change the fill of text

[tcjay]

I am trying to change the fill of text. I have expanded the text and have the text in front of the objects I would like to use as the fill. When I create a clipping mask, only one letter has the fill, the rest of the letters are white. What gives? TIA TOm

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[blueark]

I always created outlines for the text before making a clipping mask, but I've just realised you don't have to! Just leave the text as text, and the clipping mask should work. Old habits are hard to break...

If you're stuck with outlined/expanded text, you probably need to select all the text, and create a compound path first (Object > Compound Path > Make). What's probably happening is that Illustrator is looking at each letter as a different shape, and it only uses the frontmost shape for the mask. By making a compound path, all the letters become one shape, and the mask should work.