Crop in adobe illustrator

The first step is to place an image in your Illustrator document using the Crop Tool. Click on the image to open it. Choose Crop Image from the menu. I cannot crop my image in Illustrator.

The Crop Tool will display the crop button if you select your image. In the tool panel, it does not appear when an image is not selected. It is important to have both the shape mask and the image selected to crop if you are using the clipping mask or opacity mask method. This selects all objects, including the clipping mask shape. Click Object. It's in the menu bar at the top of Illustrator. This displays a drop-down menu. Click Clipping Mask. It's near the bottom of the drop-down menu below "Object".

This displays a sub-menu to the left. Click Make. This creates a clipping mask. A clipping mask uses the top object to crop all objects below it. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube. Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. You Might Also Like How to. How to. About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: Updated: May 6, Categories: Adobe Illustrator.

Article Summary X 1. In other languages Italiano: Ritagliare in Illustrator. Deutsch: In Illustrator zuschneiden.

Nederlands: Een afbeelding bijsnijden in Illustrator. Bahasa Indonesia: Memotong di Adobe Illustrator. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read , times. Is this article up to date?

Cookies make wikiHow better. Therefore, their contents change dependant on what type of object s is selected. This screenshot was taken with only a single placed image selected. The Properties Panel has also evolved with subsequent iterations of the Creative Cloud; therefore, depending on the version of the Illustrator CC you are running, you may see differences. With the single placed or embedded image still selected, click on the Mask button in the Control or Properties panel.

Drag any of the mid-edge or corner handles that are placed around the image to change the size of the vector mask. Continue to edit the handles until you're happy with the result. As soon as you start to do another operation in Illustrator, all automatic vector mask editing is fixed. To target select the clipping path, click on the "meatball" icon as highlighted here below. With the single placed or embedded image still selected, click on the Crop Image button in the Control or Properties Panel.

Note: if the image was linked rather than embedded, the warning dialogue will be presented stating "Cropping a linked file embeds a copy of the original. The original file at the linked location is not affected. This is a welcome feature to automatically perform this logical operation. Unlike with the Mask button, a much clearer change of annotation surrounding the image is presented. The Control and Properties Panels both also temporarily change whilst the crop is taking place.

Click-and-drag any of the mid-edge or corner image handles. Holding down Alt will also ensure that any changes are mirrored on the opposite side or corner. Numerical controls are also presented in the Control and Properties Panels to precisely state the image dimensions. It's also possible to simultaneously re-sample the image to a different resolution from current using the PPI value presented in the Properties Panel. When happy with the crop, click on the Apply button in the Control and Properties Panels.

The resultant image now has the excess image data removed. Note that unless you Undo the operation now, without resorting to re-placing the image in the document, there's no way to revert back to the original un-cropped image. Several years before Adobe got around to adding true image cropping to Adobe Illustrator, Astute Graphics introduced the Rasterino plugin.

This product, now part of our subscription , features the Crop Image Tool. Anything from circles, diamonds, hexagons, the shape of a logo. A clipping mask can be anything. Also, clipping masks are non-destructive and do not delete the unwanted area in a graphic.

Instead, that part of the image is hidden. If your crop needs an adjustment, all you need to do is move the image below the clipping mask. First, you have to create the shape in which you want to crop.

This is also known as a clipping path. If you have the shape already simply add it to your canvas on top of the object you want to crop. First, draw the shape in which you want to crop your image or add a pre-existing shape to your canvas and color it black or white. In opacity masks, white means that the image will be opaque in that area.

While black means that the image will be completely transparent. Grays indicate a fade from opaque to transparent or a gradient. Select both the image and the shape. A new panel will appear. There you will have to click Make Mask , but be sure the Clip box is checked. To crop an image in Illustrator you can also go for the quick and dirty artboard alternative. This will only work with rectangular crops, of course.

Your graphic is still pretty much whole on the page, just outside the edges on the Artboard. The method is very simple. Click on the Artboard icon and change its shape to the area you want to crop. Then export the file! The process is in reality much simpler than it sounds. Create a shape that covers the entire size of your graphic using the rectangle tool.