Making clipping masks are one of a designer’s core, production art skills. If you have ever seen a photo in a complex shape, chances are, that was done using a clipping mask.
Using a clipping mask gives you the ability to break out of a simple box and explore a wealth of shapes in your design.
It would be a rare day indeed when I did not use clipping masks multiple times. They are great for:
- Organizing images/graphic objects into a cohesive layout,
- Framing photos is an interesting way,
- Making graphic effects with photos,
- Placing images inside text
What is a Clipping Mask
A clipping mask is a vector shape used to mask an image or objects below it in the stacking order. Only those parts of the image covered by the clipping mask will be visible.
A clipping path can be used to mask other vector graphics, raster images like photographs, gradients, groups pretty much anything you can slap on the artboard but… the shape used as the clipping path (the shape that defines what will show and what will be hidden) MUST be a vector shape.
Terminology
Clipping Group – a group consisting of a clipping path and one or more shapes, images or other objects that are masked.
Clipping Path – the vector shape that defines the mask in a clipping group. Only those areas of the object or objects directly below the shape of the clipping path will be visible.
How to Make a Clipping Mask
A clipping mask is made up of 2 pieces: A photo or other graphic, in this case the photo of the hand holding the dog’s paw, and a vector shape that be used as the mask, in this case, the heart shape.
Four Methods
There are Four ways to make a clipping mask in Illustrator. Overkill, I know! but you will find that one of the ways works best for your workflow.
Set Up
No matter which method you choose, you need to start with the following two steps:
- Make sure that the vector shape is on top of the image that you are masking. The top object is what defines the clipping area.
- Select both the vector shape and the object(s) you wish to mask.
Context-Menu Method: Right-click the selected objects, and from the resulting context menu, choose the Make Clipping mask option. This is my favorite method because I will already have my hand on the mouse so it is fast and intuitive for me.
Keyboard Shortcut Method: Ctrl + 7 (windows) | Cmd + 7 (Mac). This is my second favourite method as I generally work with my left hand always on the keyboard so it is still fast a fast option.
Layers Panel Method: With your objects ordered correctly (shape on top) and both objects selected. Click the Make / Release Layer Mask button at the bottom of the Layer’s panel. I tend to use this method in very complex layouts when I might have many shapes overlapping and I don’t intend all of them to be clipped. Being able to clearly see which specific objects are selected in the Layers panel helps me be more precise.
Object Menu Method: You can also create a clipping mask by going up to the menu and choosing Object > Clipping Mask > Make. Last but not least this method is great for beginners because if you don’t remember the other methods know that ANYTHING you want to do to a shape will be found somewhere under the Object menu.
And regardless of which clipping mask method you chose – the result!
How a Clipping Group Appears in the Layer’s Panel
Once you have created a clipping mask, you will see a clipping group in the Layers panel. The group contains both the vector shape used as the mask and the shapes that are being masked. The clipping path will be at the top of the stacking order and underlined. Indented below the mask will be all the objects that are masked.
Editing a Clipping Mask
So you created a clipping mask but… there’s a problem perhaps the mask doesn’t completely cover the image and you have some white space or the image is off center. How do you adjust the mask to fix these problems?
In this example, I have created a clipping mask that has two problems I would want to fix. The woman and dog are visibly off-centered and rounded rectangle shape I am using as the mask is too large and shows areas of white space so it looks like the graphic only has rounded corners on two sides.
Note that in the layer panel the clipping mask and all its individual parts are selected. You can tell because there is a blue box next to the individual layers this tells us that the object on that layer is selected.
Layers Panel: The trick to editing a clipping mask is individually selecting either the mask or the image underneath, and for that, the Layers panel is your best friend! I am going to correct the photo being off-center by selecting the photo in the layers panel and then using my left arrow keys to nudge it to the left. Notice that only the photo layer has a blue box next to it not the mask.
Partway there, the photo is centered! Now to fix the white space at the top by making the vector shape we are using as a mask a little smaller. Again, proper selection is the key. I click the target next to the shape I am using as a mask in the layer panel. and then choose the Selection tool so I get a bounding box and by dragging on the sizing handles make the shape a little smaller.
Alternate Methods: Using the Layers panel is often the best method for editing but you do have a number of other options.
Properties Panel: First select the clipping mask you want to edit. Then at the top of the Properties panel you will find e the Edit Mask or Edit Content buttons which will allow you to select between editing the mask or the contents of the mask.
Isolation Mode: When you double-click an object with the Selection tool you enter Isolation Mode. Isolation Mode is a tool to allow you to work inside nested groups – which a clipping mask is. You can tell you have entered isolation mode because the title bar at the top of the screen will change and show that you are inside a clipping group and then you can either select the outline of the mask with Selection Tool or the bottom object and make your changes.
Direct Selection Tool – if you click in the center of your clipping mask you will select the object that is being masked (this can be tricky if there is more than one) then switch to the Selection Tool and this will give you a bounding box that you can use to move, scale or rotate. the image being masked. If you move the Direct Selection tool over the edge of the clipping mask you will be able to select an anchor point on the vector shape we using as a mask and then if you choose the Selection tool you will get a bounding box that will let you adjust the mask (scale, rotate, etc). I find this method fiddly and really prefer using the layers panel.
How to Release a Clipping Mask
Sometimes you decide to go another way with the design and you want to get rid of the clipping mask. Just like creating a clipping mask, there are 4 ways to release a clipping mask.
- Right-click the selected clipping group and from the resulting context menu choose Release Clipping Mask.
- Keyboard Shortcut: Select the Clipping Group and then use the shortcut Ctrl+Alt +7 (Windows) | Cmd + Opt +7 (Mac)
- Layers Panel: Select the Clipping Group and from the Layers Panel chose the Make/Release Clipping Mask button
- Object Menu: Select the Clipping Group and from the menu choose
Release ALL Clipping Masks
Sometimes you buy a file or have to edit a complex file that someone else created and you find that the file contains clipping mask inside of a clipping mask inside of …. (you get the idea). Like groups, clipping masks can be nested inside one another. Dismantling the graphic to get at that one piece you want can be a real pain in the butt!
But wait! there is a workaround!
From the menu choose Select > Object > Clipping Masks this will select all clipping masks in the image and then you can simply click the delete button to get rid of them.
Examples of Clipping Masks
In this social media post image for Scoop N Save’s One Year Anniversary, clipping masks are used to show some of the cake-decorating store’s fancier products inside the text “One Year”.
When using a Clipping Mask for this type of project it is important to choose a pretty chunky font and images that aren’t too busy. The sprinkle images work because, while there are a lot of individual elements, they are all exactly the same colour and size and the overall effect is more of a texture.
Real Estate flyers like this one, leverage clipping masks to organize a bunch of diverse photos. Often, when I am doing one of these flyers I get a random number of photos, some of which work better vertically and some better landscape. Using clipping masks allows me to quickly layout the flyer by first drawing rectangles to block in the layout and then I go back and place the images, move them under the rectangular blocks so I can use the rectangle as the clipping mask and voila! layout with images.
This method is fast and it is flexible. Could I go in and crop all the photos in photoshop sure… but it would take way more time. Clipping masks to the rescue!
FYI – if you are looking for a realtor in the Lower Mainland area of British Columbia – Carolyn’s the bomb! – highly recommend her.
Clipping Mask FAQ
Can you use a Group in a Clipping Mask?
You can mask grouped objects but you cannot use grouped shapes as a mask. For example, you could have a photo, overlayed by a shape with a gradient as well as other shapes or even another photo and use a single vector shape to create a mask that clips all of those objects. However, if you were hoping to use a group of shapes to mask a photo then you are out of luck. The reason is that a clipping mask uses the top object as the mask and even though you would think that Illustrator would see the group as the top object, it doesn’t, it will see the top object in the group as the single top object.
But wait… there’s a workaround. Simply take your group of objects and use either the shape builder tool or the Pathfinder panel – make them your grouped shapes one object and voila your complex clipping mask will work.
The results are in. The grouped shape essentially hid everything and the compound shape worked like a champion.
Why is my Clipping Mask not Working?
The 4 most common reasons that a clipping mask is not working:
- Both the mask and the objects you want to clip are not selected: Fix this by selecting both the object you are using as the mask and the object or objects you wish to mask.
- Using more than a single image as the mask: Illustrator is going to try to use the top object as the mask. If you have multiple objects then you need to turn them into a compound path by selecting all the shapes you wish to use as a mask, right-click and from the resulting context menu choose Make Compound Path. The example below shows the different results you get when trying to use multiple objects as a mask and then turning those objects into a compound path.
- The top object is not a vector shape. If you are trying to use a photo or other raster element as the clipping path the clipping mask will not work.
- The shape used for the mask is part of a group. See the section above on working with groups
Why Does the Clipping Mask Make Everything Disappear?
This is a common problem when you are trying to make a mask and have many objects involved. Remember that the top most object will become the mask.
Solution:
- Make sure the object you want to become the mask is the top most object in the layers panel.
- Make sure the top object is a vector not a raster image.
- Make sure that the top object is not part of a group. If it is part of a group then ungroup the objects and combine them with the shapebuilder tool or pathfinder panel or make them a compound path instead.
Before You Go
I hope you found this tutorial helpful and that you are now comfortable making clipping masks left, right and center. Another couple highly requested topics are learning to How to Wrap Text around a Circle and Wrapping Text in Illustrator (yes I know they sound like the same thing but they are different: one uses path type and one uses area type).
Leave A Comment