The vector part, though hasn’t been cropped yet as shows the following image: Cropped raster, uncropped vector layer Once you’ve done this, you’re done with the raster aspect. Drag the corners/anchors to crop your image exactly the way you want (as. Then click the Crop Image button on the upper toolbar. Select your image with the Selection Tool. IT IS INTERESTING: How do you Unisolate layers in Illustrator But it’s only available for Illustrator CC users. Once the stripes dissociated, you can crop only the uppermost strip that you want to keep, like this: Cropping the uppermost stripĮrase all the strips above (you don’t need them anymore). Cropping an image in Illustrator CC using the Crop button. Dissociate like this: Dissociating horizontal stripes Otherwise, Illustrator crops all grouped elements individually, which would turn your bacground into a zebra. Moving lateral line of the rectangle, then, will not make the image smaller but will crop it horizontally:ĭissociate all strips before cropping vertically. On this, prese the button “modify the clipping mask” (modifier le masque d’écretage in my French version of Illustrator) Modify the clipping mask (modifier le masque d’écretage) By default an image options menu will appear just below the menu bar. To do so, first dissociate the vector layer from the raster strips. Say the following rectangle: Area to crop In this – as in many other situations – you might need to crop the image to a specific area.
#How to crop in illustrator series#
Both of these cropping methods are simple enough to do and will work effectively, although a clipping mask gives you more freedom and flexibility.When you export maps from ESRI ArcMap to Adobe Illustrator, the raster background is by default exported as a series of associated bitmap strips, with superposed vector polygons.Here an example: Bitmap strips (detoured in orange) and vector polygon layer (in blue) It enables you to select only specific parts of images for you to use to create a completely new one. the shape you drew, to crop all objects below.Ĭropping in Illustrator is a very useful feature. The clipping mask will now use the top object, i.e. You will now see a side menu opening here, you can click on ‘Make’.
Then, from the drop-down list, choose ‘ Clipping Mask ’. Using the selection tool, drag over the entire image you want to select, including the clipping mask shape. Next, you’ll have to use the ‘Selection’ tool, which can be found in the toolbox and is represented by a black arrow. You will have to place the shape over the part of the image you want to keep. You can also use the ‘Pen’ tool to draw your own shape, which is ideal for those custom images. You can use the ‘Ellipse’ tool to draw a circle or use the ‘Rectangle’ tool for a square or rectangle. You can draw any object over the area you wish to crop. – This is where using a clipping mask gives you more options. Launch Adobe Illustrator and open an existing project or start a new one. This is an ideal tool if the section you need isn’t in a simple square/rectangular shape. However, it is essential to know that once you click on ‘Apply’, the rest of the image will be permanently removed, and there will be no way to see those parts again unless you upload the original image and crop it again.Ĭlip masking is a more accurate way to crop out a specific part of the image you need. Once you are happy with the chosen cropped image, you can click on ‘Apply’ to make the crop final. Once you drag the crop marks in, it will be shown with a dotted line and the parts outside of the crop marks will go lighter so that you can see your cropped image. You can click on the sides and drag them into your desired location. The crop marks will be on the border of the image. By clicking on this button, you will be able to crop your selected image. You will see a’ Crop’ option in the ‘Options’ menu that appears just below the main menu. You can do this by simply clicking on the image you want to crop. To crop an image using the crop button, you have to have something selected first. To do this, start a new project, and then click on ‘File’ in the menu and choose ‘Place’ to add your vector image. If you want to crop a vector file, you will first have to embed the image in a new Illustrator file. To start cropping your image, you have to launch Adobe Illustrator and either open an existing project by clicking on ‘Open’ or start one by clicking on ‘New’. You can do the image cropping, but Adobe Photoshop is the best. – Launch Illustrator and Open or Start a Project If you need to crop an image or photo, Adobe Illustrator is not the best tool to do that. This is one of the easiest ways to crop an image and is ideal for clipping the edges or changing the image’s shape.