Transfer Illustrator Clipping Masks to Photoshop (with an image)

[Andymc7]

Hey everyone,

This could be an off-the-wall question, but here goes...
I really like the new curve tool in Illustrator. So when clipping images in Photoshop I find myself wishing I could use it on object that have many curves, instead of using the pen tool to click, move points, zoom in and out, drag handles, readjust handles... bla bla. So my question is, is there a way to open a raster image in AI, create a clipping mask with a path, then import it into PS, with the vector path and image stil intact?

Thanks for any and all replies!

-Andy

[John Mensinger]

Well, what you're theorizing about is possible, with some pitfalls.

I'm, inclined to mention that while I understand there are entirely justifiable Illustrator workflows that involve raster image import/export, I personally avoid it like the plague. (In fact, my current workflows rarely involve any raster images, so I surely may be a bit behind the times on this.)

If you Place the image in Illustrator, then use Illustrator tools to draw up a clipping path, you can indeed then export a layered .psd file* that includes your Illustrator work. There may be one, but I don't see a way to preserve the Illustrator path as a proper vector path. So barring someone else's discovery, let's assume your path gets rasterized. With that in mind, I'd suggest filling the path with white prior to export, and making sure "Write Layers" is ticked in Illustrator's Photoshop Export dialog. With the exported .psd opened back in Photoshop, it's then easy to use the white-filled-path layer to load a selection and convert it to a Layer Mask on the image (which is preferable to a clipping path anyway, IMO).

* Don't mistake this for a clean round-trip in and out of Illustrator. You will literally be writing a new image file when you export, subject to new settings, probably having lost any original EXIF data, metadata, etc.

[rcraighead]

Sure, just open or place the raster file in AI, make the clipping path and copy/paste the path into PS if you want the path in the original PS file. When you paste a path from AI to PS it will ask what kind of data you want. Choose "Path". Then align it to the file and set as vector mask.

[Andymc7]

Thank you both for the quick replies,

John, I certainly agree that raster images and AI don't play nice together at all. In your method I'd have to save as tif, which of course is usually a much bigger file than a jpeg. Jpegs with vector clipping paths is what I usually save out of PS (on "hard-edged" items), then place in InDesign, which automatically "sees" the clipping path and,  voila. So, I'd rather try to find a solution that allows me to save the smaller jpegs. But thanks anway.

Craig, I've certainly considered the ol copy-paste method as you describe, however the path comes into PS not perfectly aligned with the item I'm trying to clip, making it very tedious. If there's a method you would use to align the path to the image, I'm all ears. But thanks also.

-Andy

[rcraighead · Accepted solution]

You could add simple rectangle that matches the dimensions of the photo, then delete it after you've pasted into PS.

[Andymc7]

Of course! Lol. Yes! TWO paths. One meant to clip, the other matching the height and width of the image. Wow, what a "duh" moment for me. Thanks. the only small issue with this method is that I'd of course have to have AI and PS open at once, and, often InDesign as well. For some reason my pc doesn't like all 3 open, especially if one of the 3 is Illustrator. Things get a bit bogged down. But,  you know what they say about beggars and choosers .

Anyway, until I can save directly out of AI as a clipping path jpeg, I guess that's the method I can use.

Thanks again,

-Andy