Creating Knockouts for Labels

1. Open Contours.ai from the Tutorial Data folder.

Three MAP layers are visible: contours_labels, contours_line and Background. The contour labels are positioned above the contour lines. Use the Create Knockouts feature to mask the contour line below the label.

2. From the MAPublisher toolbar, click the Create Knockouts button.

3. Click the Add Job button to create a job.

4. In the Edit Job dialog box, click the Knockout layer icon to open the Select Layers window and click the check box for contours_line, then click OK.

The Create Knockouts feature bases the masks on the input of contours_line and contour_labels. 

5. In the Edit Job dialog box, click the Add Rule button to create a new rule.

6. Click on the Specify layers icon and select the and click the check box for contours_labels, then click OK.

7. In the Edit Rule window, set the buffer size to 5.00 pixels, and click OK. 

The buffer will add extra space between the contour lines and the labels so they are easier to read.

8. In the Edit Job window, set the opacity to 80%.

This option sets the opacity of the masks created behind the knockout layer. A 100% setting creates an opaque mask, meaning the feature will be invisible behind the text, whereas a 0% setting does not hide any features at all.

9. Click OK, and then Run Selected Jobs to close the Create Knockouts dialog box.

The knockouts are created with a 5 pixel buffer and 80% opacity. To further adjust the mask, change the settings in the Transparency panel.

10. In the Adobe Illustrator Layers panel, click the target to select all art on the contours_line layer. Go to the Window menu and click Transparency, then click Release. In the Adobe Illustrator Layers panel, click the target to select all the art of <Opacity Mask>. In the Transparency panel, adjust the Opacity to see how it affects the contour lines.

11. Close the document without saving.