Choose File > Place.

Navigate to the Lessons > Lesson15 > images folder, and select the Mountains2.jpg file. Make sure that Link is selected in the Place dialog box.

Click Place.

The pointer should now show the loaded graphics cursor. You can see “1/1” next to the pointer, indicating how many images are being placed (1 of 1), and a thumbnail so you can see what image you are placing.

Move the loaded graphics cursor off the left side of the mobile design on the artboard on the left (see the figure), and click to place the image. Leave the image selected.

The image appears on the artboard at 100% of its original size, with the upper-left corner of the image placed where you clicked. You could also have dragged with the loaded graphics cursor to size the image as you placed it.

Notice in the Properties panel (Window > Properties) that, with the image selected, you see the words “Linked File” at the top, indicating that the image is linked to its source file. By default a placed image is linked to the source file, so if the source file is edited (outside of Illustrator), the placed image in Illustrator is also updated. Deselecting the Link option while placing embeds the image file in the Illustrator file.

With the Selection tool () selected, press and hold the Shift key and drag the lower-right bounding point toward the center of the image until it is just wider than the artboard. Release the mouse button and then release the key.

In the Properties panel, click the text “Linked File” at the top of the Properties panel to see the Links panel. With the Mountains2.jpg file selected in the Links panel, click the Show Link Info arrow in the lower-left corner of the panel to see information about the image.

You can see the scale percentage as well as rotation information, size, and much more. Specifically, notice the PPI (pixels per inch) value is approximately 100. PPI refers to the current resolution of the image. If you scale a placed raster image like you just did, the image resolution in Illustrator will change (the original placed image isn’t affected). Generally, if you scale the image to be larger, the resolution becomes lower. Conversely, if you scale an image to be smaller, the resolution becomes higher. Other transformations, like rotation, can also be applied to images using the various methods you learned in Lesson 5, “Transforming Artwork.”

Press the Escape key to hide the panel.

Click the Flip Along Horizontal Axis option () in the Properties panel to flip the image horizontally, across the center.

Leave the image selected, and choose File > Save.

With the image still selected, click the Crop Image button in the Properties panel. Click OK in the warning dialog box that appears.

A linked image, like the mountain image, becomes embedded after you crop it. Illustrator automatically identifies the visually significant portions of the selected image, and a default cropping box is displayed on the image. You can adjust the dimensions of this cropping box, if needed. The rest of the artwork is dimmed, and you cannot select it until you are finished cropping.

Drag the crop handles so the bottom and top of the image are cut off and the image stops at the edge of the artboard on the right and left. The crop you see initially may be different from the figure and that’s okay. Use the second part of the following figure as a guide for the final crop.

You can drag the handles that appear around the image to crop different parts of the image. You can also define a size in the Properties panel (width and height) to crop to.

Click the PPI (resolution) menu in the Properties panel.

The PPI is the resolution of the image. Any options in the PPI menu that are higher than the original resolution of the image are disabled. The maximum value that you can enter equals the resolution of the original image or 300 PPI for linked artwork. Choosing a lower resolution than the original can be useful if you want to save file size.

Move the pointer over the center of the image, and drag the crop area down a little to crop more of the top of the image.

Click Apply in the Properties panel to permanently crop the image.

Since the image is embedded when cropping, the crop does not affect the original image file you placed.

If you need to, drag the image into place, as in the following figure.

To send the image behind the other content on the artboard, click the Arrange button in the Properties panel and choose Send Backward. Do this a few times so the image is behind the artwork and text, like you see in the figure.

Choose Select > Deselect and then choose File > Save.

Choose File > Place.

In the Place dialog box, navigate to the Lessons > Lesson15 > images folder, and select the PhotoFrame.psd file. In the Place dialog box, set the following options (on macOS, if you don’t see the options, click the Options button):

• Link: Deselected (Deselecting the Link option embeds an image file in the Illustrator file. Embedding the Photoshop file allows for more options when it is placed, as you’ll see.)

• Show Import Options: Selected (Selecting this option will open an Import Options dialog box where you can set import options before placing.)

Click Place.

The Photoshop Import Options dialog box appears because you selected Show Import Options in the Place dialog box, and because the file has multiple layers.

In the Photoshop Import Options dialog box, set the following options:

• Layer Comp: Beach (A layer comp is a snapshot of a state of the Layers panel that you create in Photoshop. In Photoshop, you can create, manage, and view multiple versions of a layout in a single Photoshop file. Any comments associated with the layer comp in Photoshop will appear in the Comments area.)

• Show Preview: Selected (Preview displays a preview of the selected layer comp.)

• Convert Layers To Objects: Selected (This option and the next one are available only because you deselected the Link option and chose to embed the Photoshop image.)

• Import Hidden Layers: Selected (to import layers hidden in Photoshop)

Click OK.

Move the loaded graphics cursor into the upper-left corner of the top artboard on the right. Drag from the upper-left corner of the artboard to the lower-right corner of the artboard to place and size the image. Make sure it covers the artboard.

Rather than flatten the file, you have converted the PhotoFrame.psd Photoshop layers to layers that you can show and hide in Illustrator. When placing a Photoshop file in particular, if you had left the Link option selected (to link to the original PSD file), the only option in the Options section of the Photoshop Import Options dialog box would have been to flatten the content. Notice that, with the image still selected on the page, the Properties panel shows the word “Group” at the top. The Photoshop layers are grouped together when preserved and placed.

To send the image behind the content on the artboard, choose Object > Arrange > Send To Back.

Click the Layers panel tab in the upper-right of the application window to open the Layers panel. Drag the left edge of the Layers panel to the left to make it wider so you can read the names.

To reveal the image content in the Layers panel, click the Locate Object button () at the bottom of the panel.

Notice the sublayers of PhotoFrame.psd. These sublayers were layers in Photoshop and appear in the Layers panel in Illustrator because you chose not to flatten the image when you placed it.

When you place a Photoshop file with layers and you choose to convert the layers to objects in the Photoshop Import Options dialog box, Illustrator treats the layers as separate sublayers in a group. The Photoshop image has a white picture frame in it, but there was already one on the artboard, so next you’ll hide the white frame that came with the Photoshop file along with one of the images.

In the Layers panel, click the eye icon () to the left of the Pic Frame sublayer and the Beach image to hide them both. Click the visibility column for the mountains image layer (my mountain layer is named “<Background> 0”) to show the image.

Choose File > Place.

In the Place dialog box, in the Lessons > Lesson15 > images folder, select the Hills.jpg file. Command-click (macOS) or Ctrl-click (Windows) the image named Icon.jpg to select both image files. On macOS, click the Options button, if necessary, to reveal other options. Deselect Show Import Options, and make sure that the Link option is not selected.

Click Place.

Move the loaded graphics cursor onto the left side of the artboard with the “Adventure For All” text. Press the Right or Left Arrow key (or Up and Down Arrow keys) a few times to see that you can cycle between the image thumbnails. Make sure that you see the Icon image thumbnail, then drag to place the image at a small size, like you see in the following figure.

You can either click to place an image at 100% or click and drag to place an image and size it as you place it in the Document window. By dragging when you place an image, you are resizing the image. Resizing an image in Illustrator will most likely result in a different resolution than the original. Also, whichever thumbnail is showing in the loaded graphics cursor when you click or drag in the Document window is the image that is placed.

Move the loaded graphics cursor into the right, bottom artboard. Move it over the upper-left corner of the artboard and drag past the lower-right corner of the artboard to place and scale the image. Leave the image selected.

Click the Properties panel tab to show the panel. To arrange the image behind the other content on the artboard, click the Arrange button in the Properties panel and choose Send To Back.

Leave the image selected and choose File > Save.

With the Hills.jpg image still selected, in the Properties panel, click the Mask button in the Quick Actions section.

Clicking the Mask button applies a clipping mask to the image in the shape and size of the image. In this case, the image doesn’t look any different.

Click the Layers panel tab to show it again. Click the Locate Object button () at the bottom of the panel.

Notice the <Clipping Path> and <Image> sublayers that are contained within the <Clip Group> sublayer. The <Clipping Path> object is the clipping path (mask) that was created, and the <Clip Group> is a set that contains the mask and the object that is masked (the embedded image).

Click the Properties panel tab to show the panel. With the Hills.jpg image still selected on the artboard, click the Edit Contents button () at the top of the Properties panel.

Click the Layers panel tab, and notice that the <Image> sublayer (in the <Clip Group>) is showing the selected-art indicator (small color box) to the far right of the sublayer name. That means it’s selected on the artboard.

Click the Properties panel tab and in the Properties panel, click the Edit Clipping Path button () at the top of the Properties panel. Back in the Layers panel, the <Clipping Path> will now be selected.

When an object is masked, you can edit the mask, the object that is masked, or both. Use these two buttons to select which to edit. When you first click to select an object that is masked, you will edit both the mask and the masked object.

With the Selection tool () selected, drag the lower-right bounding point of the selected mask so it fits the artboard.

With the Properties panel showing, click the Edit Contents button () at the top of the Properties panel to edit the Hills.jpg image, not the mask.

With the Selection tool (), be careful to drag from within the bounds of the mask to reposition the image more in the center of the mask, and release the mouse button. Notice that you are moving the image and not the mask.

With the Edit Contents button () selected, you can apply many transformations to the image, including scaling, moving, rotating, and more.

Choose View > Fit All In Window.

Choose Select > Deselect and then choose File > Save.

Select the gray circle to the left of the “Adventure For All” text and drag it on top of the Icon.jpg image.

The circle will be behind the image.

To zoom in to the circle, press Command and + (macOS) or Ctrl and + (Windows) four or so times.

To arrange the circle on top of the image, click the Arrange button in the Properties panel and choose Bring To Front.

Shift-click the image to select the circle and the image. To mask the image with the circle, click the Make Clipping Mask button in the Quick Actions section of the Properties panel.

Parts of the image that are outside the bounds of the circle are now hidden.

To resize and reposition the image, double-click in the circle to enter isolation mode. In isolation mode, you can edit the image and the mask (the circle) separately.

Move the pointer over the image and click to select it (be careful not to click the edge of the circle).

Shift-drag a corner of the image to make it smaller. Release the mouse button and then the key.

Move the pointer over the image and when the pointer looks like this: , drag the image to reposition it.

Press the Escape key to exit isolation mode.

Click away from the masked image to deselect it, then drag the circle onto the artboard, to the left of the “Adventure For All” text.

Choose Select > Deselect, and then choose View > Fit All In Window to see everything again.

With the Selection tool () selected, click the PSD file on the top-right artboard that you placed earlier.

In the Layers panel, click the Locate Object button () to highlight the image content in the Layers panel.

Click the visibility column to the left of the Beach image to show it. Then click the Selected Art column in the Layers panel to select only that image.

Choose Edit > Copy and then choose Edit > Paste.

To paste another copy, choose Edit > Paste and drag it to an empty area.

In the Layers panel, click the eye icon () to the left of the Beach image in the PhotoFrame.psd group to hide it again.

Drag the first copy of the image on top of the large EXPLORE PARADISE text. Make sure that the image is positioned roughly as it is in the following figure.

Click the Properties panel tab to show the panel. Click the Arrange button in the Properties panel and choose Send To Back.

You should see the EXPLORE PARADISE text now. To create a mask from text, the text needs to be on top of the image.

To duplicate the image, choose Edit > Copy, and then choose Edit > Paste In Front.

Hide the copy by choosing Object > Hide > Selection.

Click the image under the text and Shift-click the EXPLORE PARADISE text to select them both.

In the Properties panel, click the Make Clipping Mask button.

The image should now be masked by the text.

In the Layers panel, click the visibility column for the hidden Beach image at the bottom of the Layers panel to show it.

Select the Rectangle tool () in the toolbar and draw a rectangle as big as the image. Click the Fill box in the Properties panel and select a dark gray swatch.

Change the Opacity to 80% in the Properties panel.

To send the rectangle behind the masked image, click the Arrange button and choose Send To Back. To bring it in front of the image that is not masked, click the Arrange button and choose Bring Forward.

Choose Select > Deselect and then choose File > Save.

With the Selection tool () selected, select the copied beach image and drag it into the position you see in the figure.

Select the Rectangle tool () in the toolbar and drag to create a rectangle that covers most of the beach image. See the figure. This will become the mask.

Press the D key to set the default stroke (black, 1 pt) and fill (white) for the new rectangle to more easily select and move it.

Select the Selection tool () and, while pressing the Shift key, click the beach image to select it as well.

Click the Properties panel tab to see the Properties panel again. Click the word “Opacity” to open the Transparency panel. Click the Make Mask button, and leave the artwork selected and the panel showing.

After clicking the Make Mask button, the button now shows as “Release.” If you were to click the button again, the image would no longer be masked.

Choose Window > Transparency to open the Transparency panel.

By opening the Transparency panel, you will see the same panel you did when you clicked “Opacity” in the Properties panel. When you click Opacity to reveal the Transparency panel, you will need to hide the panel for the changes you make in this section to take place. In the free-floating Transparency panel, changes will happen automatically.

In the Transparency panel, Shift-click the mask thumbnail (as indicated by the white rectangle on the black background) to disable the mask.

Notice that a red X appears on the mask in the Transparency panel and that the entire beach image reappears in the Document window. Hiding the mask can be useful to see all of the masked object again (the image in this case) if you need to do anything with it.

In the Transparency panel, Shift-click the mask thumbnail to enable the mask again.

Click to select the mask thumbnail on the right side of the Transparency panel. If the mask isn’t selected on the artboard, click to select it with the Selection tool ().

Clicking the opacity mask in the Transparency panel selects the mask (the rectangle) on the artboard. With the mask selected, you can’t edit other artwork on the artboard. Also, notice that the document tab shows (<Opacity Mask>/Opacity Mask), indicating that you are now editing the mask.

Click the Layers panel tab to show the Layers panel, and click the disclosure triangle () for the <Opacity Mask> layer to reveal the contents, if necessary.

With the mask selected in the Transparency panel and on the artboard, use the Properties panel to change the fill color to a white-to-black linear gradient, called White, Black.

You’ll now see that where there is white in the mask, the beach image is showing, and where there is black, it is hidden. The gradient mask gradually reveals the image.

Make sure that the Fill box toward the bottom of the toolbar is selected.

Select the Gradient tool () in the toolbar. Move the pointer to the right side of the beach image. Drag to the left, just past the left edge of the image.

Notice how the mask thumbnail in the Transparency panel now shows the gradient. Next you’ll move the image but not the opacity mask. With the image thumbnail selected in the Transparency panel, the image and the mask are linked by default, so if you move the image, the mask moves as well.

In the Transparency panel, click the image thumbnail so you are no longer editing the mask (an arrow is pointing to it in the figure). Click the link icon () between the image thumbnail and the mask thumbnail.

This allows you to move just the image or the mask, but not both.

With the Selection tool, drag the beach image to the left. After dragging a little, release the mouse button to see where it’s positioned.

In the Transparency panel, click the broken link icon () between the image thumbnail and the mask thumbnail to link the two together again.

Drag the beach image to the left to cover more of the mountains image.

Shift-click the mountains image to select it as well and, to send both behind the text on the artboard, choose Object > Arrange > Send To Back.

Choose Select > Deselect and then choose File > Save.

Choose Window > Workspace > Reset Essentials.

Choose Window > Links to open the Links panel.

Select the Icon.jpg image in the Links panel. Click the disclosure triangle in the lower-left corner of the Links panel to reveal the link information at the bottom of the panel.

Looking in the Links panel, you’ll see a listing of all the images you’ve placed. You can tell whether an image has been embedded by the embedded icon () to the far right of the image name or thumbnail. If you don’t see a name for an image listed in the Links panel, it usually means it was embedded when placing or came in with a layered PSD file that you preserved the layers for, or it was pasted into Illustrator. You’ll also see information about the image, such as the fact that it’s embedded (Embedded File), the resolution, transformation information, and more.

Click the Go To Link button () below the list of images.

The Icon.jpg image will be selected and centered in the Document window.

Choose Select > Deselect and then choose File > Save.

Choose View > Fit All In Window.

Click to select the Hills.jpg image (the mountains) on the right, lower artboard.

The Hills.jpg image was embedded when you originally placed it. With an embedded image, you may need to make an edit to that image in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You will need to unembed that image to make edits to it, which is what you’ll do next to the image.

Click the Unembed button in the Properties panel.

In the dialog box that appears, navigate to the Lessons > Lesson15 > images folder (if you are not already there). Make sure Photoshop (*.PSD) is chosen from the File Format menu (macOS) or the Save As Type (Windows) menu, and click Save.

If you were to edit the Hills.psd file in Photoshop, for instance, the image would be updated in Illustrator since it is linked.

Choose Select > Deselect.

Click the Mountains2.jpg image on the artboard on the left. It was the first image you placed.

In the Links panel, click the Relink button () below the list of images.

In the dialog box that opens, navigate to the Lessons > Lesson15 > images folder, and select the Mountains1.jpg image. Make sure that the Link option is selected. Click Place to replace the image.

Choose Select > Deselect, and then choose File > Save.

Choose File > Close as many times as necessary to close all open files.