Creating transparency gone wrong

Question

I need help understanding creating transparency masks in Adobe Illustrator. I am adding black and white graphics via the Place command. After I do this, I add them to other black backgrounds. With this encompassed selection, which is what I want the white areas to become transparent, I then group everything and use the Transparency Panel. Sometimes it works. I mean, the white areas become transparent so that I can export a PNG from Export Screens. Other times, I cannot understand what keeps the graphic's white part from becoming transparent. Can anybody give me some insight on what I could be doing wrong? Thanks

ridley_0243 · Accepted Answer

I figured out what my problem was. I was not understanding how a mask works. I should have figured this out because I understand it in Photoshop. However, I was trying to turn a graphic into a mask. I did not understand that a mask is added to a graphic. I see now that if I cut the black and white graphic, then click the graphic, and use “Make Mask”, it will disappear. Then, I can click the mask chip and paste the mask. This will cut out any white area and give me a transparent result. Thanks for all the help and advice.

Kurt Gold · Answer

Can you share a sample file including one of the placed files (embedded) and some further instructions?

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