Omnigraffle Mask/clipping
 

Hi,

A curious noob here and im having some trouble that hopefully someone can help with.

I hava big box which is holding some other little boxes and i would like the parts of the little boxes that are overflowing out of the big box to be clipped/masked/not showing.

I know that i can do it if its a picture via the image control and i know that if its certain types of shapes i can go to edit>shapes>then one of those options but its not allowing me to do either one of those options.

On [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=16202"]THIS THREAD[/URL] DerekAsirvadem wrote
[INDENT][INDENT][B]"You can do it with SubtractShapes but you need a different approach and a bit of experience with OG.

>> Is this achieved by grouping the shapes and then re-ordering them so that one shape clips/masks another?"[/B][/INDENT][/INDENT]
I have attached a screenshot of the area im trying to clip as well as the outline so that you can see how its stacked.

If someone could help me figure this out i would really appreciate it.

Copy as PDF and use linkback
 

You could try this:

create the objects to be cropped in another canvas.

Select all, then go to [B]Edit[/B] > Copy as... in the menu and select PDF

Paste the PDF into your original canvas. Effectively, this pasted object is treated as an inserted image - so you can change the shape and size of its container, as well as adjusting how the image sits inside the container (size, positioning, tiling).


Better yet, if you doubleclick on the inserted PDF it will open in a new "linkback" document. You can edit the objects there. Saving the linkback will refresh the image in your original document.

See attached, PDF of a diagram "masked" by a thought bubble.

Thanks Nickel,

It just so happened that i got a response from the Omni Support team the same time you replied, both suggesting the same thing. I guess if your current job goes down the drain for some reason you can find a home at omnigraffle!

What David M from support wrote:
"Thanks for sending the screenshot. In the example, is it "Guy #2"
that you want to crop based on the gray box? If Guy number two is
not an image, you won't be able to do that, but you can "Copy as
PDF", then paste, and crop the result. The contents of the PDF that
you paste will still be editable via double-clicking."

Im going to try it now.

Thanks for your help!!!!