: How to shade areas of a path with another, invisible path? I'd like to be able to, in this example, darken a portion of a text based on a path I draw, without seeing the path. I've tried

@Shelton719

You could use an opacity mask on your stroke.


copy your text object,
select your path
go to the transparency panel click on "make mask"
click on the now black square in that panel and "paste in front"
(ctrl/cmd +F)
change your pasted text to white
adjust opacity

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@Smith574

Here is how I would do it:


Convert the text to outlines and duplicate it (copy and paste in place)
Assuming you've already drawn your shape, select that and the top duplicate of the text
In the Pathfinder window, click the crop button.


This will leave you with only the lower portion of the text. You can group the two parts together if you like so that they will be selected together in the future when trying to position them.

Semi-related tip - When converting text, it is good practice to keep a non-outlined/converted version hidden somewhere in case you want to make changes later.

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