Opacity Effects

Opacity is a basic transparency effect that can be applied to any object.

When an object’s opacity is less than 100%, the object appears partly transparent. You can reduce the opacity of a text object, for example, so a background image is visible through the type.

You use the Opacity slider to set the opacity of objects. The Opacity slider is available in the Properties bar and the Transparency palette. The slider in the Properties bar will set opacity for one or more selected objects. The slider in the Transparency palette is available only when a single object is selected.

Opacity affects the overall transparency of an object, so the Opacity slider is a master control for all transparency effects applied to an object.

For example, you can use a channel mask to make an oval vignette from a photograph. At the edge of the oval, the photograph becomes completely transparent. If you then reduce the opacity, the visible part of the image becomes partly transparent.

When an object’s opacity is less than 100%, anything in the background, including the illustration area, can affect the object’s appearance. The appearance of colors in an object can also be affected by the object’s transfer mode. (See Using Transfer Modes.)

Defining Opacity

“Transparency” and “opacity” are opposite terms that describe the ability to see through an object.

Greater transparency means it is easier to see through something; greater opacity means it is harder to see though it.

In percentages, 100% opacity equals 0% transparency. Those values describe objects you can’t see through. 1% opacity equals 99% transparency. Those values describe almost completely clear objects.

All Canvas X objects have an opacity. You can set opacity from 1% to 100% in 1% increments. The opacity of a new object is 100%. When you copy an object, the copies have the same opacity as the original object.

In this manual, the word “transparency” is often used as a general term for several related effects. The word “opacity” is used to refer to a specific effect and a specific property of objects.

In other words, an object’s “transparency” can result from various factors, including ink settings, the transfer mode, a channel mask, or another effect. An object’s “opacity,” on the other hand, is a specific setting controlled by the Opacity slider.

To Set the Opacity of an Object:

You can use either the Opacity slider in the Properties bar or Transparency palette.

1. Select the object whose opacity you want to change.
2. Drag the Opacity slider to the left to decrease opacity; drag to the right to increase opacity. The opacity percentage appears at the right of the slider.

To Set Opacity for Multiple Objects:

Use the Opacity slider in the Properties bar to set the opacity for more than one object. Each selected object will have the same opacity setting.

To Adjust the Opacity of a Group Object:

Use the Opacity slider in the Properties bar or in the Transparency palette, since a selected group object is considered a single object. When a group object is selected, changing the opacity applies to the group as a whole. Objects that were opaque do not become transparent to other objects in the group if you reduce the opacity of the group object.

If you ungroup an object, the group opacity setting is removed and the opacity of each separate object is restored.

Consider a group of three objects whose opacities are 30%, 60%, and 100%. If you set the opacity of the group object to 50%, the opacities of the individual objects will appear to be 15%, 30%, and 50% relative to the background. If you ungroup the objects, their opacities will be restored to 30%, 60%, and 100%.

See also:

• Vector Masks