In this demo, I will be showing how easy to create a clipping mask in Adobe Illustrator. I will be utilizing the ellipse tool and a photo from Pexels by Magda Ehlers.
Some things to consider according to the guidelines from adobe support:
The objects that you mask are moved into the clipping mask’s group in the Layers panel if they don’t already reside there.
Only vector objects can be clipping masks; however, any artwork can be masked.
If you use a layer or group to create a clipping mask, the first object in the layer or group masks everything that is a subset of the layer or group.
Regardless of its previous attributes, a clipping mask changes to an object with no fill or stroke.
First import create an ellipse using the ellipse tool and import your photo.
Overlap the ellipse and the image with the ellipse above the image. To do this right click the ellipse and then select Arrange>Bring to Front or use the shortcut Shift+Ctrl+].
Now select both then go to Object>Clipping Mask>Make or use the shortcut Ctrl+7. You will end up with the result like the photo below.
Adjust the photo to fit the whole ellipse by going to your layers tab expand the Clip Group and select the photo by clicking the circle to target the photo. You can move the photo around and also resize it.
The Result:
Conclusion
And there you have it you successfully created a clipping mask. You can also use this method if you want a text to have a photo as its texture/ appearance. I hope this demo help you and now you can incorporate this to your future project.
For this tutorial I will be showing a way to make a gradient color text in Adobe Illustrator. Having a gradient text can be a game changing element to a design. This helps give an eye catching appeal to any design.
To start creating the gradient you will need to first have the text that you will be using. For this, I will be using the word “hello” as an example text.
First you step to have a gradient text is to remove the fill of the text to make room for the gradient. To remove the fill grab the section tool by pressing v on the keyboard and selecting the text. click the remove fill on the toolbars tab.
If the text disappear don’t panic it should be doing that because you are removing the color fill of the text. Your next step is to open the appearance panel and add a new fill to the text. Go to Window>Appearance or press shift+f6
On the appearance panel, click the create new fill and select the gradient color fill.
To edit the color for the gradient, go to Window>Gradient or press ctrl+f9 double click the circle ends of the gradient to change the color to what ever color you would like.
You can also add another color to the gradient by hovering to the gradient slider and you see that the cursor has a plus sign under it just click and another color picker will appear. After that you are pretty much done.
Before and After
Great job! You just learn how to create a gradient text in Adobe Illustrator. Go ahead and incorporate this to your future projects. Remember to keep learning and continue to be creative.
Pathfinder Tool in Illustrator is the perfect tool to help you make a last-minute job look easy. The tool is capable of manipulating shapes and paths that you can use to speed up your workflow. Mastering the tool is important as it lets you create complex shapes very easily. In this guide, we will go over the basics of the tool to help you pick up skills that you can use to create precise shapes and paths in your illustrations and speed up your workflow.
How to Access the Pathfinder?
To access the Pathfinder Tool, you can head to the Window dropdown menu and find the Pathfinder tool. Alternatively, you can also press Shift + Ctrl + F9 to access the tool.
We can make use of the top row of buttons to make paths using the tool. You can either make both paths and compound paths using the tool. If you want to make compound shapes, you can choose from the buttons in the rows located in the tool while pressing Alt or Options key. From the menu displayed below, choose the shapes you want to use.
Shape Modes in Pathfinder Tool in Illustrator
The tools used to edit shapes are located in the top row of the Pathfinder menu.
Add to Shape Area/Unite
You can use this option to add areas of selected components with the geometry.
Subtract from Shape Area / Minus Front:
This option helps you cut out the shape of a component from the geometry behind it.
Intersect Shape Areas
You can use selected areas of a component to clip the geometry similar to a mask tool.
Exclude
You can use this option to invert the geometry. The option lets you turn holes into filled regions and vice-versa.
Effects Menu
The effects available from the Effect Menu can only be applied to layers, text objects, or groups. Once you apply an effect, you can still select your original objects and edit them. You can also make use of the Appearance panel to remove or modify any effect you want.
Pathfinder Panel
If you apply effects from the Pathfinder panel, they can be applied to layers, groups or a combination of objects. You can make use of the panel to edit the final shape and create a complex combination of shapes if you want. The objects are automatically grouped when you apply effects from the panel.
Conclusion
The Pathfinder tool in Illustrator offers full creative freedom and lets you create custom shapes suited to your needs. Making use of all the available Effects for the Pathfinder tool will let you create precise compound shapes.
Adobe Illustrator is a software application for creating drawings, illustrations, and artwork using a Windows or macOS computer. Illustrator was initially released in 1987, and updates continue to occur often. It is currently part of the Adobe Creative Cloud. Illustrator is commonly used to generate high-quality artwork by graphic designers, web designers, visual artists, and professional illustrators all around the world. Illustrator includes many sophisticated drawing tools that can reduce the time needed to create illustrations.
How An Adobe Illustrator is Used?
Digital and printed images including cartoons, charts, diagrams, graphs, logos, and drawings are made with Adobe Illustrator. A user may load a photo into Illustrator and use it as a reference to trace an item in the photo. This may be used to change the color of an image or give it a sketchy appearance. Illustrator is a great tool for creating postcards, posters, and other visual designs that blend text and images since it also lets you change the text in a number of different ways. The ability of illustrators to wrap words around a curve is highly useful for designers creating logos. Illustrator is also used to create mock-ups, which display how a finished website would look in applications or websites.
Vector Graphics in Adobe Illustrator
One of Adobe Illustrator’s most important features is that the quality of artwork created with it is independent of the resolution at which it is shown. This means that an Illustrator artwork may be stretched or shrunk without sacrificing visual quality. This is a characteristic of vector artwork, which use mathematical connections to describe lines, arcs, and other elements of an illustrator’s work. Photos that have been edited with applications such as Adobe Photoshop, on the other hand, are resolution-dependent, and visual quality decreases as an image is expanded. A vector graphic is a collection of polygons that make up a picture, which is made up of vectors. Each vector travels via a node or control point, which has a specific position on the x and y axes of a plane. Vector locations can be linked using mathematical formulas that appropriately recalculate their positions as an image is expanded.
File Formats Illustrator can Save
Illustrator’s ability to produce and alter vector pictures necessitates the use of vector graphics formats for saving files. Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), Portable Document Format (PDF), Encapsulated PostScript (EPS), Windows Metafile (WMF), and Vector Markup Language (VML) are a few of these formats.
Portable Document Format (PDF)
is a file format that Illustrator can export. It allows for images and text to display independently of hardware, software and OS. It encapsulates a complete description of flat documents with a fixed layout, including fonts, graphics and text.
Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)
is a subset of the PostScript format with additional restrictions that allow it to store graphics files. These files are generally self-contained and may be placed within another PostScript file.
Windows Metafile (WMF)
is a format that was originally used by Windows in the 1990s for which Illustrator could export. This format can store both vector graphics and bitmaps, allowing it to be used in a manner similar to the SVG format.
Vector Markup Language (VML)
This was an XML-based format for two-dimensional vector graphics that was part of the Office Open XML standards. It’s no longer supported by Internet Explorer as of 2012, although it’s still included in Office Open XML for legacy purposes, and was originally supported by Illustrator.
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
The SVG specification has been maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as an open standard since 1999. This format is based on Extended Markup Language (XML), which supports two-dimensional graphics for both animations and interactive images.
Other File Formats Illustrator can Save or Export
Illustrator can also store files in the following formats:
AutoCAD Drawing (dwg)
AutoCAD Interchange (dxf)
BMP (bmp)
Enhanced Metafile (emf)
Flash (swf)
JPEG (jpg, jpe, jpeg)
GIF
Macintosh PICT (pct)
Photoshop (psd)
PNG (png)
Targa (tga)
Text Format (txt)
TIFF (tif)
File formats Illustrator Can Import
Illustrator can import files in these formats and place them into layouts or artwork:
