Adobe Illustrator help

Question

I've created a logo in illustrator in which the strokes are a key element. Illustrator allows me to stroke my paths with a color, but not a transparency. I am wondering if anybody knows how to turn a stroke into an alpha channel.

Note: The stroke has a weight of 1pt. I can choose to give the stroke no color, but then the stroke is not visible in the logo, I need the stroke to become a window through which you can see the background, not just disappear.

The only solution I can think of is to trace the stroke with a new path and turn it into a compound path, but that's a LOT of work. Any suggestions, please?!

Answer 1

Rather than tracing the stroke, which is unheard of for Illustrator Pros, select the object that has the stroke. Go to Objects > Path > Outline Stroke. This command will turn the stroke into a shape, or compound path/object in just one click. From there, you can make it a transparency on its own, turn it into a clipping mask, etc.

Keep learning Illustrator :)