Adobe® Photoshop® CS2 Studio Techniques

Clipping Masks

When you create a Clipping Mask, the layer you're working on will show up only in those places where there is information on the layer directly below it. This can be useful for simple effects like controlling where shadows fall or placing a photo inside of some text.

Sample Use: You've spent hours creating a big retro head-line that could have come from the movie poster of Creature from the Black Lagoon. Your client—not exactly the king of good taste—calls and says he wants you to put flames inside the headline. You put aside your better judgment and agree to the flames, but only because he pays on time. Then he calls back; he's got some unresolved issues. He doesn't know whether he wants flames or hot lava inside the text, and ...