What is a Clipping Mask Then?
basix

What is a Clipping Mask Then?

on Mar 9th 2011 with 55 comments
Tutorial Details
  • Program: Adobe Photoshop
  • Difficulty: Beginner
  • Estimated Completion Time: 10 Minutes

Final Product What You'll Be Creating

This entry is part 13 of 29 in the Photoshop Basix Session
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Are you new to Photoshop? Have you been trying to teach yourself the basics of Photoshop but have found the amount of educational material available on the net a bit overwhelming? As the world’s #1 Photoshop site, we’ve published a lot of tutorials. So many, in fact, that we understand how overwhelming our site may be to those of you who may be brand new to Photoshop. This tutorial is part of a 25-part video series demonstrating everything you will need to know to start working in Photoshop.

Photoshop Basix, by Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor, Martin Perhiniak includes 25 short video tutorials, around 5 – 10 minutes in length that will teach you all the fundamentals of working with Photoshop. Today’s tutorial, Part 13: What is a Clipping Mask Then will explain clipping masks, the advantages of clipped adjustments, and how they compare to layer masks. Let’s get started!

Tags: Basix
 
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Martin is a Hungarian graphic designer, digital artist and an Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor (Design Master). He is currently teaching and working in London but usually travels around the UK and share his love for Adobe products and graphic design. You can follow him on his blog or on Twitter.  

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  • http://www.graphiics.com Graphiics

    Thus is superb..thumbs up

  • http://www.exabytedesigns.com/blog/ Khalid Majid Ali

    Great video tutorial. Easy to understand.

  • Name

    Srsly, if you dont know how to do this, you have NO PHOTOSHOP SKILLS …

    • Janne

      +1 for that.

      There shoild be an another category for tutorials.. Category noobs.

      • BC

        Or, at least give some clue in the title of the post that it is going to cover the “basix.” Or maybe you put put something like “Difficulty: Beginner” on the page so people would know what they are getting into.

        Srsly, if you can’t read or write, YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS USING THE INTERNET.

      • jink

        If you can’t see the “B” in the bottom right of the thumbnail then you must be BLIND.

    • Terry

      Not everyone is born with the knowledge some people actually have to learn it…

      • jayar carranza

        that is true

    • http://www.lab26.com Wim Voets

      Hence “Photoshop Basix”…

    • Maureen Stephan

      Humm, smugness . . .

    • Anthony

      Right, said the person who types “name” in the field labeled “name” – Srsly….grow up!

      a community, online or otherwise is made of different people at different levels. If you can’t tolerate a tutorial aimed at those who are ‘below you’ I suggest you try not learn any new skills yourself in future in case other people are as tolerant of you as you are of them.

      On a more positive note – great tutorial Martin, thanks a lot!!

    • silverfox54

      What benefits do you contribute to anybody’s learning curve with your bloody rude and ignorant comment ?

    • http://www.spinland.biz Spinland

      It’s spelled, “seriously.” If you can’t spell words in the English language then you HAVE NO BUSINESS USING IT.

    • JD

      Name just got PWNT!

  • rubdoo

    you make awesome tutorials :)

  • http://www.swift.co.il tutness

    I’m a seasoned Photoshop user, and I LOVE this series! :)

    I’ve learned a new use for clipping masks on this tut, and I can’t wait to apply it in my day-to-day photoshoping.

    Great job on simplifying the principles of masking on both this video and the one before it. Keep it up! :)

  • godbout

    Ahah, nice again! Thx.
    I have to go back to the previous video though because I’m getting confused with the black/white shows/hides and it’s not the first time!

  • http://sharmaexpress.blogspot.com ronju

    Good job. Great tutorial. Thank’s for sharing.

  • Trevor

    Once again brilliant for both new and experienced users, many thanks

  • http://web.bethere.co.uk/bodiecreekbridge/ Steve

    This is a great series of tutorials for beginners. They are easy to understand, easy to follow and not too long. I’ve been using Photoshop as an amateur for years now but I’ve leanred something from every one of your tutorials and look forward to seeing more from you.

  • tom

    @godbout … Regarding how black hides and white shows … It’s useful for me, being an old-timer who remembers pre-digital lithographic film stripping techniques, to equate a mask with a film negative in which black is opaque and white is a clear window (which is coincidentally where Adobe’s term “mask” came from). If you sandwiched such a mask with another piece of film and exposed the sandwich to a new piece of film, the result would be the Photoshop equivalent: the image would only appear in the (white) window area and masked out of the (black) opaque area.

  • rk

    Martin,

    Great tutorials as always, I am very much a newbie for sure and given the huge learning curve for PS, every bit helps. I don’t even know all the tools/techniques available in PS for me to try them out! Your tuts are so simply explained without fancy jargon. I think you are a great teacher, which is not a talent many have even if they are experts in PS! Some people here seem to think they were “born” with this knowledge. Nobody does, we all have to learn at some point or the other. No need for snobbery especially when a PS expert like you can be so humble.

    I have a question though that may/may not be PS related directly. I am hoping, either you or someone in this forum can answer it. All of a sudden in the last 2 weeks, whenever I open an image (small, nothing huge in fact) in PS (CS4), I get a message box that no printer has been configured and that until I do so, I won’t be able to print anything. The print/page setup buttons are all greyed out. Printing is working fine from ALL other apps except PS. I googled this error and most solutions presented don’t apply to my case. Some have suggested reinstalling the printer or PS but I just wanted to be sure before I uninstall/reinstall PS or the printer. I would be so grateful if you or someone here can help me out, many thanks!

    • http://www.yesimadesigner.com Martin Perhiniak
      Author

      Hi,

      I really appreciate your comment and I’m glad you find this series useful! I haven’t seen the problem you have with Photoshop, but what I would do is install the latest driver for the printer and if it doesn’t help then try starting Photoshop while holding down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (starts PS with all default settings). If you still have the problem than first reinstall the printer, check PS and if you still see the error message then the last step would be to reinstall Photoshop.

      I hope you will be able to fix it! Good luck and thanks again for your friendly and positive comment!

      Martin

      • rk

        I am posting this just in case some one else has the same issue. I had a wireless printer that I had set up as the default printer. I changed that to Microsoft XPS Doc writer and I no longer got errors while opening a file in PS. My printer/page setup buttons no longer were greyed out. However, I couldn’t print anything by selecting the wireless printer. It wouldn’t let me pick the printer to print, it said something like “program error, couldn’t open the printer”. Today, I uninstalled/reinstalled the printer for the 3rd time since yesterday, except this time I set it up with a wired connection (USB). Now I can open files in PS with no errors and am able to print. My next experiment is to make that printer wireless again and see if the error comes back or if the print/page setup buttons grey out again.

  • Bill

    Thanks so much for these, can’t wait for the next one!

  • rk

    Hi Martin,
    Thanks for the speedy response :) I already reinstalled the printer by running the CD that came with the printer. It’s a brand new printer (2-3 months old) and no new drivers that I am aware of. I tried holding ctrl+alt+shift while opening PS from c:\progfiles\adobe directory. I also uninstalled/reinstalled PS itself and I still have the same issue!! I am so frustrated since I don’t know what changed. I didn’t have this problem till 2 weeks ago. It’s possible that one of the other adobe software like flash player or acrobat reader got updated on my PC in this time frame and that may have impacted it? I just don’t understand why only PS is affected while I can print from all other appls! Thanks for your suggestions anyway, may be some one else here has another idea for me to try…thanks again.

  • ttt

    …there’s some trouble with playing this video. has it been removed or what the problem may be than?

  • Lisa

    Thanks again Martin very useful information and easliy understood

  • 7

    I was really hoping to see some information about vector masks in this one. Maybe in the next one? I don’t feel like those who are learning this stuff for the first time will really be able to unlock the full potential of masking until they grasp all three types of masks, and see how they inter-relate.

    Surely I’m not the only one that uses all three on a daily basis…?

    • http://www.yesimadesigner.com Martin Perhiniak
      Author

      Hi 7,

      I agree with you that vector masks are very useful but as an instructor I have learnt that my students get confused if they are introduced to all 3 types of masking on a beginner level. Even though the concept behind vector masks are very similar to pixel masks beginner users tend to find it difficult to use them properly even if they are told how to do it.

      I will talk about the pen tool in another episode soon and how to create vector shapes and then I will mention vector masks.

      Thanks again for your comment, I appreciate it!
      Martin

  • http://avandormeseje.blogspot.com/ Kinga

    I have been working with PS for a long time but – from an educator’s point of view – find your tuts absolutely awesome. You are a great teacher: very clear and extremely useful for beginners. I wish I had this when I started out with PS!

    Keep up the good work!

  • jink

    can someone please tell me what the advantage of a clipping ‘path’ is?

  • Lizzy

    I have really enjoyed your tutorials, and have watched quite a few online videos trying to figure out the basics of photoshop. Yours are by far the best! Thank you for your easy explanations and descriptions of uses for these techniques. I’m excited to put this knowledge to good use!

  • rl

    I like this particular one a lot, it explains masks in a way that is easier to understand. I will have to try it out of course to really get the hang of it. Just wondering where Adobe comes up with all these terms like masks, clipping masks etc. Some may be from legacy photo development studio jargon but a lot of them don’t mean what it seems, until you learn how to use it. Then it makes sense somewhat. Thanks anyway for another great tut.

  • http://www.spinland.biz Spinland

    Wonderful tutorial! I’m a 3D modeler just learning the Photoshop side of things, and you provide one of the best resources I’ve found for this process. Thank you!

  • Mike

    Not all genius can share their knowledge. You’re not just tutoring, you’re inspiring. Thanks.

  • David

    Hello
    I’m enjoying the psd tuts basix course, and am slowly learning the skills, but episodes 13-14 arent downloading..when i click on ‘download to realplayer’ it only downloads the advert at the beginning of the tutorial..please can you tell what to do to save the tutorial..makes it easier to watch
    Many thanks
    David

  • http://www.toddprouty.com/ Todd Prouty

    Martin,

    Thank you for these very helpful tutorials. I’ve used Photoshop for years but still managed to pick up some new techniques through watching this series, and will gladly recommend it as a resource for new users. Your teaching style is excellent, and the pacing is just about perfect. Some video tutorials I’ve watched in the past require a lot of pausing or skipping back because the instructor moves too fast, but I think your speed is right where it should be for the target audience.

    Two questions — why do early episodes have HD available while later ones do not? HD makes the PS interface much more clear, especially when viewed full-screen. And why not include source files for all (or most) episodes? That also seems to drop off later in the series. Some episodes don’t really need files, as following along with *any* photo would be enough, but I can see how viewers might like to play around with your clipping masks from this episode, for instance.

    Thanks and keep up the great work.

    Todd

  • Steve

    Not sure what I’m doing wrong. I’m trying to use a clipping mask on a project I’m doing and when I try to use a clipping mask on a layer, it doesn’t work.

    I’ll be more than happy to send the PSD file, if anyone wants to look at it.

  • Tekas

    Seriously Martin :-) , I am one of the ignorant that you helped, and I thank you so much.
    I am starting on my own and it´s not easy. You make it less painfull :-)
    Thank you very much!!!!

  • john

    Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), position the pointer over the line in the Layers panel dividing the base layer and the first layer above it that you want to include in the clipping mask (the pointer changes to two overlapping circles ), and click.

  • flamedidea

    Hi, im still learning clipping masks, basic.
    Can someone please help me how to make my clipping mask not inherit the opacity value of the layer under it?(or the layer being clipped?)

    I’m actually creating a t-shirt mock up template and that is a crucial part for me,
    I want to clip the artworks on a layer with a shirt in it, so the artwork will only show on the clipped area,
    however when I lower the opacity of the shirt layer and because the artwork is clipped to it , the artwork
    also inherits the opacity of the shirt layer which is FAIL.
    I’ve been searching all over on how to disable clipping mask from inheriting the opacity value of the underneath layer.

    Thanks a lot, I hope you guys can help me cause I know you guys are better,
    Im actually gonna sell the mock up template in GR, I even have photographed shirt images now.

  • claudia

    I lovo your tutorials, thanks a lot! Please keep posting more, deepening some concepts, some techniques, like masks and layers. Anyway, reallyy really thanks! :)

  • leo

    there are a couple of videos that i can not run,,this one too…?!!!!!

  • Garry

    I think this is a great tutorial for beginners and experts alike to be honest. I know how to use Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, Catalyst etc but it doesn’t qualify me to be an expert. There are so many ways of acheiving the same effect that using one way is not always the preferred method of someone else. I encourage the so-called (noobs) as a certain couple of individuals suggest as these will probably encourage some of the next best designers we see in our careers. These people will probably end up making tutorials that some of the rude people will eventually watch.

    These are great tutorials for everyone to enjoy and maybe learn something from. Hell, I even learned something here and I thought I knew a lot of stuff. Seems there are more ways than I thought so maybe i’m a little more experienced than I thought or maybe just open to new ways of doing things. hence why I’m here – I like to learn on a daily basis and look at tutorials from both sides of the fence… beginner or experienced.

    A great or aspiring designer never stops learning and you will never know it all as software has a hole pletora of ways and means of acheiving desired effects.

    Keep up the good work PSD tuts. And for all the the apiring designers, editors or just plain enthusiasts… never stop trying t learn, it will only ever do you good!

    Have a good one!

  • simon

    cant watch the tutorial there comes some kind of quicktime icon with a question mark on it !!!???

    • Cesar

      Yeah, I have the same problem… :l

  • Kyle

    These tutorials are great, really helpful, many thanks. But would it kill you to include the picture files like you did for episode 8?

    • http://siddatwork.com Sidd

      Martin your are gifted at teaching ( and off course at PS )!
      I so wish that i had started out with PS with these tuts.
      It is very clear to me, that i must recommend these too all from now!

      Thanks Martin.

  • manee

    superb…….very simple and effective…..best tutorial for every photography enthusiast

  • BUck

    Great tutorial, loved the Basix series!
    I have a question though: what is the name of the font used in the “DAWN” example?
    Thanks!

  • Paul

    Great teaching, Martin! Thank you, I found that very helpful.

  • Ollie

    This is very helpful! Thank you!

  • http://twitter.com/cgrainger Carl Grainger

    nice job :)

  • 8lackie

    Well described. Helpful and minimized my confusion