How To Draw A Loopy Line In Photoshop Cc

In this tutorial, I evidence you how to use clipping masks in Photoshop to show and hide different parts of a layer and fit images into shapes! We'll larn the basics of how to create a clipping mask, and nosotros'll explore the idea backside them in more than particular and so that by the end of this lesson, you'll accept a solid grasp on how clipping masks work. I'll be using Photoshop CC simply everything is fully compatible with Photoshop CS6 and before. Let's get started!

What Are Clipping Masks?

Clipping masks in Photoshop are a powerful way to command the visibility of a layer. In that sense, clipping masks are similar to layer masks. But while the terminate result may wait the same, clipping masks and layer masks are very different. A layer mask uses black and white to show and hibernate unlike parts of the layer. Only a clipping mask uses the content and transparency of one layer to control the visibility of another.

To create a clipping mask, we need two layers. The layer on the bottom controls the visibility of the layer higher up it. In other words, the lesser layer is the mask, and the layer above it is the layer that's clipped to the mask.

Where the bottom layer contains actual content (pixels, shapes, or blazon), the content on the layer above it is visible. But if whatever office of the layer on the lesser is transparent, and so that same area on the layer above information technology will exist hidden. That may sound more disruptive than how a layer mask works, just clipping masks are just as easy to use. Permit's create a clipping mask ourselves so nosotros tin better empathize how they work.

How A Clipping Mask Works

To really make sense of clipping masks, we first demand to understand the departure between content and transparency on a layer. To follow forth with me, you can open whatsoever paradigm. I'll employ this photo of my little friend here who's besides trying to sympathize, in her own manner, what this clipping stuff is all about (photograph from Adobe Stock):

The original image. Photo credit: Adobe Stock.

A Mask Layer And A Clipped Layer

If we wait in the Layers console, we see the photo on the Background layer, which is currently the only layer in the document:

The Layers panel showing the photograph on the Background layer.

We need ii layers to create a clipping mask, one to serve as the mask and one that will exist clipped to the mask, then let'south add together a 2nd layer. We'll add the new layer below the image. First, unlock the Background layer. In Photoshop CC, click the lock icon to unlock it. In Photoshop CS6 or earlier, press and hold the Alt (Win) / Pick (Mac) key on your keyboard and double-click on the Background layer:

Unlocking the Background layer.

This unlocks the Background layer and renames it "Layer 0":

Unlocking the Groundwork layer lets us add together a new layer below information technology.

Then, to add a new layer below the image, press and concur the Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) cardinal on your keyboard and click the Add New Layer icon:

Calculation a new layer beneath the epitome.

A new layer named "Layer 1" appears beneath the photograph, and nosotros now have ii layers in the document. We'll plow the bottom layer into the mask, and the paradigm above information technology volition be clipped to the mask:

The 2nd layer needed for the clipping mask has been added.

Agreement Clipping Masks: Content vs Transparency

Hide the original image for the moment by clicking the top layer's visibility icon:

Clicking the visibility icon to hibernate the photo.

With the top layer turned off, nosotros see the layer we just added. Past default, new layers in Photoshop are blank, pregnant they accept no content at all. A layer with no content is transparent and we come across right through it. When there are no other layers below a transparent layer, Photoshop displays the transparency as a checkerboard pattern, as nosotros see hither:

The checkerboard design ways the bottom layer is transparent.

Plow the height layer back on by clicking once more on it visibility icon:

Clicking the same visibility icon.

The tiptop layer contains actual content. In this instance, it'due south pixel-based content because we're looking at a digital photo, just in Photoshop, content could also be a vector shape or fifty-fifty text. Actually, anything that isn't transparency is considered content:

The top layer contains actual content.

How To Create A Clipping Mask In Photoshop

Clipping masks use the content and transparency of the layer beneath to control the visibility of the layer above. Let's create a clipping mask using our ii layers and meet what happens.

Step ane: Select The Layer That Will Be Clipped

When creating a clipping mask, we beginning need to select the layer that's going to be clipped to the layer beneath information technology. In this case, the meridian layer ("Layer 0") will be clipped to the bottom layer ("Layer 1"), and then make certain the meridian layer is selected:

Selecting the top layer.

Step 2: Choose "Create Clipping Mask"

To create the clipping mask, go upwards to the Layer menu in the Menu Bar and cull Create Clipping Mask:

Go to Layer > Create Clipping Mask.

And that's all there is to it! With the layer mask created, the Layers console at present shows the elevation layer ("Layer 0" ) indented to the right, with a small arrow pointing downward at "Layer i" below information technology. This is how Photoshop tells us that the peak layer is at present clipped to the layer below:

The Layers console showing the tiptop layer clipped to the bottom layer.

Only the trouble is, all we've accomplished and so far past creating a clipping mask is that we've hidden the image from view, and that's considering our mask layer ("Layer 1") contains no content. It's completely transparent. With a clipping mask, whatsoever areas on the top layer that are sitting straight above transparent areas on the bottom layer are subconscious. Since the bottom layer contains nothing just transparency, no part of the image to a higher place information technology is visible:

With no content on the mask layer, the epitome on the clipped layer is subconscious.

How To Release A Clipping Mask

That wasn't very interesting, so release the clipping mask past going up to the Layer menu and choosing Release Clipping Mask:

Going to Layer > Release Clipping Mask.

In the Layers panel, the superlative layer is no longer indented to the correct, which ways information technology's no longer clipped to the layer below:

The layer mask has been released.

And in the document, nosotros're back to seeing our image:

With the clipping mask released, the prototype returns.

Calculation Content To The Clipping Mask

Let's add some content to the bottom layer. Click the elevation layer'southward visibility icon to hide the image and so we tin run across what we're doing:

Clicking the top layer'due south visibility icon.

And so click on the bottom layer to brand information technology active:

Selecting the lesser layer.

To add content, we'll describe a simple shape. Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool from the Toolbar by correct-clicking (Win) / Command-clicking (Mac) on the Rectangular Marquee Tool and choosing the Elliptical Marquee Tool from the fly-out menu:

Selecting the Elliptical Marquee Tool.

Click and drag out an elliptical pick outline in the middle of the document:

Cartoon a selection with the Elliptical Marquee Tool.

Go up to the Edit card in the Menu Bar and cull Fill:

Going to Edit > Fill up.

In the Fill dialog box, set the Contents choice to blackness, then click OK:

The Fill dialog box.

Photoshop fills the selection with black. To remove the selection outline from around the shape, go up to the Select menu and choose Deselect:

Going to Select > Deselect.

And at present, instead of a completely transparent layer, we accept an expanse with some content in the center. Notice, though, that the area surrounding the content remains transparent:

The bottom layer now contains both content and transparency.

Dorsum in the Layers panel, the preview thumbnail for the lesser layer now shows the black shape. What'southward of import to note here is that if you compare the preview thumbnails for both layers, you'll run across that some of the prototype on the top layer is sitting direct above the content (the shape) on the bottom layer. And, some of the photo is sitting above the transparent areas on the lesser layer:

The preview thumbnail showing the content and transparency on the bottom layer.

Creating Another Clipping Mask

Now that we've added some content to the bottom layer, let'south create another clipping mask. Again, we first need to select the layer that will be clipped to the layer below, and so click on the top layer to select information technology. Then, click the summit layer's visibility icon to make the prototype on the layer visible:

Selecting and turning on the layer that will exist clipped.

Become back upward to the Layer menu and once once again cull Create Clipping Mask:

Get once again to Layer > Create Clipping Mask.

In the Layers panel, nosotros encounter the top layer clipped to the layer beneath information technology, but like we saw final fourth dimension:

The Layers panel again showing the clipping mask.

But in the certificate, we now run into a very different outcome. This time, the section of the photo that's sitting directly above the shape on the layer beneath it remains visible! The only parts of the photo that are hidden are the areas surrounding the shape, since those areas are still sitting above transparency:

The content on the bottom layer keeps part of the top layer visible.

Moving Content Inside A Clipping Mask

Of course, the outcome might look better if our subject area was centered inside the shape. With clipping masks, information technology's easy to move and reposition content within them. Just select the Move Tool from the Toolbar:

Selecting the Move Tool.

And then click on the photo and drag information technology into position. Every bit you move the image, simply the area that moves over the shape on the layer beneath information technology remains visible. And that's the basics of how clipping masks work:

The clipping mask afterwards centering the photo inside the shape.

When To Use A Clipping Mask

While layer masks are best for blending layers with seamless transitions, clipping masks in Photoshop are perfect when your image needs to fit within a conspicuously-defined shape. The shape may be ane you've drawn with a choice tool as we've seen. Simply a clipping mask can likewise be used to fill a vector shape with an epitome, or to place an image inside text. As another example of what nosotros can do with clipping masks, let'southward quickly expect at how a clipping mask tin be used to place a photo inside a frame.

Placing A Photo In A Frame With Clipping Masks

Hither I have a document containing two images, each on a carve up layer. The photograph on the bottom layer contains the frame:

The image on the lesser layer. Photo credit: Adobe Stock.

And if I turn the top layer on past clicking its visibility icon:

Turning on the peak layer.

We see the photograph I want to identify inside the frame:

The image on the peak layer. Photo credit: Adobe Stock.

I'll hide the elevation layer for the moment by once more clicking its visibility icon, and then I'll click on the Groundwork layer to select it:

Hiding the tiptop layer and selecting the bottom layer.

Drawing Or Selecting The Shape

I mentioned that clipping masks work best when your image needs to fit within a shape. In this case, the shape is the surface area inside the frame. Since the expanse is filled with solid black, I'll select it using Photoshop's Magic Wand Tool:

Selecting the Magic Wand Tool from the Toolbar.

I'll click with the Magic Wand Tool inside the frame, and now the area is selected:

Selecting the surface area that will be used for the clipping mask.

Then, I'll copy the selected area to a new layer past going upwardly to the Layer menu in the Menu Bar, choosing New, and so choosing Layer via Copy:

Going to Layer > New > Layer via Copy.

Photoshop copies my selection to a new layer between the Groundwork layer and the photo I'll be placing within the frame. I now have the shape I demand to create my clipping mask:

The area inside the frame appears on its ain layer.

A Faster Way To Create A Clipping Mask

To create the clipping mask, I'll select the top layer, and I'll turn the layer back on by clicking its visibility icon:

Selecting and turning on the top layer.

We've seen that we can create a clipping mask by choosing Create Clipping Mask from the Layer menu. But a faster way is to press and hold the Alt (Win) / Selection (Mac) fundamental on your keyboard as you hover your mouse cursor betwixt the two layers. Your cursor will change into a clipping mask icon:

The clipping mask icon appears.

Click on the dividing line between the two layers to create the clipping mask:

The image is at present clipped to "Layer one" below it.

With the clipping mask created, the photo now appears only inside the frame, since that's the only office of the image that's sitting in a higher place actual content on the layer beneath it. The rest of the photo is hidden because it's sitting to a higher place transparency:

The photograph is now clipped inside the frame thanks to the clipping mask.

Resizing Content Inside A Clipping Mask

Finally, we've seen that we can motion content around inside a clipping mask using the Motility Tool. Simply we tin can also resize content within a clipping mask just equally easily using Photoshop'southward Gratis Transform command. At the moment, my photograph is as well big for the frame, and then I'll resize information technology by going upwards to the Edit menu and choosing Free Transform:

Going to Edit > Free Transform.

Photoshop places the Complimentary Transform box and handles effectually the image, including the area outside the frame that's currently hidden by the clipping mask:

The Gratuitous Transform handles appear around the entire image, including the hidden areas.

To resize it, I'll press and hold my Shift fundamental as I click on the corner handles and drag them inward. Belongings the Shift key locks the aspect ratio of the prototype so I don't distort it:

Resizing the photo inside the clipping mask.

To take information technology, I'll press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) on my keyboard to shut out of Free Transform. And now, thanks to the power of clipping masks, the photo fits nicely within the frame:

The final clipping mask outcome.

And there we have it! That's how clipping masks work in Photoshop and how to apply a clipping mask to show and hide dissimilar parts of a layer! Visit our Photoshop Basics section for more Photoshop tutorials!

Source: https://www.photoshopessentials.com/basics/clipping-masks-essentials/

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