Can Halftone do this? 1

[Raider1983]

Want to fade a color from solid to clear using less dots or pixels so that the back ground color begins to show through. Can this be done in Illustrator CS?

 

[blueark]

Yes, but it's a bit tricky. You have to create an "Opacity Mask". Let's say you have a solid blue rectangle that you want to fade.

1: Duplicate the object directly on top of itself. There are several ways to do this; out of habit, I usually just double-click the scale tool, make sure it's set to 100% and click copy.

2: Change the top object fill to a black to white gradient.

3: Select BOTH objects, then open the Transparency palette (Window > Transparency).

4: In the fly-out menu, select "Make Opacity Mask".

That should do it. If you want to alter the gradient, select the object, and both the solid color shape and the gradient mask should be visible in the transparency palette. Clicking on the mask lets you edit it in isolation, so you can use the gradient tool to alter the gradient any way you like. You can also add to it, or change the shape if you like. To stop editing the mask, and return to the illustration, you must click on the left hand thumbnail in the Transparency palette.

 

[blueark]

Incidently, opacity masks can also be used for coloring photos. Draw a colored shape, place a photo over it, select both, and make an opacity mask.

 

[Raider1983]

Thanks blueark, that worked but I'm also trying to use a larger pixel so as the color fades, you can actually see the seperate "dots" of color and as it fades, the dots gets farther apart. This style is used alot on offroad vehicle graphics. Any ideas?

 

[Raider1983]

Just got the dot problem solved but now I can't move the object on top of another one. Want this fading object on top of a different colored object and as the dots fade, the different colored object shows through. Am I asking too much?

 

[Raider1983]

Never mind . . . I just discovered LAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks again for the help!

 

[kpeatt]

Raider - I'm also trying to accomplish the same thing. How do you make the dots large enough to see?

 

[kpeatt]

Also - I know about the Color Halftone filter - I am attempting to accomplish this using vector paths, not simulated halftones via the filter.

 

[Raider1983]

Not sure about doing this using vector paths - I'm still an infant on this program. I have been able to change the dot size by following blueark's instructions, then clicking on the object with the dots, going up to the "Appearance" Box and double clicking on the Half-Tone entry. A box will appear when you can change the size of the dots. That's as sophisticated as I get at this time. Good luck!