Clipping Masks are a useful technique to be able to use only part of an image masked into a specific shape without destroying the image in the layer. You can use it to easily create sculpted images in Pages, Keynote or iMovie.
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Video Summary
In This Tutorial
How to use clipping masks in Pixelmator Pro to show only part of an image inside a shape without destroying the underlying layers, including adjusting and trimming the mask, drawing or grouping shapes, masking multiple layers, using text as a mask, and a practical replacement example.
Intro
- Rather than deleting the parts of an image outside a desired shape, a clipping mask in an app like Pixelmator Pro lets you confine an image to a shape such as a circle or rounded rectangle non-destructively.
Creating a Clipping Mask
- Opening an image directly puts it alone in a layer, while creating a new document first adds an unwanted blank layer. After drawing a shape such as a rounded rectangle with the Shape Tool, holding Shift to constrain it, the shape layer is dragged below the image layer because the bottom layer becomes the mask and the layers above fit inside it. Right-clicking the image layer and choosing Create Clipping Mask, or using Format, Mask, Create Clipping Mask, applies the mask, indicated by a small arrow pointing to the layer below.
Adjusting the Clipping Mask
- Both layers remain editable: the shape can be reshaped by dragging its corners or curve handles, and the image can be repositioned. Because clicking always grabs the topmost layer, locking one layer allows the other to be moved, so the shape itself can be repositioned after locking the image.
Trimming To the Clipping Mask
- Exporting leaves the masked-out area transparent, and Image, Trim Canvas with trim transparent pixels removes the surrounding area to produce a tight image ready for use in Keynote, Pages, or iMovie.
Drawing Instead Of Using a Shape
- The mask layer need not be a predefined shape; a new empty layer can be painted on with the painting tools, then placed below and used as the clipping mask so the drawn pixels define the visible area.
Use Groups For Multiple Shapes
- To mask with several shapes at once, the shapes are drawn on separate layers, selected, grouped together, and placed below the image, after which creating the clipping mask treats the entire group as the mask, and more items can be added to the group.
Multiple Layers
- More than one layer can share the same mask; an additional image dragged in as a separate layer is not initially part of the mask, but right-clicking and choosing Create Clipping Mask adds it so multiple layers use the mask below them.
Using Text For the Clipping Mask
- A text layer can serve as a clipping mask, where only the transparency of the pixels matters rather than the color, so making text the mask layer shows the image through the letterforms.
Clipping Mask Example Use
- To place one image into a framed area of another, cutting a hole or trimming destroys the layers and cannot easily be undone, whereas drawing a rectangle over the target area and using it as a clipping mask keeps both images intact. Locking layers as needed allows the inserted picture to be repositioned freely, giving the most flexibility to adjust the crop or framing later.
Summary
Clipping masks in Pixelmator Pro confine an image to the shape of the layer beneath it, whether that layer is a drawn shape, a painted area, a group of shapes, or text, and both the mask and image stay fully editable; the result can be trimmed and exported for use elsewhere, and the technique replaces destructive cutting because it preserves every layer for later adjustment.
Video Transcript
Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Let me show you how to use Clipping Masks in Pixelmator Pro on your Mac.
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So let's say you have an image and you want the image to be inside of a shape. Like maybe a circle or a rounded rectangle. Well one way to do that would be to take that image and then remove the parts outside of the image to just have that shape left in the middle. But a much easier way to do that is using a Clipping Mask in an app like PhotoShop or, as I'm going to show you here, in Pixelmator Pro.
So in Pixelmator Pro here I'm just going to open up this image. When I open up the image directly I just get that image by itself in a layer. Watch out for if you create a new document first and then bring the image in then you're going to have a blank layer, usually just a white field, and then the image on top. So here I've got the image all by itself. Now, of course, I could use a selection tool here on the right. Select any area I want. Hit Delete and now it is transparent right there. If I were to do that around the outside I could get it to be a shape that I want.
But a Clipping Mask allows you to do this in a much better way. The idea here is that that add a shape, the shape that you want the image to be into. I'm going to use the Tools here on the right, the Shape Tool. I'm actually going to click and select a rounded rectangle. That's a good shape because it is difficult to make by removing parts outside. So I'm going to draw the rounded rectangle here. If I hold the Shift key while I'm dragging I'll get a perfect square. Let's say I want this to be the shape that I want the image to go into. So this is like a window that I'm going to see the image through. I'm going to take this and I'm going to place it over the area that I want it to show through when I apply the Clipping Mask.
So now notice I've got two layers here on the left. I've got the rounded rectangle on top and the image below it. Instead I'm going to drag the rounded rectangle below it so we can't see it anymore because it is behind it. The idea with the Clipping Mask is that the bottom layer is going to be the shape and the layers above it are going to be what fits inside the shape. So now I select the layer for the image above it. I could use Format and then Mask and then Create Clipping Mask. There's a keyboard shortcut. But I like to just use the Control Key or two fingers on the trackpad, right click on a mouse, to bring up the Context Menu and say Create Clipping Mask. Then you can see here what it does with the layers as I get this little arrow here to the left pointing to the layer below it. You can see now the image corresponds to that rounded rectangle the Clipping Mask and anything above it that has this arrow pointing down is now going to be shown using that mask.
So I get this nice rounded rectangle here. I could still adjust both layers. I can select the rounded rectangle here, for instance, and I could drag one of the corners of it like that or I can drag one of these dots here that changes the curve of the corner. I could also select this layer here and move it around. You could see how the image moves just fine. If I wanted to move the rounded rectangle itself it is difficult to do because this layer is on top and clicking and dragging is always going to grab the layer that is on top. But I could lock it like that and now it won't drag this layer but it will drag this one. So now I can move the rounded rectangle around.
Now if I were to export this all this area here would be transparent. This area here would be the only remaining visible part of the image. I could go to Image, Trim Canvas here and then trim transparent pixels and now I've gotten rid of the rest of it and have a nice tight image that I can export and use, say, in a Keynote presentation. I can use it in Pages. I could use it in iMovie. All sorts of different ways to use it.
Now the layer here that is the Clipping Mask doesn't have to be a shape. I'm going to delete this layer here. That will get rid of the Clipping Mask and we're back to just having the image. I could add a new empty layer and then use one of the Painting Tools here and draw on top like that. So these are just pixels that I'm drawing. I can move that below, like before. Select the image and then create a Clipping Mask. You can see how whatever I've drawn, that's what becomes the mask there. If I wanted to include multiple shapes I could draw multiple shapes, like this, and then maybe like that. Take these two, select both layers. I'm going to Control Click on them and group them together. Then I could take this group and put it below. If I create the Clipping Mask on the layer above you could see it treats the group as the Clipping Mask. So I can add more things inside this group if I want. Likewise if I dragged another image to another layer here then this layer isn't part of the Clipping Mask. You can see it doesn't have that arrow there. I could Control Click it there and create Clipping Mask and it would add it. So now I've got this layer here and this layer here. Both of these both using the Clipping Mask that's below it.
Another type of layer you can use as a Clipping Mask is text. So I can create a text layer here. I'll just create some text like this and it doesn't actually even matter the color because it's going to just worry about whether the pixels are transparent or not. Then I can increase the size. Position it like that. Now if I make this layer the Clipping Mask layer like that, that's the result I get. Let's drag this around, and there we go.
Here's another example. Say I've got this image here and I want to replace the image in this picture here. So there are a lot of ways I could do it. Let's drag in our other image here. I could trim this so it fits perfectly in this shape. Then just place it on top. I could also select this in here, just cut out a rectangle, and then delete it creating a hole. Then place this behind it, like that. But the problem with both of these is I've destroyed the layers. In this case I've created this hole here and I really can't get it back very easily. If I decide to change my mind and maybe have a smaller cutout and that kind of thing. If I trim this image I couldn't get the pixels back if I decided to resize it as well. However, by using a Clipping Mask I can do it without destroying either of these two layers. All I would need to do first is create a shape here. I'm going to use a rectangle shape. Let's zoom in here and make sure I create it right over the part of the image where there is a photo. Just like that. Now I'm going to use this as the Clipping Mask for this layer here. So I'll do that. Now let's lock this layer so we can't move it. Lock this layer so we can't move it. We will just move the picture behind it. There we go to get exactly what I want. The great thing is this image is untouched and so is this image. I've just used a Clipping Mask. So whatever I want to do. If I want to use a slightly different part of this image here it's easy to adjust. If I want to adjust what part of this image seems to be cutout or overlaid with the other one I could adjust that. I've got the most versatility here for the future by using this simple Clipping Mask technique instead of cutting something out. I hope you found this useful. Thanks for watching.
Very useful. I dabbled with this before but never quite got it right. I am sure to have better success having now watched the video. Thanks Gary.
Gary, at 3:56 you delete the transparent pixels, I'm trying to figure out why it's still showing transparent pixels in the small areas between the rounded and right-angle corners. thx
nick: Not sure what you mean. It is showing the checkerboard pattern in the corners, signifying transparency.
Never mind...I was thinking it should be black