Being able to fit or squeeze an image into a defined shape in Illustrator is easy when "Clipping Masks" are applied. And, it allows the designer the opportunity to incorporate complex, raster-style backgrounds and textures into their designs without necessarily running to Photoshop to accomplish this. 

1. Create a new folder in your Graphic Design folder and title it "Photo Clipping Mask"
2. Create a new document that is 8.5" x 11" (paper size)
3. Find an image of some jellybeans (use Google images)
4. Use the Windows “Snip” tool to capture the image.
5. Copy and then paste it into Adobe Illustrator
6. Create a new text layer and type the word “TEXT” (The text should be on top of the jellybean image)
7. Make sure the text uses the IMPACT font and set the font size to 310pt
8. Stretch the image of the jellybeans so that it extends past the actual overall size of the text itself.
9. Right click on the text and select “Create Outlines.” This converts the editable text into actual shapes
   Example of TEXT on top of Jellybean image
   Example of converted TEXT (which is now shapes) on top of Jellybean image
   
10. Ungroup the text shapes by going to the menu and selecting “Object” and then “Ungroup”
11. Select the converted text and go to the menu item “Object” then select “Compound Path” and then select “Make.
    Example of Compound Object
    
12. Select both the “TEXT” compound object and the Jellybean image
13. Go to menu and select “Clipping Mask” and then select “Make.”
    

1. Create a new Adobe Illustrator Document. We will title this "Clipping Mask Colors"
2. Type out the words "RED" "BLUE" and "GREEN," using the font IMPACT and stretch them out (Select all words, hold shift, and then grab a corner to re-scale them. Holding the shift key keeps the letters from becoming distorted - aka: "uniform scaling")
3. Perform the same actions you did above to convert the text to shapes (except for the Compound Path part - this is only used if we are doing multiple objects at once).
4. For each letter, you will use a different image (that corresponds with the color) as the texture or image within the clipping mask. Each individual letter will act as a separate mask (see the example below). In order to do this, you will copy/paste the image into the Illustrator document, right click on it and select "Arrange" and then "Send to back" (so that the letter is on top of the actual image). Then, you will selet both the image and the individual letter and then choose "Object," (on the menu bar) "Clipping Mask," and then "Make"
   
   
5. When have completed the assignment, be sure to save your file as a PDF document.