Make Opacity Mask with a Gradient in Adobe Illustrator CS6
Edited by Freya, VisiHow, Eng
You're watching VisiHow. In this tutorial, we're going to show you how to create an opacity mask with a gradient in Adobe Illustrator CS6 in Windows 7.
Steps
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To begin, open Illustrator on your desktop by clicking it or by clicking the Windows icon in the lower-left corner of your screen
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This will reveal a list of your recently used programs where you may find Illustrator. It has a brown-and-orange icon with the letters "Ai".
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If you still can't find Illustrator, use your search bar along the bottom and start typing "Adobe Illustrator"
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Click "Adobe Illustrator CS6"
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It will immediately start loading and will take you directly to your workspace.
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From the workspace, create a document by clicking "New..."
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You can also open an existing document in the menu as well.
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There are other VisiHow tutorials on how to open and create documents.
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Place an image by clicking "File"
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There is another VisiHow tutorial on how to place images in a document.
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The size of the image can be reduced to fit on the canvas
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Add a filled background layer
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If you need help completing these steps in Adobe Illustrator, please view our other Illustrator tutorials.
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Then, click "Rectangle Tool"
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Click the fill color box
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Click and drag the cursor over the canvas to create a shape
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It will go over the image.
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Click and drag the rectangle off the image a bit
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Click the background image
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Right-click the background image
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Move the cursor to "Arrange"
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Click and drag the rectangle behind the image
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There are other VisiHow tutorials on how to arrange layers.
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Next, create another shape
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Click "Rectangle Tool".
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Click and drag the cursor over the image
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Click the "Gradient" icon
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Click the "Gradient" tab.
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The gradient will be applied. Experiment with the "Gradient" settings.
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Click the black arrow icon at the top-left side of the vertical toolbar
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Click the gradient object
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This will highlight the top layer that you want to be the transparency mask. A blue frame and corners will appear around the shape, letting you know it is selected and ready for editing.
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Press and hold "Shift" and click the background image
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Click the "Transparency" tab in the expanded "Gradient" menu
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Within the "Transparency" tab, click the small icon with a plus sign
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It is in the upper-right corner. A new drop-down menu will appear.
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Click "Make Opacity Mask"
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You can see that where the gradient box was white, you are able to see the image. The mask fades in the black area of the gradient.
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You can click and drag the gradient layer around
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Click the mask in the "Transparency" tab
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Now, you can begin to edit the mask.
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You can adjust the image size, rotation, etc
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Let's rotate it by clicking and dragging the blue frame corner. You will notice that rotating the mask will reveal different sections of the image.
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You can edit other settings in the horizontal toolbar along the top
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You can apply a blur, adjust the opacity, etc., by clicking the various drop-down menus.
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You can also click "Effect" and apply various filters
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There other VisiHow videos on that.
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If you want to edit the whole selection, click the left thumbnail in "Transparency"
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You can check "Invert Mask"
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It is recommended to experiment with the settings.
This was a VisiHow tutorial on how to create an opacity mask with a gradient in Adobe Illustrator CS6 in Windows 7. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments section below. Thank you for watching VisiHow!
Video: Make Opacity Mask with a Gradient in Adobe Illustrator CS6
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Software
Recent edits by: VisiHow, Freya