Can't make a Clipping Mask?

[Kar209]

Hello:                                                                                                               Level: Newbie'ish  OS: Win7 64bit  Illy:Cs6

I am stuck with a couple steps in a tutorial

Here's the link: http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/icon-design/how-to-illustrate-a-stethoscope-icon/

My troubles are at step #12

Everything works fine until I get to the part where it says to: 'Copy the crimson circle and Paste it In Front'

.... first of all I think the copy should cover everything else, right? At least it looks that way in the tutorials' picture. Well, it doesn't cover and it seems to stay in place.

I look in the Layers palette and it shows that a Copy has been made and I look under Edit and it says under Undo: Undo Paste In Front.

Next I am suppose to Select the Crimson Circle Copy and The Blend and then go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make

Rather than it working I get an Error Message that says: 'Can't Make Clipping Mask, The Top Selected Object Must Be A Path, A Compound Shape, A text Object Or A Group Of Those'

No matter what I do I cannot make a Clipping Mask in this manner.

Does anyone have any ideas? I have read a lot about Clipping Mask today and have looked in the FAQ's to no avail.

I would Greatly Grealy appreciate any and all help.

(If you've been affected by Storm Sandy I hope all is well with you, that you're doing better and that you're staying warm. God Speed.)

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post and for trying to help me.

[emil_emil · Accepted solution]

Copy in Front pastes the copied object in front of the selection, and only if there is no selection then in front (top of the stack) in the currently highlighted layer or the top of the stack in the same layer if "Paste Remembers Layers" option is checked from the menu of the Layer's panel. The tutorial fails to tell in that step that you have to first deselect the object you copied or select the object you want to paste in front of, which in your case is the blend.

You can not use a blend object as a clipping mask and that's why you are getting the error. When you select as a top object a regular path as the circle you are trying to paste in front of the blend then the clipping will work.

[Wade_Zimmerman1]

Instead of Paste In Front use the command Paste in Place then select the blend and the copied circle and then make the Clipping Mask

If you use place in front it only paste the object directly above the object being copied and then you have to use the layers panel to move the pasted copy above the blend.

Paste in place will paste the object in the same position but above the blend.

[Wade_Zimmerman1]

Keep in mind that Paste in Place psae the object in the top of other objects in that layer so on certain occasions you might need to use the layr panel to select the other object(s) that you wish to clip.

[Kar209]

emil and wade

thanks so much to the both of you!!

sorry for just getting back now. i couldn't log into the forums i kept being told i didn't have permission for some reason.

any way, before i was able to read your responses what i ended up doing was making a copy and then making a new layer and then pasting the copy in place on the new layer and then selecting the blend and the copy together and then the mask worked that way.

your means sounds a lot better and i have written down everything in my notebook for future circumstances.

emil ... i've never even seen the "Paste Remembers Layers"  so, thank you for pointing that out to me

as always, i really appreciate your time and help!!

Take care

[twana254509411pqt]

Thank you so much