"Minus Front" a simple shape on top of a complex clipping mask

I have a clipping path that is made up of:
1. a complex assortment of vector shapes (a pattern) and
2. a simple shape on top.
My pattern appears to be inside the simple shape, because of the clipping mask.
Now, I'd like to "punch-out" a shape in the middle of my clipping path, and have that punch-out be transparent. After creating my punch-out shape, I drag it to the same layer that has the clipping mask, select both (the clipping mask is below the punch-out shape), and slect "minus front" from the pathfinder window.
It's not working.
Any advice is much appreciated.

bovine wrote:
... it's almost completly gone.
It is hard to imagine how an almost completely gone object looks like in the Layer's panel
See the little blue squares highlighted in the image, they indicate selected objects . This is called the Selection Column in the Layers panel. You can select any object with equal ease by clicking on the selection column - the red arrow points to the spot you can click to select that path.
Also, another alternative method to make what you want is to make the punch out shape with 0 opacity, put it above and in the same group as the clipping path and in the Transparency panel click in the box in front of the Knockout Group until a checkmark appears.

Similar Messages

  • Shape distorted after using Minus-Front

    Hello -
    I have a white rectangle with black type on top. When I try to mask out the type so that the background color shows through the rectangle, the shape of the mask is distorted. The text was outlined before doing [pathfinder-minus front] and it looked fine before doing pathfinder. After pathfinder the shape is distorted. Notice the E, the Z and the J.
    Why is this happening? It's really frustrating. Thanks for the help.

    YES!! Thank you!!!

  • Pathfinder for shapes only? Can't minus front object from back...

    Hi. I'm trying to minus the shape of the brown 'steam swirl' from the black swirl behind. I tried minus front in pathfinder but a warning pop-up says "the filter produced no results. Please select 2 intersecting paths" How are the two objects not intersecting? I tried deleting the brown object and simply have no fill on the black swirl but it dosen't look good. Any ideas?

    Sure, Monika, but it's just what the screenshot shows and there it is pretty obvious what objects are meant.
    As it is not obvious about what specific objects we are talking in the sample file, I'd suggest another approach.
    Select the black shape, go to Object > Path > Outline Stroke, then in the Pathfinder panel Unite (Add to Shape). Then select both the beige and black shape and do Pathfinder Subtract. Or just create a compound path
    One could also use the Pathfinder effects in that case.

  • Pathfinder Tool - Minus Front (Front shape outline not included)

    I'm having some difficulty applying the Minus Front option of the Pathfinder tool with a front shape that contains an outline with rounded points.
    Question: Is there a way to preserve the rounded outline + front shape as part of the final shape when applying the Minus Front Pathfinder option?
    To recreate:
    1. Create background shape (Orange box)
    2. Add front shape with outline containing rounded points (Star shape)
    3. Select background and front shape and apply the Minus Front Pathfinder tool option.
    4. Rounded outline from front shape not transferred to final shape after pathfinder action is applied.

    You might find this thread helpful:
    outlining text
    The Pathfinder functions don't take into account "appearances" applied to the underlying object, so you would have to convert the object to a single outermost path. Usually this can be done with one or two invocations of Object > Expand.
    Allen

  • Shape Mode - Minus front tool.

    Hi
    Im having problems with the minus front tool in llustrator, when I use this tool on a shape ( the shape on the bottom which I am trying to cut) which has an effect on it such as an inner glow, the tool simply doesn't work. I have tried on several different shapes and with different effects and am getting the same result. Is there an alternative way to cut the shape with another shape like I am trying to do? Without me having to redraw the shape without the effects on it?
    Thanks
    Rebecca

    There is no before and after the tool does not work.
    But here is what happens when I try

  • How can I put one "shape" on top of another in pages?

    Hi all:
    I'm trying to do something pretty simple.  I made some shapes using the "shapes" tool in the toolbar.  I want to put one shape on top of (or in front of) another but it gives me the masking tool instead.  I tried putting a shap in the background but that didn't work either.  it tends to snap the shape I move to it right back to where it was when I tried to move it.  How can I do this?
    Thanks!

    I really don't understand what you are doing.
    I inserted two shapes with their default settings and I got what you see.
    I unchecked the box "Object causes wrap" but it's usefull when there are text objects in the page.
    Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France) samedi 7 avril 2012
    iMac 21”5, i7, 2.8 GHz, 12 Gbytes, 1 Tbytes, mac OS X 10.6.8 and 10.7.3
    My Box account  is : http://www.box.com/s/00qnssoyeq2xvc22ra4k

  • Weird minus front thing going on when pdf saved in ID cs4 on mac

    I have an indesign cs4 file with a couple layers. one the bottom layer is eps file with some shapes in it. On the layer above is a tif (product image) and it happens to be above the shapes in the eps file. When i export it as pdf the shapes knock the color out of the product image so its half white. Its acting sort of like the minus front pathfinder in illustrator but with colors. Its driving me crazy.

    Not sure but I would try resaving that EPS as native AI file and see what happens. Also your flattening and PDF export settings will play a big role in this, I imagine.

  • Minus front/back issue

    Hey guys, I am a newbee in Illustrator. Currently I am following a tutorial. I know most of the basic functions. But lately I have a irritating issue and cant seem to find a logical solution on internet too, of course I tried them. here are the details>>>
    1.I have created a polygon with 150px radius. black stroke and yellow fill. then applied round corner effect from effects>stylize.
    2.next I went to object>expand appearance.
    3. then created another small polygon(75px radius) on the first one
       (I want to subtract this small polygon from bigger polygon. both of these are, of course ungrouped)
    4. I selected both polygons using shift+click and clicked minus front in pathfinder
      and error pops up, 'filter produced no results, select two or more intersecting paths'
    what am I doing wrong?
    P.S. weird thing is, sometimes this filter works and sometimes I get above error for the same 5th step
    I have started feeling its an issue of Illustrator...is it?
    tutorial that I am following>> http://www.vectorcove.com/tutorials/icon-design/logo-design-in-adobe-illustrator/

    i think the problem is your expanded first shape is now a group consisting of a stroked object and a filled object., and the stroked object perfectly overlays the filled one (since they used to be a single object). so when you try to minus front, you'd end up with no shapes, as one of your shapes in front perfectly overlaps the shape at the back.
    edit: yeah, looking at the tutorial, they didn't use a stroked object.

  • PAthfinder Minus front

    I'm still working on a key project and I am yet agsin unable to complete because of Minus Front Pathfinder.
    Here are the steps:
    I'm following this tutorial and am on 4. Add Shading and Highlights for Your Main Shapes
    http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-a-detailed-key-illustration-in-adobe-il lustrator--cms-23065

    Becky,
    What happens if you use Pathfinder>Divide, then Ungroup and delete the unwanted paths?
    I am beginning to wonder whether it may be a case for the list.
    The following is a general list of things you may try when the issue is not in a specific file, and when it is not caused by issues with opening a file from external media. You may have tried/done some of them already; 1) and 2) are the easy ones for temporary strangenesses, and 3) and 4) are specifically aimed at possibly corrupt preferences); 5) is a list in itself, and 6) is the last resort.
    If possible/applicable, you should save current artwork first, of course.
    1) Close down Illy and open again;
    2) Restart the computer (you may do that up to at least 5 times);
    3) Close down Illy and press Ctrl+Alt+Shift/Cmd+Option+Shift during startup (easy but irreversible);
    4) Move the folder (follow the link with that name) with Illy closed (more tedious but also more thorough and reversible), for CS3 - CC you may find the folder here:
    https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/preference-file-location-illustrator.html
    5) Look through and try out the relevant among the Other options (follow the link with that name, Item 7) is a list of usual suspects among other applications that may disturb and confuse Illy, Item 15) applies to CC, CS6, and maybe CS5);
    Even more seriously, you may:
    6) Uninstall (ticking the box to delete the preferences), run the Cleaner Tool (if you have CS3/CS4/CS5/CS6/CC), and reinstall.
    http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

  • Word 2013 with text in front of a shape not converting to PDF with Acrobat XI

    Hello,
    I have a Word 2013 document with Shapes (Insert > Shapes) in the background.  Text is in front of the shape, shapes are set behind the text.  I take the document to work where I have Win7, Word 2010 and Acrobat X Pro and it converts perfectly, with the text in front of the shape.  No problem. When I get home, it doesn't work.  At home I have Win7 64-bit, Word 2013 (x64) and Acrobat XI Pro (latest everything, all patches up to date) and when I create a PDF either through Word, right-clicking on the doc and choosing convert, or from Acrobat XI it doesn't display the text.  I get the shape, and it looks like can even highlight the text, but the text doesn't appear.
    I just completely uninstalled both Acrobat XI and Acrobat Reader XI and then ran the latest Acrobat Cleaner (R2) and cleaned up both Acrobat and Reader.  Rebooted, installed Acrobat XI (no reader), updated with all the latest patches.  Still, the same problem with everything set to default.
    Please explain how to make my life better.
    Thanks,
    Chris.

    Found the problem.
    Adobe, I found a BUG. I want a year of cookies.  Not the virtual type, I want real cookies.  Chocolate.  Maple.
    Word 2013 ...
    Create a doc and put some sort of FIELD in the footer.  I used STYLEREF and choose a Style.  That's a very common thing to do for keeping the title of your document in the footer.
    Now ... insert a SHAPE.  Make that shape sit BEHIND the text.
    DONE.
    Create your PDF.  The text won't be visible.
    BUG.
    Cookies.
    Chris.

  • Minus Front From Two Layers

    I am currently following a tutorial to create some illustrations. One part of this tutorial makes use of the minus-front function with the pathfinder. An ellipse apparently needs to be "subtracted" from the bottom right-hand corner of a rectangle and its outline rectangle the lays behind it. I am unsure as to how to subtract the ellipse from both of those layers as it appears it can only be subtracted from one using the pathfinder.
    Here are the steps in the tutorial:
    Step 3 is what I am having trouble with.
    All help is appreciated!
    Thanks,
    Alex

    Alex,
    To use the way described, you have to select one ellipse/circle for each underlying path and apply Minus Front to each set.
    It should be noted that there are other ways of getting the appearance described.

  • How to get at Colour drop down box for simple shape ?

    Hi,
    If I go new file, Insert Symbol, Movie Clip, then draw a
    circle and a line using those two tools, I am unable to get the
    colour drop down box to show so that I can select Alpha. I have
    managed to do this many times for an imported to library graphic
    from Freehand, one simply clicks on the graphics line after the
    graphic has been drag/dropped to stage, go properties and the
    Colour drop down list from where you select the word Alpha appears.
    I have tried a single click, a double click, a treble click,
    just cant see that dropdown box for simple shapes !
    Help
    Envirographics

    Hi,
    If I go new file, Insert Symbol, Movie Clip, then draw a
    circle and a line using those two tools, I am unable to get the
    colour drop down box to show so that I can select Alpha. I have
    managed to do this many times for an imported to library graphic
    from Freehand, one simply clicks on the graphics line after the
    graphic has been drag/dropped to stage, go properties and the
    Colour drop down list from where you select the word Alpha appears.
    I have tried a single click, a double click, a treble click,
    just cant see that dropdown box for simple shapes !
    Help
    Envirographics

  • Simple Shape Tween always causes Flash to freeze (CS3)

    Flash CS3 Professional is always freezing when I create a
    simple shape tween. The steps that I follow to produce this problem
    are as follows:
    Draw a line
    Bend the line into a curve.
    Set a second keyframe on the timeline. (doesn't matter how
    many frames between the two keyframes)
    Use the direct select tool to reposition the point at one end
    of the line.
    Set the tween to Shape between the two keyframes.
    Scrub the timeline.
    Flash freezes.
    According to the Windows XP Task Manager, the CPU is at 50%
    with most of that going to flash.
    Any ideas on how to get it working properly?
    I can do the tween successfully without issue using Flash 8,
    but CS3 freezes everytime. Our company won't let us upgrade to CS4
    at the moment.

    i can't duplicate that problem.
    if the problem occurs when you scrub the timeline, don't
    scrub it. test it in the test environment. you may be able get your
    tween working doing that (even though that doesn't solve the
    problem).

  • Minus front from multiple layers

    Hello, I am trying to subtract a "distressed" layer (A) from several other layers (B,C,D) at once. I would like to punch through layers (B,C,D) with layer (A).
    I was able to expand font & expand stroke - Then minus front with success.
    However, when I expand all layers, select all layers, hold (alt) & Minus Front
    I get mixed results, such as missing layers from (B,C,D).
    What would be the best way to achieve this?  Thank you
    White = Distressed layer (A)
    Black = Layers (B,C,D)
    Orange = Locked Background Color

    since you are using Photoshop for mockups and you need the black art to be transparent--here is  (what I hope) is a useful idea:
    simply build your art using white (as in your original post)  then save yourself a lot of time and effort by doing this--turn off the background layer and 'export' art as a high resolution (say 1200 dpi) graysacle tiff--then open the tiff in Photoshop and convert it to a 1-bit tiff--using '50% Threshold' setting (which will be transparent and just black).
    you can then drop the 1 bit into an illustrator file with a colored background and save as PDF or export as jpeg, tiff, png etc (but don't save over the original Illus document--use a different name)
    note: the 1200 dpi 1-bit tiff should yield you a a decent film positive or you can print the black layer only (from Illustrator) with the background turned off
    there will be no loss of resolution!

  • Clipping mask issue.. simple one but I can't see it.

    I want to fill the pattern into the shield.
    Tried everything on this, it's so simple that I can not even see it.
    Maybe it's the double lines on outline view?
    Please help. Multi million dollar idea going to waste.

    Kanokane,
    I tried to just give a detailed list of things to do, with no explanation.
    Fundamentally, you use a single path (which may be a Compound Path) as the Clipping Path of the Clipping Mask, and you select both that and whatever you have beneath it that you wish to clip.
    When you apply the Clipping Mask, everything covered by the Clipping Path remains visible, and everything else becomes invisible; and the Clipping Path also becomes invisible, losing its Stroke and/or Fill (Fill in this case).
    So when your shield is a rather thin Compound Path formed by the outer and the inner path, only the parts between those become visible, instead of filling the space inside.
    1) is meant to keep the visible black outline formed by the Compound Path on top of everything else, and to bring a copy of either the outer or the inner path down beneath it; this is to serve as the Clipping Path; Alt/OptionClicking is to select the whole path, not just an Anchor Point or a segment.
    2) is meant to bring the pattern down beneath the Clipping Path.
    3) is meant to preserve the visible black outline formed by the Compound Path (by locking it) and to select the Clipping Path and the pattern (when the Compound Path is locked, you can just ClickDrag over everything and avoid selecting it), then apply the Clipping Mask.
    4) is meant to have everything as a Group (consisting of the Compound Path and the Clipping Mask).
    Whether you use the inner or outer path as the Clipping Path matters little; in the former case only the space inside the black rim is visible, in the latter case, the outermost part of it is hidden be the rim.

Maybe you are looking for