How to crop a picture in - Illustrator

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Good afternoon friends! Adobe illustrator is an application for working with vector graphics on Windows and Mac OS. Use it to create logos, advertisements, prepare images for printing in a printing house. The editor's capabilities are most fully implemented in conjunction with adobe photoshop, but many functions work without involving a single program. In particular, the crop option is available in illustrator.

Is there a function for cropping (cropping) images in adobe illustrator

As in many other graphics applications, Adobe Illustrator has the ability to change the size and shape of a raster and vector image.

This has not always been the case. In earlier versions of the editor, this feature was not. The developers believed that there is Photoshop for cropping raster drawings, and the illustrator does not need such a tool.

How to crop a raster and vector image in Adobe Illustrator

The adobe illustrator graphics editor allows you to crop vector and bitmap images.

open the desired file,
Using the selection tool, mark the borders of the cropped photo. You can select only one object. Standard cropping is done only in the shape of a rectangle. The resulting circuit cannot be rotated,
on the control panel, click “Crop Image”, click on enter if you are working on windows, return when using Mac OS or “apply”.

On a tablet on windows, there is no such function.

In the event that you are working with related files, trimming will lead to their combination.

There are several ways to change the dimensions of the contour used for cropping:

stretch the sides and corners of the frame,
specify the desired dimensions on the control panel.

By holding shift, you can zoom in proportion. Pressing alt will zoom in the center.

How to crop an image in an illustrator by a shape (contour)

Adobe illustrator allows you to crop a bitmap image along the contour.

There are several ways to crop illustrations from an outline:

draw the desired outline or shape in the application. Use it as a mask for the image you are editing. The upper contour acts as a template,
take an eraser and delete unnecessary details,
create a contour in Photoshop (for example, outline the picture you are interested in), save the file in PSD format, place it in illustrator, place it above the cropped illustration and apply cropping.

Adobe illustrator has a limited cropping feature. For this purpose, it is more convenient to use other adobe editors. However, you can also trim in this application.

Instruction manual

Open the Adobe Illustrator application and click on the File menu item, select the Open command and select the desired picture on the computer, click the "Open" button. You can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + O to open the browse window.
Activate the Rectangle Tool function, you can use the "hot key" M to call it. Rectangle Tool Function

Set the value in the toolbar, in the Stroke field, to 1, and in the box for selecting the color of the rectangle, set to None. Using this tool, circle the desired part of the image that should remain.

Now you need to go to the layers panel, to do this, open the Windows menu and select the Layers command or press the F7 hot key. On the computer keyboard, hold down the Ctrl button and click on the small circle, which is located next to the selected image fragment. After performing these steps, the marker should be highlighted with an additional circle, this will indicate that the desired image layer is selected.

Make sure that you have correctly marked the cropping area and click on the Object menu, select the Clipping Mask function and select Make.

Clipping Mask and Make Functions

These actions can be performed using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + 7.

In order to crop the image in Adobe Illustrator, you can use a number of other tools. For example, replace the Rectangle Tool with the Type Tool option in the above method (you can call it with the “hot button” T). You can cut out not only a rectangle from the image, but also create a certain inscription from the image, the background of which will be filled not with color, but with image fragments. You can experiment with clipping with the Pen Tool or Paintbrush Tool and many others, all of them are original and will give you the opportunity to show your creativity.

Open the File menu and select Save as, specify the directory for storing your image, enter its name and select the jpg extension. Press Enter on your keyboard.

Method 1: Artboard Tool

With this tool, you can crop the work area along with all the objects located there. This method is great for simple vector shapes and simple images. The instruction is as follows:

"File"

"Save as ..."

To remove part of the workspace, select the desired tool in Toolbars. Its icon looks like a square with small lines emanating from the corners. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Shift + othen the tool will be selected automatically.

After that, the unnecessary part of the figure or image will be deleted along with part of the artboard. If inaccuracy was made somewhere, you can return everything back using the key combination Ctrl + Z. Then repeat step 3 so that the shape is cropped as you need.

The file can be saved in Illustrator format if you will edit it in the future. If you are going to post it somewhere, you will have to save it in JPG or PNG format. To do this, click "File", select "Save for web" or "Export" (there are practically no differences between them). When saving, select the desired format, PNG is the original quality and transparent background, and JPG / JPEG is not.

It should be understood that this method is suitable only for the most primitive works. Users who often work with Illustrator prefer to use other methods.

Method 2: other cropping shapes

This method is somewhat more complicated than the previous one, so it should be considered with a specific example. Suppose you want to cut one corner from a square so that the cut-off point is round. A step-by-step instruction will look like this:

First, draw a square with the appropriate tool (instead of a square, there can be any figure, even which is made with "Pencil" or "Pen").
Place a circle on top of the square (you can also place any shape you want instead). The circle must be placed on the corner that you plan to remove. The boundary of the circle can be adjusted directly to the center of the square (Illustrator will mark the center of the square in contact with the boundary of the circle).

In our case, we need to make sure that the circle overlaps the square. If you did everything in accordance with the first and second points, then it will be on top of the square. If it is under it, then right-click in a circle, from the drop-down menu, move the cursor to "Arrange", and then "Bring to Front".

Now select both shapes and go to the tool "Pathfinder". At you it can be in the right panel. If it is not there, then click on the item Windows at the top of the window and select from the entire list "Pathfinder". You can also use the program search, which is located in the upper right part of the window.

AT "Pathfinder" click on item "Minus front". Its icon looks like two squares, where the dark square overlaps the light one.

Using this method, you can process figures of medium complexity. At the same time, the workspace does not decrease, and after cropping, you can continue to work with the object further without restrictions.

Method 3: Clipping Mask

We will also consider this method using the example of a circle and a square, only now it will be necessary to crop ¾ from the area of the circle. This is the instruction for this method:

"Stroke"

Edit the size and position of the shapes so that the cropped area best suits your expectations. To do this, use a tool that looks like a black cursor. Stretching or narrowing the figures, clamp Shift - In this way you will ensure proportional transformation of objects.

Select both shapes and go to the tab. "Object" in the top menu. Find there "Clipping mask", in the pop-up submenu click on "Make". To simplify the whole procedure, simply select both shapes and use the key combination Ctrl + 7.

After applying the clipping mask, the image remains intact, and the stroke disappears. The object is cropped as needed, the rest of the image becomes invisible, but it is not deleted.

The mask can be adjusted. For example, move in any direction, increase or decrease. At the same time, the images that remain under it are not deformed.

To remove the mask, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Z. But if you have already done any manipulations with the finished mask, then this is not the fastest method, since initially all the last actions in turn will be canceled. To quickly and painlessly remove the mask, go to "Object". There, open the submenu again "Clipping mask", and then "Release".

Using this method, you can crop more complex shapes. Just those who work professionally with Illustrator prefer to use masks to crop images inside the program.

Method 4: transparency mask

This method also involves masking images, and at some points is similar to the previous one, but it is more labor intensive. A step-by-step instruction is as follows:

By analogy with the first steps of the previous method, it is necessary to draw a square and a circle (in your case, it can be other shapes, just the method is considered using their example). Draw these shapes so that the circle overlaps the square. If you didn’t succeed, then right-click on the circle, from the drop-down menu select "Arrange", and then "Bring to Front". Adjust the size and position of the shapes as you need to avoid problems in the next steps. The stroke is optional.
Fill the circle with a black and white gradient, selecting it in the color palette.

The direction of the gradient can be changed using the tool Gradient Lines at Toolbars. This mask considers white as opaque and black as transparent, therefore, in that part of the figure where the transparent fill should be, dark shades should prevail. Also, instead of a gradient, there may simply be a white color or a black and white photo if you would like to create a collage.

Select two shapes and create a mask of transparency. To do this, in the tab Windows find "Transparency". A small window will open where you need to click on the button "Make mask"that is on the right side of the screen. If there is no such button, then open the special menu using the button in the upper right corner of the window. In this menu you will need to select "Make Opacity Mask".

After masking, it is advisable to check the box next to the function "Clip". This is necessary so that cropping was performed as correctly as possible.

Play with Blend Modes (this is a drop-down menu that is signed by default "Normal"located at the top of the window). In different blending modes, the mask may be displayed differently. It’s especially interesting to change the blending modes if you made a mask based on some black and white photograph, and not a monotonous color or gradient.

You can also adjust the transparency of the shape in "Opacity".

To mark the mask, just click on the button in the same window "Release", which should appear after you apply the mask. If this button is not there, then just go to the menu by analogy with the 4th item and select there "Release Opacity Mask".

Trimming any image or figure in Illustrator makes sense only if you already work with it in this program. To crop a normal image in JPG / PNG format, it is better to use other image editors, for example, MS Paint, installed by default in Windows.

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