Select color on clipping mask

When I have created a clipping mask and want to select a color from the layer behind I have to select the layer to get the color and then go back to the clipping mask to use it.
I have seen Tutorial on the net where they dont seem to have to do that.
So what am I doing wrong here?

What are the Eyedropper Tool settings in the Options Bar?
Do the top Layers hide the base Layer of the Clipping group completely?
Could you please post a screenshot with the Layers Panel visible?

Similar Messages

  • Clipping Mask not working

    Okay, so I am EXTREMELY new to this (I started about an hour ago!) I am trying to make a clipping mask with the mask being the outline of France and the image inside the French flag. Here are the steps I've taken so far:
    File>New
    Open>Silhouette of France (photo)
    Image trace as silhouette>Expand.
    Drag in to new file.
    Open>French flag (photo)
    Drag in to new file and put in separate layer to the silhouette.
    Place the silhouette on top of the French flag, select all, make clipping mask.
    Then everything goes white!! I can still see the outline, paths etc. of the silhouette but I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong! If someone could explain it to me in layman's terms that would be amazing because I really don't know what I'm doing!
    I'll include the pictures I am using and the end result I keep getting...

    SoBo,
    The France parts seem to be a Group rather than a Compound Path. It would be better if you could expand the Layer(s) completely, also expanding the Group.
    As I said, an Opacity Mask may be more forgiving, and work with a Group.
    I took the France parts to have no stroke and a white fill, if not, you may give it one (or a black fill), then (the Invert Mask suggested in post #2 was based on a black fill, sorry):
    1) Select the two parts of France and Object>Group or Object>Compound Mask>Make;
    2) Select all and in the Appearance palette flyout click Make Opacity Mask with Clip ticked and Invert Mask unticked (ticked if the fill is black).
    From the OP:
    Drag in to new file and put in separate layer to the silhouette.
    To have it in the same layer, just have one Layer and File>Place the flag image into it, then the France image, and take it from there.

  • Clipping mask fail

    Hi there, I have just received a poster back from the printer and have noticed the edge of the clipping mask of the artwork has printed. The graphics consisted of an image (placed as a CMYK tiff) and plain vector graphics over the top in some parts.  I had a white rectangle (brought to the front) running from left to right (to edge of page) over the image, then I grouped the all the elements (white rectange still at front) and created a clipping mask (a rounded corner rectangle) about 1cm within the borders of the page to keep it all tidy. Where the white rectangle running over the image and the border of the poster come together there is a hairline of colour of the image. From the full view of the page I could see the line but when I zoomed in uber close it disappeared (same in the PDF).  I have seen things appear a bit skewed in high res PDFs before even when you know they are aligned correctly so I didn't worry about it sure it was just previewing incorrectly. Anyhoo! hope I have explained this Ok... can anyone suggest why it happened or how to create the artwork correctly. Cheers, Sarah

    I think I know what you're talking about. A little of the image leaked past the white box.
    Shouldn't have caused a problem, but it did. Sorry about that.
    I simulated your problem. When I did the following, none of the image showed past the white box, in Illustrator or in Acrobat:
    1. Draw a big box surrounding the artwork
    2. Select this and the white box, make a compound path
    3. Select this and the image, make clipping mask.
    4. Now bring your round corner rectangle to the front.
    5. Select all, make clipping mask.
    Hope this helps

  • Pasting images without clipping masks.

    I often capture portions of my screen and paste them into Illustrator but they almost always get an unwanted clipping mask appended to them which I then hollow point select and delete EVERY time so I can simply move my images without having to worry about also moving annoying clipping masks. Does anyone know how I can simply paste my screenshots without a silly clipping mask coming along for the ride?
    (17" "Unibody" MacBook Pro Illustrator CS3)

    Wade, I fully understand the method you're proposing. I'm just saying it's comparatively cumbersome. It's more steps and way more mouse mileage See, You're saying I should...
    1) Capture a screen region to the desktop (Cmd,Shift,4) then
    2) Bring Illustrator to the foreground (Cmd,Tab)
    3) Bring the finder to the foreground (Cmd,Tab)
    4) Navigate to the desktop (Click)
    5) Drag & Drop the screenshot into Illustrator (Click,Drag)
    6) Delete the screenshot from the desktop (Cmd,Delete) and
    7) Empty the trash (Cmd,Option,Shift,Delete).
    Instead of...
    1) Capture a screen region to the clipboard (Cmd,Option,Shift,4)
    2) Bring Illustrator to the foreground (Cmd,Tab)
    3) Paste the screenshot (Cmd,V)
    Then, only because CS3 adds a senseless clipping mask...
    4) Select the hollow arrow (A)
    5) Select the unwanted clipping mask (Click)
    6) Delete the clipping mask.
    I'm simply asking the community if there's a way to avoid those last 3 steps and make Illustrator behave the way it did before the CS era.
    Ok, that's all the time I have except to thank anyone with an answer.

  • "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.

  • How to align layers without clipping masks?

    Hi,
    I would like to (left) align some layers that are made up of placed photos with clipping masks applied. When invoking the "left" align command Adobe Illustrator CS3 aligns everything bases on the invisible boundaries of the clipping masks instead of the desired results of the clipping masks themselves. See screenshot here: http://badtastic.com/temp/Picture%203.png
    Is there a "smart" way to align these layers without Adobe Illustrator CS3 taking into consideration the invisible boundaries of the clipping masks?
    Input appreciated.
    Kind Regards / Alex

    Hi Steve,
    Hey, thanks for your tip :)
    I managed to solve the problem by drilling down into the nested hierarchy and selecting only the clipping masks and successfully aligning those irrespective of their parent layers. Its also a bit laborious which makes one wish that there were the possibility / feature to not only select artwork based on "same" stroke / fills etc but even by similar layer names. If that had been possible, I could have easily selected one Clipping Mask and then selected all the others based on name similarity without having to unfold all the nested hierarchies to get to all the others one by one.
    Anyway, thanks again.
    Cheers / Alex

  • Clipping mask VS. Selection for restricting area?

    What is the advantage of making a clipping mask vs. selection for painting a selected area and making sure not to go out of it?
    Thanks.

    Painting on a layer clipping masked to another layer ascertains that the transparency of the underlying layer is maintained.
    For example if a region/pixel of that layer has 50% transparency painting on a clipped layer will result in that region/pixel having the new color but the same transparency.
    If on the other hand one were to paint on a separate layer with a Selection of the first layer’s transparency
    • multiple Brush strokes in the 50% transparency region could push it much higher
    • a single 100% Stroke (or Fill) would cause the resulting pixels to be a mixture of background, first layer and second layer (see attachment, middle clipped, right masked)

  • How to create a selection or mask from a Selective Color layer

    Hi. I was wondering if it is possible to get a selection/mask out of a Selective Color Layer.
    For instance lets say I have a complicated photo and I put a Selective Color layer on.  I then pick Red and start adjusting. I can see the effect and how it changes the red and how it falls off in the photo. Is it at all possible to create a selection or a mask based off of that effect? 
    Thank you

    You can try this.  Once you get your selective color adjustment layer the way you like it, change it's blending mode to difference.  Add a B&W adjustment layer above that then a curves or levels adjustment layer above that.  Use the curves or levels adjustment layer to give the image more contrast by adjusting the top white values.  This will produce  an image that you can then make a selection from from the channel pallet.

  • Selecting objects AFTER they have a clipping mask applied.

    Hi There,
    What really disturbs me about Illustrator is that after I apply a clipping mask to a set of objects, the program assumes that I would want to actually select that object if the cursor hovers above that masked object if it is outside the boundary of the clipping mask. It's like selecting the "invisible". Is there an option that will allow me to turn that function off?
    The logic should be something like:
    if object has a clipping mask and
    cursor hovers above clipped object OUTSIDE of the clipping mask boundary
    then
    do not highlight or allow user to select the clipped object
    Likewise, this logic should be implemented in the interface:
    if object has a clipping mask and
    cursor hovers above clipped object INSIDE of the clipping mask boundary
    then
    highlight the clipped object and allow them to select it.
    Anybody know any work arounds? Did they address this in CS4? It's really annoying to have to lock and unlock objects all the time.
    Thanks,
    Laz

    It's not a problem. In PostScript thinking it's
    quite normal that a couple of graphic objects
    defines one or more paths, and that a clipping path
    is applied to the whole underlying path system.
    If those paths or path fragments which are outside
    the clipping path could not be selected, then it
    would be rather difficult to handle paths which are
    simultaneously inside and outside the clipping area.
    Therefore it's necessary to have access to the whole
    underlying graphic - not only to the path fragments
    which are entirely inside the clipping area.
    Best regards --Gernot Hoffmann

  • How to solve illustrator cs6 save as cs5 problem about the stroke(when the stroke with clipping mask and color is gradient, save as cs5 will change to embed ).

    how to solve illustrator cs6 save as cs5 problem about the stroke(when the stroke with clipping mask and color is gradient, save as cs5 will change to embed ).

    Because it was not possible to apply a gradient to a stroke in CS5. When you open the file in CS5, it is reduced to something that can be rendered in CS5.

  • Two questions - Clipping Mask and Change color in group

    Hello,
    I have a file I rendered in Maya as a vector. I am not that great with illustrator, so I was trying to speed things up...
    Anyway, it appears all the file have a Clipping Mask. If I unrelease it, it shows a plain with a similiar dimensions that is the original color of the object. See image for before and after...
    Also, the same object says it is in a group. Because of that, I can't seem to change it's color, and the Ungroup button is greyed out... very confusing.
    Jared

    I rendered in Maya as a vector. I am not that great with illustrator, so I was trying to speed things up...
    First, please forgive a little pet-peeve of mine:
    You didn't render it as "a vector." A vector is a direction. You rendered it as vector-based artwork, which means it consists of [many] vector paths. I'm aware of the informal colloquialism, and I'm not just picking nits. The use of "a vector" as if in some corollary sense to "a raster image"--which I find so irritating--is misleading, especailly to newcomers.
    When you refer to "a raster image", you are correctly referring to one object. When you refer to vector artwork, you are almost always referring to a collection of multiple vector-based paths, not a single object. And that is directly related to your current problem.
    I assume there's a reason you need vector artwork. But you chose to have a 3D modelling program automatically render the model to vector artwork, hoping to shortcut a process while hoping to achieve the advantages inherent in vector artwork because, in your own words, you are "not that great with Illustrator." The example illustrates the self-defeating disadvantage of relying on automatic routines (much like the gross overuse of auto-tracing) to avoid having to know how to draw proper (and properly tidy) vector artwork. The end result is not the same.
    Like auto-tracing, your auto-generated vector-based output is needlessly complex. This is particluarly poor practice for something intended to be used as base art for a corporate or product identity mark (logo). In a nutshell, it's sloppy.
    That's why you find the results difficult to work with, and why responders to your post stumble in trying to advise you with specific step-by-step answers. The artwork very likely includes an unnecessary plethora of paths and multiple unnecessary constructs such as clipping paths and compound paths.
    If this is intended to serve as an ongoing "master" vector version of an identity mark, imagine the similar difficulties that will be encountered by every downstream user. Yes, the artwork may be scaleable. But the results are not optimized for use as signage, or engraving, or screen printing, or spot-color printing, or a multitude of other uses assumed to be accommodated when someone pays for a proper piece of re-usable vector artwork.
    So resorting to something like Maya's vector rendering for something like this, in hopes of avoiding what is really a rather modest learning curve, is quite often a false economy yielding sub-standard results from a technial standpoint.
    It's a pity in this case, because the design itself is a good one. I don't know what your specific use is, but It probably deserves to be properly built.
    To illustrate my point, below is an example from an earlier discussion. The top version was "automatically rendered as vector artwork" from Illustrator's own built-in 3D modeller. Yes, strictly speaking, it is "vector artwork." But its needless complexity practically negates most of the advantges that should be inherent in vector drawing. I would never have tried to pass it off as a finished "vector version" of someone's identity mark.
    JET

  • Plea from technical artist: CS5 clipping mask content selection as a preference...

    I just have to weigh in on this.
    I've been trying to adjust to CS5, from CS3, since November. It's now March.
    My job involves taking apart and editing complex art created by other people... who have all different ways of working.  The inability to see what a clipping mask contains when I click on it, AND the inability to edit the contents unless I first locate the perimeter of the mask and/or switch tools, has me working "blind". It's become a real battle to figure out how the previous artist set things up.
    I've found workaround methods, but they're just that. I seem to be doing a lot more clicking, double clicking and tool switching, all of which are that much harder on hands that do this for 10 hours a day.
    I need to be able to click on an element and know if it is part of a mask, what other additional elements that mask contains, whether the perimeter of the mask is aligned correctly, etc.
    PLEASE make it a preference setting to handle masks and mask content selection the old way.  When I'm building new art, I'll be happy to work the CS5 way.  When I'm trying to figure out what someone else has done... please don't make me work harder than I already do...
    Thanks.

    Larry (et al),
    [Please be assured...I've invested HOURS trying to get this clipping mask to work before requesting help on this forum.]
    The exact same image as per my prior post appears when the file is saved:
    Illustrator --> Save As --> PDF
    Illustrator --> Export --> JPEG (with and without Artboards)
    Illustrator --> Export --> PNG(with and without Artboards)EXCEPT: One PNG trial with "Transparency" selected (turned ON) did not have a white background but did have the unwanted 90-degree corners.
    Illustrator --> Save for Web --> PNG
    Illustrator --> Save for Web --> JPEG
    And a few other trials whose details I omitted to record.
    After ~dozen trials...with many permutations & combinations of Adobe Illustrator's parameters...all I can generate is the image in my prior post--with the unwanted 90-degree corners.
    Let me fully acknowledge, no doubt I'm doing something wrong...yet I just can't figure out what.
    @Larry: Would you please clarify the reference to the Avery labels? Regrets, I looked at the site you provided...yet don't understand how it relates to clipping masks.
    Here's hoping someone can throw a life-line.
    Many thanks to everyone,
    Plane Wryter

  • [CS4] Clipping Mask issue (bug?) - Beachball when I try to select masked group

    I have a somewhat complex compound path (1400 points) that I've duplicated several times and clipped. I want to make a second copy of this clipped set of objects. When I try to select the group that contains the clipping mask (with the selection tool or in the layers palette) illustrator chugs for over a minute. Once it's done chugging and I have my group selected I hit copy and paste. It chugs for another minute and then does nothing but deselect my group.
    I saved the file down into CS3 format and opened it in CS3. I have no trouble with copy, paste, select, scale, or anything when I'm in CS3 - no slowdown at all. I saved the file in CS3 and opened the CS3 format file in CS4 and I still have the beachball/chug problem.
    I'd like to note that the trouble begins only when I apply the clipping mask. I can select all those objects and copy/paste/rotate/scale/whatever until I apply a mask and then I can't do anything to them. The clipping mask itself is rather simple - only 26 points.
    I'm on a G5 with 8gigs of RAM and over 30gigs of available space in my scratch disc. Any advice or any other users who've had this problem?

    No that is not true and you know CS 3 does not come close to CS4 in performance and if I were you I would download the trial, although I have feeling you do not have the resources to to actually run the program and that has you quite miffed,
    Perhaps the next release will finally release you, so long!
    Tracy I found that there s a setting that is on by default in CS 4 that would make things go a bit slow and always has if selected by the user.
    Clearly a mistake I would think but for some reason the default settings for the raster effects is 300 ppi as opposed to 72 ppi which really many times will eat up the memory no matter how much you have, and Illustrator can only use a limited amount of RAM something like 2GB, so that the amount of RAM is not the issue and the scratch could be as wide open as possible but it still will choke.
    It may not have the resource to as in your case make a review. So I would try setting the document raster image effects setting to 72 ppi and then when outputting it change it to 300ppi or tell the printer to do so.
    Hans I am sure you will now be relieved to find out that CS4 is behaving as it should with the right setting.
    Enjoy the trial it is free. You are going to love CS 4.
    I am mistaken Tracy and Hans CS 3 also has the default setting at 300 ppi I should have checked first.
    Yes Hans this might be an issue that is a strike against CS4 on large complex projects
    I am certain it was good idea to change the clipping path behavior. The question is how big or complex does the file have to be before this happens.
    Hans you should still try the trial and see for yourself. Of course if you don't have the resources it might be difficult to load the trial.
    I would still try changing the setting to 722 ppi and changing it for output after the work has been completed.
    Yes I think you found and important bug.

  • Is it possible to make clipping masks only selectable within their objects?

    I sometimes work with files which have multiple objects which contain enormous clipping masks. This means whenever I go to drag-select multiple objects on a board it will always select multiple clipping masks, and essentially render this mode of selection useless.
    Is there any way to ensure that clipping masks are only ever selected within the bounds of their containing object?
    Thanks,
    Felix

    Sure.
    So I'll have a page full of pushpoints, with clipping masks applied to each to provide a photographic backdrop:
    But then if I try and select the adjacent pushpoint elements, it will also select the clipping masks, despite the fact that it doesn't actually touch its containing object.
    This has lead to quite a bit of inconvenience in many circumstances. Any idea, apart from locking the layers? I need the clipping masks to also be selected when their container layer is selected, but not the rest.
    Thanks in advance!

  • Clipping mask vs. selection?

    I want to restrict my painting to only part of an image.
    1. How is doing this with a clipping mask different from just making a selection and painting within a selection?
    2. How can I make a clipping mask to do this?
    Thanks.

    Actually with anti-aliased or softened edges of a Selection multiple brush-strokes can produce a different result than if the Layer is clipping masked (or has a Layer Mask).
    Good point! The effect would be the same as painting once each on multiple, stacked clipping masks? I think it would. My point was that selection = clipping mask = layer mask (something which interests me greatly). I wonder if there are any other ways in which they're not the same.

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