combining sublayers to reduce file size

[Brook Bradbury]

So I have an ernourmous file I'm working on for a huge wall mural that's about 20 ft long by amlost 5 ft high.  I'm getting the attached error code when i try to create a clipping mask.  I've tryed to merge the sublayers to no avail in recucing the file size to make a clipping mask.  What is the best way to combine these so I can get this off to the printers.  Thanks for any advice

[Scott Falkner]

Try grouping the items you intend to mask You could also save them to a separate file, place that and mask it.

[barbara_a]

As Scott suggested, it might help to group items. When you group, all of the grouped objects will go on to a single layer.

It also looks like you have a temendous number of anchor points. You could try selecting and choosing Object > Path > Simplify. Often you can reduce the number of anchor points with this command without any noticeable differnce in the objects.

[Monika Gause]

29 sub-levels? How did you create that? Are there already clipping masks in it? Compound shapes? Groups inside groups inside groups ...?

You will need to expand a few things and/or organize this differently.

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @Brook Bradbury,

Thanks for reaching out. It seems you are getting a warning as you have reached a limitation in Illustrator. This is expected behaviour. I would recommend you to try the second option suggested by @Scott Falkner to save the 29 sub-layer in a separate file and then embed & masking the file. This way, you will have full edibility freedom.

However, if you do not want to go to such lengths, I would suggest selecting all layers and going to the Object menu > Compound Path > Make. Also, I would recommend having a backup just in case you want to edit it later.

Kindly update the discussion if you still need assistance with it. We'd be happy to help.

Regards,

Anshul Saini