Change a square picture into a circle

[zatannna]

Hi,

I have illustrator CS3 - I am making badges and want to change a picture I already have from a square into a circle. I am taking the notebook with me on site and I am not sure if anything but illustrator can run on it. i.e I know I can do it in photoshop but am worried about the poor little bugger screaming blue murder!

So is this possible in Illustrator? I am open to suggestions for other apps that arent so memory hungry like word; gimp maybe?

Thanks

[zatannna]

lol figuerd it out clipping mask! heres how its done for anyone in the future:

1) File place and open the picture u want

2) Put an elipse over the picture - the part you want to keep

3) choose select all from menu (important!) make sure no other pics are open on the page (miske I made)

4)Object; Cliping mask, make or ctr 7 and voila!

[David5EAA]

This is finally the answer I 've been looking for! Exactly right, thanks!

[kendallplant · Accepted solution]

Glad you hear that you solved your issue!

For future questions regarding Illustrator, pleas post in the general Illustrator forum: http://forums.adobe.com/community/illustrator

For those working in Photoshop, here is a step-by-step guide on using clipping masks to create a circular image out of a square image.

Open up your image in Photoshop. Using the Eliptical Marquee Tool (see below), drag a circle around the area of your image that you want to keep. (Hold down Shift on your keyboard as you drag to create a perfect circle)

In your layers panel, click on the Add Mask icon, shown below.

You now have a clipped image!

[Luanne_Seymour]

Hi. This forum is for beginners trying to learn the basics of Photoshop.  I'm moving your question to the Illustrator forum for specialized attention to your situation.

[EricaLynneLarson]

Hi Zatanna,

If you want to learn a little more about clipping masks or opacity masks, we have a few videos that may interest you.

This first video explains the process you landed on plus how to edit your mask path:

The next video deals with opacity masks, which are kind of like a clipping mask's cooler, smarter older brother. Try them out!