Make a Triptych?

This tip is really useful when you want one image to fit into multiple shapes without requiring you to place multiple versions of the same image in each shape. Start by creating your first frame or shape. Then switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A), press-and-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key, and click-and-drag to create a duplicate shape. Release your shape, and then repeat the steps once more to create a triptych-style layout. Now if you were to select all the shapes with the Direct Selection Tool and try to File > Place an image, the image would be placed only into whichever shape you click on. To enable the image to span all three shapes, you need to combine the shapes. With all the shapes selected, you can either go to Object > Paths > Make Compound Path or press Command-8 (PC: Ctrl-8) to convert the three shapes into one frame. Now when you go to File > Place and select your image, it drops into the three shapes as one image. This means you can move the image around until you’re satisfied with its placement. But what if you want to move one of the shapes? Okay, a couple of steps will rectify this. Select the shapes again and go to Object > Paths > Release Compound Path. This releases the shapes and the image will appear only in the first shape in which you placed it. Now move the shapes into a different position or resize them, select them all, and hit Command-8 (PC: Ctrl-8). Voila, the image fills all the shapes again.