Clipping Mask

Whether you are a trained graphic designer, plan to be, or just like to play around with the Adobe programs for fun, you will most likely appreciate this tip. As a graphic designer, I spend a lot of time in front of my computer with about 15 programs open at once. One of those programs is almost always Adobe Illustrator. When I am designing something like an ad or an invitation, sometimes I have photos or other design elements that bleed off of the document’s edge. This is most of the time because it is a big pattern, object photo etc. and I only want to use a portion of it. When I save the file and get it ready for print, the document shows only what is within the document’s set size, however, when something goes off of the edge like that, it can be quite distracting and it becomes hard for me to visualize what the final product will look like. That is why clipping masks are great. When you find yourself in a situation like I have described above, all you have to do is draw yourself a box with your shape tool along the edge of the document so that there is nothing but an outline (no color fill). Then, you select that box and everything that you want to stop from bleeding off the edge and go up to Object where you will find Clipping Mask under the drop down menu. Roll over Clipping Mask but do not click it. Another sub drop down menu will appear in which you will see the option to Make. Once you roll your mouse over the word Make you can go ahead and click it and your clipping mask keeps everything within the shape you created. This tool is also great when you need to create bleeds in your document for printing. If you have any other tips or experiences with the clipping mask, please share!

*This tip is based off of Adobe CS4 capabilities. Other program versions may vary.

Written by: Jen Ebenrick