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Illustrator CS2

Multi-Shape Clipping Mask

Many times when you want to work with multiple shapes all you have to do is group them. For creating a Clipping Mask, however, grouping objects together is not the answer.

object to be masked

objects to be used for the clipping mask

Here’s what happens when you try to create a Clipping Mask out of a group:

group mask

The extra lines you see around the beta are the result of previous masking done on the illustration. More than one Clipping Mask can be used over the same objects, but that is something to discuss at another time.

In order to make a Clipping Mask out of multiple objects, you’ll first have to create a Compound Path.

To create a Compound Path, click on all the objects that will eventually make up the mask.

Open the Pathfinder palette (Window » Pathfinder) and click on the Add to shape area button, then click on the Expand button. This will easily create the Compound Path.

pathfinder palette

Once the Compound Path is created, select it and the object(s) to be masked, right-click and choose Make Clipping Mask.

pop-up menu

Don’t “alt + click” on the Add to shape area button because the result, even though expanded, will be a group, which is not what we want.

When in doubt of what the result from the Pathfinder palette is, take a look at the layers palette.

the result is a group

the result is a compound path

Because my example contains shapes that overlaps, I can’t right-click nor use the Object menu and select Make Compound Path because the overlapping area will be subtracted.

overlapping shapes

Even though the Pathfinder palette might demand an extra step (clicking the Expand button), I prefer to create the Compound Path through since there are more possibilities of how each shape will interact with each other during the process (i.e., I can choose to cut the overlapping areas or merge them).

And here’s the result:

result

Tools, Menus and Palettes · Jun 15, 2007 ·