flattening transparency. You can't do it without resorting to the workarounds you've already tried or others that will no doubt be suggested.
Once again:
NONE of Illustrator's cutting tools (Knife, Scissor) can cut across artwork that includes multiple open, unfilled paths. Open unfilled paths are ignored by the Knife cut. The Scissor cannot cut across multiple paths at once.
Illustrator's recently-added, very poorly implemented Eraser tool comes nearest to the needed functionality. It can at least cut multiple unfilled open paths without their becoming converted to unstroked, closed fills. But it unpredictably alters the shapes of remaining portions and has no means by which to accurately control a cutting shape other than rectangular.
This is a prime example (there are others) of how Illustrator confuses and clutters the interface with multiple under-powered tools designed for similar functions, none of which measure up to a single tool properly designed for the same purposes in most other programs.
Pathfinders are riddled with ridiculous caveats. Those which come close to providing the needed functionality are incapable of ommitting the unwanted deadwood and/or wreck strokes by outlining them.
Illustrator needs a feature that allows any given path to be employed as either a selection marquee or a cutting path. And the cutting operation needs to act as expected regarding strokes as well as fills--as common in any other drawing program that does provide the long-missing functionality (most do; Illustator never has).
JET

My Clipping Path isn't working? Please help...

I am working in Photoshop CS4 on Mac. I have followed the steps below to create a clipping path:
* Opened image that I want to add a clipping path to
* Selected the part of the image that I wanted to clip (with the eliptical marquee tool)
* On the Paths tab, selected "Make Work path"
* In the pop-up box tolerance is set to 0,5pixels
* I can now see an outline of a shape on the image
* In the Paths tab - double clicked on the work path and saved the path as "Path 1"
* Select the created path on the path tab and then chose "Clipping Path" from the tab dropdown
* Left "Flatness" blank in the pop-up provided
* The name "Path 1" now looks outlined in the paths tab
I have tried to save the image as a JPG, PNG, TIF... RGB and CMYK... nothing seems to work. The entire image still previews.
I turned off OpenGL and there are no layer styles applied to the image. There is only one layer in the file. I am very confused... this function used to work and now for some reason it doesn't. Are there any other settings linked to creating a clipping path that i may have changed by mistake without knowing it would affect this?

Tiff format definetly works - i have used it in the past. I just tried EPS and the clipping path works - so thank you!
It seems that I have been a bit stupid though... I just realised my error - to check if the clipping path was applying correctly, I have been opening the clipped image in Preview... It seems that Preview can't "see" the clipping path on a .tif and it "sees" the area outside the clipping path on an .eps as "flattened" (so i see a hard white background, when i am expecting it to be transparent). I just imported the .eps and .tif into Indesign and Illustrator and the clipping path applies fine in both cases. it seems that the real issue is between Mac and PC.... I am running Adobe on Mac and Corel Draw on PC... Corel Draw seems to have an issue with .eps and .tif files with clipping paths.
png works in Corel Draw but transparency causes distortion for elements behind the transparent section... will keep trying :-)
...this is the story of my life! I hate working on PC but every now and then a client gives me a file where the artwork has been created in Corel Draw and I'm faced with these anomolies...
Thanks for helping me to think this through logically!
FYI on tiff format clipping paths...
Source: http://www.espressographics.com/text/fileformats.html
Photoshop EPS (.eps): EPS stands for Encapsulated PostScript format, which is based on the PostScript printing language. Most .eps graphics are created and edited in a draw (vector) application like Illustrator, and when you open an Illustrator vector .eps image in Photoshop, Photoshop will still convert it to pixels. As such, an Illustrator .eps doesn't have the same editable properties as a Photoshop .eps graphic so don't confuse the two. Photoshop .eps format is primarily used for creating images with clipping paths and monotone/duotones. It used to be that an image with a clipping path could only be saved as in .eps format in Photoshop. This is no longer true with later versions of Photoshop where you can save graphics with clipping paths in .tif format as well. When you create a monotone or duotone image in Photoshop, it is still best to save it in this .eps graphic file format, although .psd and .pdf options are also available.

Clipping Paths and Smart Object

When I place a photoshop eps into a PSD file the image doesn't come over with a transparent background. I do have an active clipping path, it showes up transparent when placed in Illustrator and InDesign. Am I mistaking in thinking that the image would be clipped when placed?
I am using CC, but this problem has been in both CS6 and CS4

PS operates on channel-based transparency. Just having a clipping path doesn't associate it with the pixel data. You will have to create a proper transparent layer and assign the path as the clipping path.
Mylenium

Clipping path into pages

I have difficulties with importing a picture without background - made as a clipping path in Photoshop - into a Pages document. Did Pages not support clipping paths. I have tried with several formats - .tiff, . png etc
A newcomer - and satisfied - user of Mac and Pages from Copenhagen
Thanks in advance - Frank

Hello Frank,
the easiest way is, create your motive in Photoshop in extra layers and delete the empty background layer. Than save the image you want to use in Pages as a PSD or PNG file. The transparent background will remain.
The other easy way is to use the mask function of Pages. But with this you will get hard cutted borders and no gradiend alpha areas. Just insert the image, insert a shape you want to have as a mask or draw the mask shape with the draw tool (at the bottom of the menu "Inset > Shape"). Now make sure the image and the mask are overlapping (it doesn't matter which one is in front) and choose the menu item "Format > Mask with Shape".

At open, illustrator puts clipping path on images and slices it up HELP!

I am still using CS2, but this same problem has happened when I open a legacy (older version) file in CS4..... When I open a file, it all of a sudden has a clipping path around the image. Also, it is slicing up some images randomly. It is very strang and I can't explain it. I just saved and closed the file yesterday and today I go to open it on the same computer and all the photos have these clipping masks around them and some are sliced into multiple pieces. Can anyone help with this???

It's easily explained: It is opening the data as if it were an EPS or PDF, so the fault is probably with the options you chose when you saved the files in
CS2. Check them. also of course keep in mind that some specific features have notably changed, so it may do thius simply to retain appearance, which you can influence by setting teh respective prefs....
Mylenium

Trouble with Photoshop CS5.1 eps images with clipping path placed in FHMX

Photoshop CS5 eps files, clearcut with clipping paths now show a black box instead of a transparent background when placing in Freehand MX.
Tiff files with clipping paths work OK but look ugly and make Freehand redraw the screen all the time, thus slowing down my work.
The eps file placed in InDesign CS5.5 is OK
Anybody knows a work-around? I', doing most of my work in Freehand

Photoshop CS5 eps files, clearcut with clipping paths now show a black box instead of a transparent background when placing in Freehand MX.
Tiff files with clipping paths work OK but look ugly and make Freehand redraw the screen all the time, thus slowing down my work.
The eps file placed in InDesign CS5.5 is OK
Anybody knows a work-around? I', doing most of my work in Freehand

How do I show a clipping path on an image in Illustrator?

Hi there
I am a beginner when it comes to Illustrator and only use it when I have to - like now!
I was wondering - Is it possible to place an image into an AI file and show its clipping path? (that was created in Photoshop)
I have tried saving the image as a TIFF, PSD but no luck.
I have also attached a screen shot - just to show the image that has a path.
Thanks in advance.

I have placed the image but the 'Embed' option isn't highlighted so I can't click on this!
I think I have worked out another way to do this - I have saved the image on a transparent background in photoshop as a psd file and then when I place this in AI, the Photoshop Import options box appears and with this set to 'Convert layers to objects' it somehow
works! like so............ (probably not the best way to do it?!!)

JS that applies all clipping paths at once?

Hello,
I found the thread that contains the Applescript for this, but would love to have a Javascript that works the same. Anyone have or know of one for ID CS5 that will apply all clipping paths for a group of objects at once?
Thanks in advance, as always
Andy

So it's all Photoshop paths? Yes, it ought to work. Perhaps you also need to specify which path ... Try with this line added:
app.selection[i].images[0].clippingPath.appliedPathName = app.selection[i].images[0].clippingPath.photoshopPathNames[0];
inside the try { .. } catch block. This ought to set the clipping path to the very first one in the file.
It's important to do operations such as these inside a try .. catch block, because this construction shields you from errors. Without the try .. catch, the script would issue an error for the very first image it encounters that has zero paths (and thus "the first", which is numbered #0, is not valid) and then stop with the error alert. Now it will still signal the error but the 'error handler' (the second curly-bracketed part) ensures it does nothing with that information, and so it will ignore the error and continue with the next image.
And yes, a Javascript needs to be saved as ".jsx" to work. Otherwise InDesign doesn't recognize it as a valid script.

CS2 clipping paths incompatible with CS3 indesign

Hi there
I need to use photoshop images with clipping paths that were created in photoshop CS2 in a indesign CS3 doc (working on a mac OS X 10.5.4). I import the image ok, the trouble is every time I try to activate the clipping path I get the spinning wheel of doom and the application stops responding.
The image opens up fine in CS3 photoshop, there only seems to be a problem with the path itself which I've tried copying onto other images which I know work and it does the same thing with them.
I used the image in indesign CS2 as a test and it worked properly, which is why I think the 2 packages are incompatible.... oddly enough, I'm using some really old images which were created before CS was a glint in the milkmans eye and they work perfectly.
Does anybody know a way around this, or indeed if this is a bug or something?
Thanks

It is a bug but Adobe fixed it.
If you want to use EPS files with clipping paths, that is fine, but be aware that there were problems that InDesign recovered from about 2 years ago. I wrestled through that time with many problems with clipping and have lots of documentation I never want to drag out again.
The thing is to have everything updated. Files that were saved will not be fixed by copying paths, you need to re-save the files in an up-to-date version of Photoshop by doing 'save as' to overwrite.
Sorry you're having this problem, it stinks but was remedied in updates. Try one file that you know doesn't work and do the save-as to see if that fixes it. Open and save in the latest CS3 version of course.
Get rid of your CS2 InDesign. Use CS3 only.

LiveTrace doesn't respect transparency/clipping paths?

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