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                <h1>
                    Crop or mask objects
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                <div><div class="section"><p><dfn class="term">Cropping</dfn> and <dfn class="term">masking</dfn> are
both terms that describe hiding part of an object. In general, the
difference is that cropping uses a rectangle to trim the edges of
an image, and masking uses an arbitrary shape to make an object’s
background transparent. A common example of a mask is a clipping
path, which is a mask made for a specific image.</p>
<p>Use graphics
frames to crop or mask objects. Because an imported graphic is automatically
contained within a frame, you can crop or mask it immediately without
having to create a frame for it. If you haven’t created a frame
for an imported graphic manually, the frame is automatically created
at the same size as the graphic, so it may not be obvious that the
frame is there.</p>
<div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note:  </span>For efficient printing, only the data for
the visible parts of cropped or masked images is sent when you output
the document. However, you will still save disk space and RAM if
you crop or mask images to their desired shapes and sizes before importing
them into your document.</div>
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<ul><li class="stepexpand"><span>To crop an imported image or any other
graphic already inside a rectangular frame, click the object using
the Selection tool&#160;<img src="images/P_Select_Lg_N.png" /> and
drag any handle on the bounding box that appears. Press Shift as
you drag to preserve the frame’s original proportions.</span> <div class="fignone"><img alt="" id="gh_07" src="images/gh_07.png" /><div class="figdesc">Cropping an image using a graphics frame</div><br /></div></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>To crop or mask any object, use the Selection or Direct
Selection tool <img src="images/P_AnchorSelect_Lg_N.png" /> to select
one object you want to mask. Choose Edit&#160;&gt; Copy, select
an empty path or frame smaller than the object, and choose Edit&#160;&gt;
Paste Into.</span></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>To crop frame content precisely, select the frame with
the Direct Selection tool, and use the Transform or Control panel
to change the size of the frame.</span></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>To specify crop settings for an empty placeholder frame,
choose Object&#160;&gt; Fitting&#160;&gt; Frame Fitting
Options, and then specify the crop amount.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="section"><div class="tip"><img src="images/tip_help.png" />With an imported graphic, you can also create
a mask by using the drawing tools to change the shape of the graphic’s
existing frame.</div></div>
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