Hide parts of artwork, images, and other content with masks in Adobe Illustrator.
What you'll need
What you learned: How to crop content by applying a mask
A mask is a vector shape that you use to hide parts of other content. The shape that is to become the mask must be on top of the content that you mask.
Mask the content
- Ensure that the vector shape to be the mask is in front of the content to be masked.
- Select the vector shape and the content to be masked.
- Choose Object > Clipping Mask > Make. The selected content becomes a clip group.
Edit the mask or content
There are a couple different ways to edit a mask or the content being masked.
- With the clip group selected, click the Edit Clipping Path button at the top of the Properties panel to select and edit the mask, or click the Edit Contents button to select and edit the masked content.
Double-click the clip group with the Selection tool selected to enter Isolation mode. Then select the mask and the content separately.
