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?

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded