Transparency - Adobe ILLUSTRATOR CS2 User Manual

Transparency

About transparency
Transparency is such an integral part of Illustrator that it's possible to add transparency to your artwork without
realizing it. You can add transparency to artwork by doing any of the following:
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Lowering the opacity of objects so that underlying artwork becomes visible.
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Using a blending mode to change how colors interact between overlapping objects.
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Using opacity masks to create variations in transparency.
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Applying gradients and meshes that include transparency.
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Applying effects or graphic styles that include transparency, such as drop shadows.
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Importing Adobe Photoshop files that include transparency.
It's important to be aware of when you're using transparency, because you need to set some extra options when
printing and saving transparent artwork. You can display a checkered background grid to identify transparent areas
of your artwork by selecting View > Show Transparency Grid. (Choose View > Hide Transparency Grid to hide the
transparency grid.) To set options for the transparency grid, choose File > Document Setup, and select Transparency
from the menu at the top of the Document Setup dialog box. You can also change the artboard color to simulate what
your artwork will look like if printed on colored paper.
See also
"Printing and exporting transparent artwork" on page 484
About the Transparency palette
You use the Transparency palette to specify the opacity and blending mode of objects, to create opacity masks, or to
knock out a portion of one object with the overlying portion of a transparent object. To display the palette, choose
Window > Transparency.
You can access additional commands and options in the Transparency palette menu. To use this menu, click the
triangle in the upper right corner of the palette.
By default, only the most commonly used options are visible in the Transparency palette. To show all options, choose
Show Options from the palette menu. To show a thumbnail of the selected object in the Transparency palette, choose
Show Thumbnail from the palette menu. Alternatively, click the double triangle on the palette's tab to cycle through
the display sizes.
See also
"To work with palettes" on page 31
To change the opacity of artwork
You can change the opacity of a single object, the opacity of all objects in a group or layer, or the opacity of an object's
fill or stroke.
1 Select an object or group (or target a layer in the Layers palette).
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