Converting white areas of image to transparent

[nick harambee]

Hi

I am wondering how to convert all the white areas of the following image to transparent:

Essentially I just created a black rectangle and on top of this the white text and star shape. I would like all the areas that are white to be transparent (including the black areas beneath the white) so that when I save the artboard as a png file the areas that are white will be transparent.

Would someone be able to help me achieve this in Illustrator CS5?

Thanks

Nick

[les nemeth]

You can do it two ways.

Way 1:
1. Convert the white areas to a compound path.
2. Select the black background and the white areas and use the Pathfinder palette to do a Subtract (Minus Front).

Way 2:
1. Select all the white areas and Cut.
2. Open the Transparency palette.
3. Select the black area.
4. Double click the empty square in the transparency palette.
5. Paste the white areas you cut, into the square representing the transparency.
6. Adjust the Clip and/or Invert Mask checkboxes as necessary.