Clipping Mask Headache 1

[lillei]

Hello All,

I'm new here so this is my first post. I'm a self taught illustrator user and I've been fiddling around with it for about a year or so. I'm hoping you guys can help me out.

My issue is with clipping masks. I am attempting to make a promo pass for a night club.

All I simply want to do is create a clipping mask over a rainbow background with the name of the club night. The steps I've taken are:

1. Typed the name out
2. Created outines
3. Attached a line segment to the end of the word (I needed to elongate the script of the last letter)
3. Cut and "pasted to front" the word outline and extra line over the image of the rainbow
4. Selected everything and click "clipping mask --> make"

Here's my issue - the whole thing disappears. The word outline, the extra line and the whole illustration. The clipping mask does not remove just the areas surrounding the word. It clips the whole damn thing. I can release the mask; that brings the whole background back and leaves the word art empty of fill (just the out lines)

I've tried grouping just the word art together, "Bringing to front" (via arrange) every letter and the line segment individually with mixed results.
Sometimes only one letter will work with the mask and once just the extra line segment was masked.

This has never happened to me before, I've used this technique plenty of times with no problems. I can't figure out what I am doing wrong and its driving me nuts.

Please help if you can.

Thank in advance
Lisa

 

[Matzki]

All outlined text needs to be a compound path.

 

[apepp]

...you need to have the outlined text (as Matzki indicates), one complete compound path (object > compound path > make)...

...normally you wouldn't even have to outline a font to use it as a clipping mask, it can be live, editable text, but as you have modified the shape slightly, outline fonts creates different elements, so illustrator does't calculate which one to use as the mask...

...select the outlined text, make compound (one complete element) then clip again to reveal rainbow through the text...

Andrew