how many %$&^ masks can there be in a file?

[gabagoo]

I am very confused about masking.

I have a file and generally most these days have a mask or 2.

With Flexi at least I can get the file open, (Signlab does not like it at all ) but on this particular one, I have unmasked it so far over 25 times.... I am not even sure if it is the same mask over and over. nothing seems to be changing in the file.

I need all the masking off so I can build a contour cut line.

I guess the question is, how does one deal with this many masks?

I am not sure how long I can sit there and repeat the same function over and over and wonder if anything at all is actually happening.

How often do you get files like this and how do you remedy it?

 

[Techman]

with what software was the file created?

 

[thewvsignguy]

If it's an .ai file then I open it in Illy and simplify the design before saving it and opening it back up in Flexi. Customers used to buy designs from istockphoto and send them to us thinking it was ready to go. A few minutes picking those files apart quickly became very frustrating. If you send me the file I'll see if illustrator will remove some of those masked to make it easier to add the contour path.

 

[Graphics2u]

Here's one I got last week. I had a PDF and .ai, and there must have literally been 500 masks applied to the file. It would open in Flexi, but not all there, so I opened in Illy and tried to resize it and everytime I did the bitmapped parts of the image would shift in the mask so that they weren't lined up any longer! I spent over 3 hrs redesigning the file in Illy (which admittedly I'm a novice at) just so that I could resize it and save it as a bitmap so I could import it to Flexi to add it to another layout. Crazy!

 

[gabagoo]

with what software was the file created?

I have no idea...a file sent from a clients client. asking them such questions usually ends up with no answers and sometimes I think they think I have no idea what I am doing...which in many cases is true!!!

 

[gabagoo]

If it's an .ai file then I open it in Illy and simplify the design before saving it and opening it back up in Flexi. Customers used to buy designs from istockphoto and send them to us thinking it was ready to go. A few minutes picking those files apart quickly became very frustrating. If you send me the file I'll see if illustrator will remove some of those masked to make it easier to add the contour path.

Thanks for the offer, but I have a designer who works out of here and I know he can fix it...I just can't understand how so many masks can be put in a file.

 

[TammieH]

I believe graphic designers use the masks in order to align or center objects in their art, also of course to crop objects. The only time I use masks or crop is for designing for proofs, I keep in mind how I will use the art of course.

Unfortunately the graphic artist does not know the headache they cause for us who need simple vector art.

 

[GAC05]

Thanks for the offer, but I have a designer who works out of here and I know he can fix it...I just can't understand how so many masks can be put in a file.

Try this,
1. select one masked object in the design editor.
2. From the Edit drop-down menu > Select > Select Similar Objects
3. Then select "Unmask" from the Arrange > Mask drop-down.
All the masks should go away - even in groups and sub-groups.
(Flexi 8.6)

wayne k
guam usa

 

[thewvsignguy]

Try this,
1. select one masked object in the design editor.
2. From the Edit drop-down menu > Select > Select Similar Objects
3. Then select "Unmask" from the Arrange > Mask drop-down.
All the masks should go away - even in groups and sub-groups.
(Flexi 8.6)

wayne k
guam usa

Never thought of that, thanks for sharing!

 

[Bobby H]

IMHO, clipping masks should be used very sparingly. I also strongly believe in organizing Illustrator artwork on various layers to keep the elements more organized.

If I receive an especially complicated piece of clipping mask infected artwork, I'll import the entire thing into Photoshop -creating a flat, rasterized version of it at the resolution setting I want. I'll place that flattened pixel-based piece of art into Illustrator and make a cut contour path over the top of it using elements from the original vector file. This is kind of must-do thing for certain tasks in Roland VersaWorks.

 

[thewood]

Thanks for the offer, but I have a designer who works out of here and I know he can fix it...I just can't understand how so many masks can be put in a file.

The file likely wasn't createdy with so many masks--that's just the way FlexiSign parses or interprets a non-native file. Illustrator files are notorious for this.

For instance, Flexi will interpret a vector gradient from Illy as hundreds of individual rectangles with a mask around it. Besides adding an unecessary mask, it bloats the file size. Non-native files with several gradients can cripple Flexi sometimes.

Sometimes, Flexi will place each letter in a body of text on its own layer with its own mask. The native Illustrator file wasn't designed this way--just the way Flexi understands it. I've seen the same phenomenon to a worse extent where Flexi adds a mask to each letter, and the resulting unmasked object is a bitmap. Strange, strange stuff.

Unless the file is a vector logo or something for cut vinyl output, I generally just open the files in Photoshop and rasterizer them at the proper resolution for output in the project on which I'm working. It's really the only way to guarantee Flexi isn't botching the files. Flexi especially hates transparencies and proprietary effects from other apps.

Not knocking Flexi--I'm a longtime user of the design software and RIP.

 

[OADesign]

Quick work around.
Open in Illy save as version 8 or lower. No need to edit the file at all.
This will allow flexi to parse the file easier and eliminate many, if not all, of that masking effect.

Also why do you need to un-mask if all your doing is contour cutting?

Two ways to make easy work of this: working in flexi...

1) make a copy of the object you need to contour cut. Select it all and weld it together. add the contour cut effect to this object. remove the fill. and then center this new object over your original object. Done. Rip. Print. Lam. Cut.

2) make a copy of the object you need to contour cut. Rasterize it leaving a small margin, like .125 (dpi wil vary). Select Bitmap > make transparent. Then apply your contor cut effect. Done and Done. Rip. Print. Lam. Cut.

 

[gabagoo]

Quick work around.
Open in Illy save as version 8 or lower. No need to edit the file at all.
This will allow flexi to parse the file easier and eliminate many, if not all, of that masking effect.

Also why do you need to un-mask if all your doing is contour cutting?

Two ways to make easy work of this: working in flexi...

1) make a copy of the object you need to contour cut. Select it all and weld it together. add the contour cut effect to this object. remove the fill. and then center this new object over your original object. Done. Rip. Print. Lam. Cut.

2) make a copy of the object you need to contour cut. Rasterize it leaving a small margin, like .125 (dpi wil vary). Select Bitmap > make transparent. Then apply your contor cut effect. Done and Done. Rip. Print. Lam. Cut.

I could do this but unfortunately I do not have a full Flexi package as I use it for Print and print and cut...so I am stuck with photoprint. No welding tools... Signlab 8 should be able to handle this file but it comes in completely screwed up for whatever reason.

 

[Matt-Tastic]

When people use photoshop effects (metalized, light points, etc) it will apply the effect and mask every object in the image. if you have a lot of objects that got this effect, there can be massive amounts of masking on it.

A simpler way to get your contour would be to scale it to print size, rasterize it to 100PPI or so, make the background transparent, and contour it from there. If the file was designed to be that detailed, you don't need the vector data anyway.

 

[MikeD]

its frustrating to get those files!
I will typically rasterize a copy and auto trace it and turn that into the cut path. The only remaining problem is that the masks are still there, and can influence your print space; a 4" square logo with a 6"SQ mask may take up 6"SQ of layout real-estate.

 

[visual800]

Designners! My God we have gotten files that have just mask after mask after mask and there is nothing different in 90% of the masks they use. It is aggravating and frustrating as hell. Artist/designers do not deal with vector or worry how complex a design is. we ususally have to tear it apart in illy and then drag over to flexi and finish it off