Little help with AI (not Artificial Intelegence, lol)

[screenxpress]

I rarely use AI, but have a project in mind that I'd like to start using and learning AI. 

Starting off, I have a Vector image that is outlined in black and has black content, okay, it's a skull.

The image fill is transparent because when I arrange the image to front and a black box to the back, the image disappears.  Changing the background box from black to yellow shows the image.

How can I fill the object with white leaving the black border outline and eye sockets alone?

TIA

[Sbrem]

I don't quite follow you with transparency and the black box part. Is the black content a percentage of black? If you're placing your art on a black box to simulate a shirt, try a different color box first, like red or green. This way you won't get confused with the background. After you get the image set up correctly, change the box back to black. Post the image, it will easier to help if we can see it... For some designs like this, we might use 2 blacks, one screen for the blackest parts, and a second screen for the halftones...


Steve

[screenxpress]

Let me try this again.

It so happens I have two vector skull images. 

When I make the background box yellow, both skulls are visible with their outline, but only 1 is filled with white.  The other is filled with yellow from the background box.

If I change the background box to black, I still see the one filled with white.  The other disappears and blends in with the black.

I want to make the one that disappears in with the black to have a white fill and visible on a black background like the first one is.

Nothing I have tried to click on changes that.

[tse1990]

Live paint bucket tool!

When you're happy with the results, expand your image to commit your fills to shapes. <-- Very important step or else the entire thing will be grouped together.

[tse1990]

Some visual steps.

Make sure the shape (skull) is selected before you switch to the live paint tool. After you expand your live paint group, you can move it, change fill, stroke, etc.

[screenxpress]

Thank you!

It is a bit tedious to enlarge and click every part that is transparent, but that will get the job done.

That tool is similar to the one in Corel, but I had no idea what to use.

Thanks again.

[tse1990]

No problem, I started on Corel and it took me awhile to find the fill tool on AI.

[IntegrityShirts]

Select the empty shape you want to color, then go to menu: Select>Same>Fill Color

That should select all the empty filled shapes within and probably around the skull, then select a color to fill.

This might be skipping a step if the shapes aren't "separated". Kind of heard to explain in type

[screenxpress]

TSE, can you explain this in your post?

 expand your image to commit your fills to shapes. <-- Very important step or else the entire thing will be grouped together.

I had to ungroup and select the entire skull, then click all over the place in every nook and cranny where I see a transparent fill.  Then I regrouped to move it back. 

I'm lost on the 'commit your fills shape' part?

[tse1990]

If you don't expand the entire selection (live paint group), it remains live and some weird things happen when you try to move it. Attached an example of that and also of an expanded fill.

Not sure if you were able to finish your project? But if you're having trouble, upload a picture of your art so we know what you're talking about.

[tse1990]

Select the empty shape you want to color, then go to menu: Select>Same>Fill Color

That should select all the empty filled shapes within and probably around the skull, then select a color to fill.

This might be skipping a step if the shapes aren't "separated". Kind of heard to explain in type

This would work and save some time for detailed art.

You would still need to expand first, or use the trim function to get the empty space to become a fillable empty space though, right?

[Colin]

Open Skull Image
Make a yellow box bigger than the skull image
place the box behind the skull
you will now see yellow where there is no black in your skull
select both images
open your pathfinder window
Click on the divide option under Pathfinders:
Ungroup your image
Select the yellow out side your skull and delete as it is now extra/extaneous
select any yellow spot
go under select in your drop down menu
go to "same" fly our menue
select "Fill Color"
you have now selected all the yellow in your skull
group all those together.

Boom

[Sbrem]

Open Skull Image
Make a yellow box bigger than the skull image
place the box behind the skull
you will now see yellow where there is no black in your skull
select both images
open your pathfinder window
Click on the divide option under Pathfinders:
Ungroup your image
Select the yellow out side your skull and delete as it is now extra/extaneous
select any yellow spot
go under select in your drop down menu
go to "same" fly our menue
select "Fill Color"
you have now selected all the yellow in your skull
group all those together.

Boom

this is much better; I would use Trim, then Merge on the Pathfinder pallet. You could then use the Direct Selection tool (hollow arrow) to select the yellow on the outside, and delete it; then click on the yellow on the inside, Select same fill color in case the parts aren't contiguous, and make it white, or any color you want.

Steve

[screenxpress]

Both of the replies from Steve and Colin came very close.

In both methods, once I had the outside yellow deleted and the yellow inside the skull (and it has a lot of vector sub-sections), trying to select all of the yellow never selected ALL of the yellow to change to white.  Some yellow pockets always remained.  This happened using both methods.

But as a hybrid to both, since I had Transparency Grid on (Shift/Ctrl/D), instead of making the background box yellow, I made it white.  Then pretty much either method worked and I could stop once I deleted the background box outside of the skull. 

I don't know why I was having difficulty getting all the yellow in the skull to select to turn to white in one click. 

I really appreciate the response and both methods, Steve's seemed to be a little easier for me to run through.

I've attached one of the images if anyone wants to fiddle with it to see why the final steps to capture all of the yellow would not work.

Thanks all,
Wayne

[domineight]

Any good?

I cheated. Blew the vector up real large and exported as a 300DPI .TIFF file.
placed the .TIFF file into a new document and traced as a 3 colour.
Selected the white and made it magenta so I could see what I wanted to delete and spent 2 mins clicking out the magenta in the hair and whatever was outsize the outline.

Unless I'm reading your requirements completely wrong and it's a whole lot more complicated.