Procreate Clipping Mask - Everything You Need To Know

Procreate Clipping Mask - Everything You Need To Know

What is a clipping mask in Procreate? What does a clipping mask do? How do I activate a clipping mask? These may be questions you’re asking yourself, and they’ll be answered soon because we’re going to learn all about clipping masks in this blog post. 

What is a clipping mask?

A clipping mask is a layer that has been “clipped” to a layer underneath it. The bottom layer acts as a mask, or frame, for the layer that’s clipped to it. 

A clipping mask achieves similar things as alpha lock, but a clipping mask has two layers, while alpha lock has one. Learn about alpha lock here

What does a clipping mask do?

When a layer is clipped, that layer’s contents only appear where they overlap with the contents of the layer below it. 

It helps if you can see what’s happening; let’s look at the two pictures below.

In the first picture, there is no clipped layer. The purple square is above, and even covers, some of the blue square.

In the second picture, Layer 2 is clipped to Layer 1. Even though Layer 2 is above Layer 1, it is clipped so its contents are hidden behind. The only part of Layer 2 that is shown is that which overlaps with Layer 1. The effect here is that the blue square becomes a frame for the purple one; the only part of the purple square that is shown is that which touches the blue square. 

How do I active a clipping mask?

To active a clipping mask, first make sure that the layer you want to clip is above the layer you want to clip it to. Make sure the layer you want to clip is selected (it will be blue). Tap that layer; a menu should appear to the left of the layer in which “Clipping Mask” is an option. Tap it to turn it on (or to turn it off). Once clipping mask is turned on, an arrow pointing down should appear towards the left side of the layer thumbnail (layer image). 

That’s all! I hope you understand clipping masks better now. 

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Thanks for reading!

 

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