Cropping/Clipping Naive Request

[ccuny]

Hi,

New to Illustrator, better versed in Photoshop, I have a big problem trying not to draw parallels.

I traced a photgraph into a blac and white vector. Central to the trace is the face in teh picture, and I am trying to get rid of everything else. In Photoshop, the quickest way would be to crop the area required. However, no such thing in Illustrator.

My question is: is there an equivalent to cropping in Illustrator and failing that, what is the quickest method I should use to isolate part of my traced image?

Thank you for your suggestions: I am stuck...

Chris

 

[jmgalvin]

Probably the easiest way woudl be to add a new blank layer. do the trace on that and hide the layer with the photo to see how you've done. If satisfied, trash teh original layer.

To crop in AI draw (or use a shape like rectangle, etc) around somenting. Don't fill or stroke what you just made. Go to Object Menu/Clipping Mask and select Make. You cna also get the command by right clicking the littl triangle on the layers palette.

Using OSX 10.3.9 on a G4

 

[ccuny]

Thank you very much!

Yes, I can get a clipping path ok. What it does is hide the part of the trace I do not want, but the rest is still there, available on request. How do i make that clipping "permanent" inorder to retain only the part I need? This is not an easy one because in asking how I can destroy part of the trace, I suppose I am cutting right through paths so that some remain "open". I am not sure how AI deals with that (indeed whether that is possible).

On another note, if anyone reads this: the Live Trace feature in AICS2 is amazing, but I am getting very mixed results. THis is normal as I suspect no amount of auto0trace will replace a manual work. Still, because I cannot use AI (just starting out), the Livre Trace is all I have. Does anyone know where I can find extra presets or tips on how best to present an image to trace (what treament I can give it in Photoshop to make it easier for Live Trace tp produce better results)? I'll take any suggestion!

Thank you again.

Chris

 

[jmgalvin]

You can simply copy what you've selected to the clipboard, make a new layer and paste. Then dump the layers yu don't need anymore.

Using OSX 10.3.9 on a G4

 

[ccuny]

When I select copy paste, I get an empty rectangle (my selection area or clipping path created earlier). I cannot get a paste in a new layer with content that is just what is inside the clipping path. Sorry, Lame.

 

[moriaorc]

Try this:

Place a rectange over your illustration exactly where you want to crop the illustration, make sure the rectagle is selected, then go to Object>Path>Divide Objects Below. This will cut the illustration on the lines of the rectangle, and you can simply remove the unwanted bits.

 

[ccuny]

Most Excellent! Thank you...