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Creating transparency knockouts


    Selecting the Knockout Group option cycles it through three states: on (check mark), off (no mark), and neutral (gray or dash). Use the neutral option when you want to group artwork without interfering with the knockout behavior determined by the enclosing layer or group. Use the off option when you want to ensure that a layer or a group of transparent objects will never knock each other out.

    Group with Knockout Group option off (left) and on (right).
    Group with Knockout Group option off (left) and on (right).

To knock out objects within a group or layer:

  1. Select the group using the selection tool, or target it in the Layers palette.
  2. Choose Show Options from the Transparency palette menu, if necessary.
  3. In the Transparency palette, select Knockout Group to turn it on (check mark).

To prevent objects from knocking out within a knockout group or layer:

  1. Select the group using the selection tool, or target it in the Layers palette.
  2. Choose Show Options from the Transparency palette menu, if necessary.
  3. In the Transparency palette, deselect Knockout Group to turn it off (no mark).