Bleed on a image

[Topic]

Lets say i have a square with a black fill, now i place a pattern i have created which is red on top of that box. the red pattern comes over the squares edges so i want to cut them off right on the edge of the square instead of having them bleed off of the square. What is the easiest way of doing this? I tried to cut the pattern manually with the direct selection tool but its just too much, is there a way to mask it out? I actually have a much more detailed subject than a square but to keep it simple i chose to use the square as an example. Thanks

 

[apepp]

...you need a shape that defines the area you need to clip to, in your example you need a square ON TOP of the pattern...

...select both the square and the pattern below it, choose object > clipping mask > make...

andrew

 

[Topic]

ahhh that makes sense. But Is there a way to permanently discard the bleeding areas though? Cut them out for instance? Thanks for the responce

 

[apepp]

...pathfinder palette, crop function, but this all depends on the structure of the object you need to crop, strokes need to expanded for example...

andrew

 

[apepp]

...when dealing with complicated structures, you find that you need to perform one function before another with the pathfinder palette, breaking it down into it's simplest form without losing appearance, this can mean using the object>compound path>make function sometimes...

...it can also get challenging when special effects are used, so in most complex situations your better off just using a clipping path, not only because it is non-destructive, but also flexible when you hit a situation further down the workflow that requires you to change something and wishing you hadn't deleted huge areas of structure...

andrew

 

[apepp]

...it can also save you a lot of frustration when blindly cropping stuff to find that it has actually ruined the appearance subtly, you not realizing ad the job getting printed, so always use the pathfinder functions with care if you don't know what to expect from those provided functions...

...it's a powerful palette, but can screw you up...

andrew

 

[apepp]

...the more editable you keep your artwork the better off you are, keeping patterns as "patterns" wherever possible can be a huge time saver when needing to edit in the future, as it is simply a case of updating a pattern swatch...

...forward thinking helps a lot in the long run...

andrew

 

[Topic]

Thanks andrew,

The reason why i am asking about another option is because if i export the image the unnecessary components of the pattern which are masked off will still be showing as an empty white space on .jpg image and i dont think there is a way around that, let me know if there is though.

 

[apepp]

...there are options, one is to define a crop area by way of a drawn rectangle, choosing object > crop area > make, and then file > export or file > save for web...

...or using/editing the artboard to define the crop and choosing file > save for web > image size tab > clip to artboard (on) > jpeg format...

...with file > export you have to manually define a crop area before export...

andrew

 

[apepp]

...also worth noting when saving to PDF, the crop area is also taken into account, otherwise PDF will use the art board size if no crop area is defined...

andrew

 

[apepp]

...to get rid of the crop area, choose object > crop area > release...

...you will then be able to delete that rectangle or move elsewhere to define another crop area...

andrew

 

[Topic]

ill try that out, thank you andrew