![]() Just in case you were wondering, yes, this works on raster images as well! Conclusion Then you can continue on with whatever it is you’re working on.Īt any point you can undo the transparent gradient mask by selecting your subject and clicking the Release button in the Transparency menu. Once you are finished, make sure to navigate back to the Transparency menu and activate the subject layer by clicking on it. One thing I love about Illustrator is that you can edit opacity masks directly on the canvas!Īdjusting the handles of the gradient will allow you to control the way that the opacity mask is applied to your subject. Now you can grab the Gradient tool and adjust the gradient as needed directly on the canvas. Here’s the the Transparency menu looks with the gradient applied… Notice the black and white gradient in the opacity mask layer. Your black and white gradient will now be used as an opacity mask. With the mask layer active, navigate to Edit > Paste or press Control + V. This part is important because we want to make sure we’re applying the gradient mask to the mask layer and not the subject’s layer. It will be highlighted in blue once selected. Now we must select the mask layer by clicking on it. In an opacity mask, black areas become transparent and white areas remain opaque. This explains why your subject is now transparent. ![]() ![]() Notice how the right side is automatically filled with black. This is how the Transparency window will look once you’ve applied an opacity mask… With the Transparency menu opened, select your subject then click the Make Mask button. This is what the menu looks like… The left side of the menu represents your select object the right side represents where the opacity mask will be applied. To access the Transparency menu, navigate to Window > Transparency. The next step for creating our transparent gradient mask with Illustrator would be to open the Transparency menu. Your rectangle will disappear, but that’s okay. Select the rectangle, then navigate to Edit > Cut or press Control + X. Now we’re going to cut the object so that we can paste into a different layer momentarily. What matters is that it consists of black and white. You can choose a lineal, radial, conical, or any other gradient style you’d like. Then, grab the Gradients tool and give your rectangle a gradient of black to white. Make sure the rectangle covers your subject entirely. Next we’ll grab the Rectangle tool and create a rectangle over your subject. If your subject only consists of a single object or item then you can skip this step. To do this, select all of your objects that you’d like to apply the mask to, then navigate to Object > Group, or press Control + G. Then the mask can be applied to the grouping as a whole. Since opacity masks can only be applied to a single item at a time, the first step would be to select all of the objects and group them together. The reason why this design works as a good example is because it consists of lots of individual objects, making it a good representation of how powerful opacity masks can be. Otherwise you can use whatever graphic or image you’d like. If you want to follow along with what I’m doing then you can download free copies of these avatars here. This is a flat vector avatar that I designed for another tutorial. The standard transparency setting in Illustrator only allows you to control the visibility of the subject as a whole, but what if you only want to make specific areas of your subject transparent? Or, what if you want to make one side of your subject transparent, then slowly transition the other side to full opacity? This is where opacity masks come in handy.Ĭreate A Transparent Gradient Mask with Illustratorįor this demonstration I’ll be applying the gradient mask to the following example graphic… Using an Opacity Mask allows you to control the visibility of subjects in creative ways. For complete step-by-step instructions I would recommend watching the video tutorial below: The following is a written overview of the steps taken to create gradient masks. Then, create an object with a gradient of black to white, copy it to your clipboard, and paste it into your mask layer. To create a transparent gradient mask with Illustrator, select your object, open the Transparency menu, then click the Make Mask button.
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