Improve design symmetry with clipping masks
Excerpted from Element K Journals.
Adobe® Illustrator® does many things with precision, but some effects require a little extra planning to make them work out appropriately. For example, when you have a series of objects stacked on top of each other, the object at the bottom of the stack can't remain at the bottom and be in front of the topmost object at the same time. However, there will be times when you'll want to achieve exactly this effect if you want to create a symmetrical design like our hearts below. Each heart appears to be both above and below another heart in the design. Since Illustrator doesn't allow you to do this sort of thing automatically, you need to mimic the look with a strategically placed mask. We'll show you what's involved in planning out a symmetrical pattern like our heart design.
Overlapping elements in a symmetrical design requires the help of clipping masks.
Putting the pieces together
Using our heart design, we'll show you how to use the Transform effect to manipulate a graphic into a simple and nearly symmetrical design. Then, we'll show you how to expand the design and create a mask to correct the stacking order issue that prevents the heart design from being perfectly symmetrical.
1. Position with precision
To begin this project, you need to start out with a symmetrical object like our heart. You can draw your own, and name it heart.ai.
2. Transform the hearts
Once you have the heart document open, select the heart and choose Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. In the resulting dialog box, use the same settings shown below. Click OK to apply the settings.
The Transform Effect dialog box lets you create precise positioning easily.
Your hearts should look like ours in the image below. We'll continue to access this Transform attribute until we've manipulated the hearts into the correct position for our design, but first we have to change the hearts' positions.
3. Rotate the hearts
Now, we need to rotate the hearts so the points face outward. To do this, select the original heart, and then hold down the [shift] key as you use the heart's bounding box to rotate the point of the heart 90 degrees to the left. Because the Transform effect is live, all the hearts update dynamically and all the points now face outward, as you can see in the image below.
4. Move the hearts
Now, you need to space out the hearts until just the bumps of the hearts overlap as shown below.
