How to Crop Image in Illustrator | Adobe Illustrator Tutorials
Question :
Why can't an image be cropped in Illustrator? Answer :
If you are talking about the Crop Tool, you
must select your image to see the crop button. It doesn't show in the tool panel when the image isn't selected.
If you are using the clipping mask or opacity mask method, you must have both the shape (mask) and the image selected to crop.