![]() ![]() In image editing, masks nondestructively hide parts of layers.The non-optional near-black interface is definitely going to be a turn off for some users. There are lots of different uses for masks and they are an incredibly flexible and powerful image editing tool. For example, in photo editing, you might use masks to combine parts of different photos into one. In graphic design, you might use clipping masks to fit an image within a container. And, in illustrations, you might use masks to fill layers with textures. Let’s check out how masks work and how to use them. What do masks do?Įssentially, layer masks ‘erase’ parts of layers so they are no longer visible. Why not use the Erase tool for this? There are a few reasons - for one, once you erase an area, you need to go back and undo every change to get the original image back. It may also not be possible to erase certain layers such as text, shapes, or RAW layers. Masks let you nondestructively hide parts layers of every type - even layer groups. And you can remove or refine masks whenever you want in order to make the original image fully visible. Not just that, masks can also be copied from layer to layer and edited using effects, making them infinitely more versatile for many image editing tasks. In Pixelmator Pro, there are two kinds of masks: layer masks and clipping masks. To add a layer mask, Control ?-click a layer in the Layers sidebar and choose Add Mask. You could also select the layer you’d like to mask and choose Format > Mask > Add Mask (from the Format menu at the top of your screen). Notice how a white thumbnail appears next to the layer. Layer masks work in black and white (otherwise known as greyscale). The color white doesn’t hide anything, so a completely white mask will have no effect on the image. Any part of a mask that is pure black will completely hide those areas of a layer. By default, when you first add a layer mask, it’s completely white. To begin editing your mask, you’ll first need to click the thumbnail to select the mask. You can use almost any tool in Pixelmator Pro to edit masks, just like you would edit any other type of layer. But to mask out photos, the Paint tool is often used, so let’s start with that. Once you’ve added the mask, choose the Paint tool (by pressing the b key) and select a basic round brush. To make it easier to edit masks, you can reset the primary and secondary colors to black and white and to do that, you can press the d key. By default, the color black will be selected. You can even use effects to create masks nondestructively. For example, you can create a mask from an image by applying the Image fill effect to a layer mask. Or use the Gradient fill effect to create a fade effect. Clipping MasksĬlipping masks, like layer masks, are also used to mask out parts of objects. However, instead of painting on a dedicated mask layer, existing layers in your Pixelmator Pro documents act as the mask - for example, you can use text and shape layers as clipping masks. When you create a clipping mask, any transparent areas of the clipping mask layer will mask out those same areas of any layers ‘clipped’ to it. In simpler terms, if you create a clipping mask from a circle and clip a photo to it, any parts of the photo outside the circle will be hidden. So, in order to create a clipping mask, you’ll need at least two layers - one layer to act as the mask, and another layer to be masked. Any layers at all will work, whether it’s some text, a shape, or even a layer group. The upper layer should be your content (an image, pattern, or texture) and the lower layer should be the object that acts as the mask. In the screenshot above, we’ve added an ellipse shape and, by default, that appears above our image layer. First, move the ellipse layer below the image layer. ![]()
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