Photoshop for Devs 2: How and when to use clipping masks - Pt 1

The latest entry in my iDevBlogADay "Photoshop for Devs" series, we're going to talk about clipping masks in Photoshop and when to use them to make things easier.

View the original post here: http://weheartgames.com/2010/07/screencast-clipping-masks/

Helping iPhone developers hate using Photoshop a little less with simple tricks that make workflows more efficient.

Part 1:
- Place a photo in a Polaroid border, without having to crop it. Keep its full resolution so you can scale and rotate it as much as you want.

- Texture a chess board. Combine the texture layer with layer effects applied to the base layer.

Part 2:
- Add a reflection to windows in a building and change the colours with a clipped adjustment layer. Add art to a billboard shape with rounded corners and perspective.

- Create perfect silhouettes for your vector art. Mask multiple layers with a single base shape and apply layer effects to the entire group.

Thanks to @OwenGoss for letting me use his art from LandFormer for iPhone. Go check it out!

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Photoshop
• clipping masks
• mask layers
• app store
• tutorial
• howto
• gamedev

[ivette2182]

Hi, thanks for your video! I understand how to clip the image to fit the square.. but

my question is, how do i create a base layer for a clipping mask? I would really

appreciate your answer. Thanks!

[weheartgamesinc]

@ivette2182 You can use absolutely any layer you want as a clipping mask — even text. Create any kind of shape (vector, pixels, it doesn't matter) and put another layer on top of it. Option-click the line between them and you're done.

Note that if your base layer fills the entire document (doesn't have any transparency), you won't see a change when you use it as a clipping mask.

[ivette2182]

Got it! Thanks so much!!