Illustrator question

[Kees Braam]

Hello everyone,

I'm currently searching around in Illustrator CS5 for a thing that is probably very simple. The thing is: I'm having a logo of a company, but I need just a part of it. The logo is an .EPS file and I'm trying to cut the piece that I need out. I'm searching for hours now, but I can't find a way to do this? Does anyone know how to do this? Is there no such thing a simple cut tool in Illustrator?

Thanks in advance,

Kees Braam

P.S: I've tried it in Photoshop and it worked just fine. The only problem with Photoshop is that when I open the .EPS file Photoshop converts it to pixels, so I can't scale it up in Illustrator afterwards (or I will incredibly bad quality).

 

[citizenzen]

The first thing you need to confirm is that the logo is indeed in vector form when you open it in Illustrator and not just a bounding box indicating pixel-based art.

Toggle the keyboard shortcut Command + Y or go to the pulldown menu View > Outline (or alternatively Preview) to view your art in both modes.

If you have actual vector art, then check the following...

• Pulldown menu Window > Layers - are there any locked layers?

• Pulldown menu Object - is Unlock All in black? That would indicate an object has been locked.​

Those would be two things to check.

 

[Kees Braam]

The first thing you need to confirm is that the logo is indeed in vector form when you open it in Illustrator and not just a bounding box indicating pixel-based art.

Toggle the keyboard shortcut Command + Y or go to the pulldown menu View > Outline (or alternatively Preview) to view your art in both modes.

If you have actual vector art, then check the following...

• Pulldown menu Window > Layers - are there any locked layers?

• Pulldown menu Object - is Unlock All in black? That would indicate an object has been locked.​

Those would be two things to check.

I've checked these things that you've mentioned, but the problem is that I just can't find an option to cut a piece out of the logo. Here is an example (imagine it as a nicely designed logo):

''MacRumors: Forums

mac community discussion forums''

Just imagine the text to be in a nice logo with different colors and stuff. What I want to do is to cut only the part ''MacRumors: Forums'' out of it so that I can use it separately. I know that Photoshop can do it, but the problem with Photoshop is that it converts .EPS (vector) files to a pixel image and I need to scale it up in Illustrator afterwards so this isn't an option for me. Illustrator just doesn't seem to have a simple scissor/cut tool to cut out parts of a placed image, or am I totally missing something?

Anyway: thanks for your reply.

 

[Mutinygraphiks]

try the knife or scissor tool and cut the selection you would like.

 

[laurim]

try the knife or scissor tool and cut the selection you would like.

Those tools are in the submenu with the eraser tool. I always have a hard time finding them!

 

[citizenzen]

...or am I totally missing something?.

You don't need scissors to "cut" anything, as far as I can tell. You just need to use the right selection tool.

I've included some screen shots to demonstrate...

The first example shows what happens when you select any one object with the black arrow tool (Selection Tool) that has been Grouped. It selects all of the Grouped objects.

The second example shows what happens when you select any one object with the white arrow tool with the plus sign (Group Selection Tool) that has been Grouped. It selects that object and not the Group. (double clicking on one of the grouped objects will select the whole group)

The third example shows what happens when you select any point on one object with the white arrow tool without the plus sign (Direct Selection Tool) that has been Grouped. It selects a specific control point on that object.


You might also use the pulldown Object > Ungroup to make selection easier.

 

[Kees Braam]

Guys, thank you so much for the help! It worked! I'm suprised that it is in fact pretty simple. Thanks again!