How to minus front a shape from an image

default,

As I (mis)understand it, you wish to hide the part of the image behind the actual shape.

In addition to what Kurt and Jane said, you can use the actual shape as an Opacity Mask if you turn it black (or white and Invert Mask), or you can add a sufficiently large shape and make a Compound Path with the actual shape as the hole and use it as a Clipping Mask.

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@default23137912fchw1r wrote:

The minus front works fine on my PC for shapes but not the image. 

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This is correct and by design. Be sure the vector object (can be text) is above your image in the Layers panel, select both, then Choose Object > Clipping Mask > Make. Details here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/clipping-masks.html

Jane

You may use clipping paths or opacity masks to do it.