Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 3/20/2008

Question
When i import a transparent image from photoshop cs2 into illustrator cs2, there occasionally is a big sold box around the image. It does not appear on the screen. It appears when printed. It may have to do with the post script printer. How can i fix it so it doesn't print that way?

Answer
Hi Maxine,

First, nice catch with the printer. It is a common problem with placed images with transparency. The big issue is that most people just place a PS file that is on a transparent background and does not have a clipping path applied.


One way to completely avoid this is to create a clipping mask around the transparent image in Illustrator. Place your image on a new layer and then either copy and paste the path from PS, or draw a new one around your image in Illustrator. Then click the create clipping path button at the bottom of the layer palette.

Viola no more ghosted box.

Thanks

Kevin