Tutorial | Creating Shapes and Using Clipping Masks

Posted on Apr 10, 2012 in TUTORIALS | 13 Comments

Have you ever had an “aha” moment (as Oprah calls them) – but in digital scrapbooking? I think we’ve all had a few of these moments as we begin to learn our digi-scrap programs and read and glean from tutorials. Today I want to break from our photo editing tutorials and do something a little different just for a change of pace. I thought I’d start with a digi-scrapping tutorial on: How to Create Shapes in Photoshop, AND Using Clipping Masks to Clip Papers and Photos. For those that are newer to digital scrapbooking, this is a great way to learn a new trick. And for those seasoned scrappers, it might give you some ideas on how to branch out with the skills you already have.


shapes and clipping masks by sahlin studio
For this tutorial, I will be using Photoshop CS5. We will first learn 1) How to Create Shapes, and after that, 2) I’ll give ideas on how to use those shapes as clipping masks. Start by beginning with your page. You can start with a a new 12×12 document or start with your background paper.

SELECTING A SHAPE:

Step One:
1. Select the Custom Shape Tool
2. If selecting Custom Shape: Choose the Shape you wish to use
3. If selecting Rounded Rectangle tool: Set the Radius
4. Make sure Shape Layers tab is selected.
Cutting Shapes Tutorial Step One

DRAWING OUR SHAPE:

Step Two:
1. After your shape is selected:
2. Right click on your canvas and Pull Down until you reach the desired size.
**TIP*** If you want your shape to maintain perfect proportion (same width and height),
be sure to hold the shift key down as you drag.
Cutting shapes tutorial step 2

USING OUR SHAPES AS CLIPPING MASKS:

Now you might wonder what exactly can we do with these black shapes that we have just drawn. This is where “clipping” comes in… and the possibilities endless! We can take ANY of these shapes and clip items to them. We can clip papers, photos… there are so many ways you can use a Clipping Mask. By using the Shapes Tool, you can even build your own template to make your layout. This is exactly my scrapbooking process… Let me explain how.

Step Three:
1.Drag a paper or photo layer on top of your shape layer, making sure it completely covers the shape.
2. Right click your paper layer in your layers palette
3. Select Create Clipping Mask
cutting shapes tutorial step 3 image

What to Do After You’ve Clipped:

cutting shapes tutorial additional thoughts

There really are so many things that you can do with the shapes and clipping tools.
And I hope after reading this, many of you have had an “Ah HAH” moment today!

13 Comments

  1. Marlene Lehman
    April 10, 2012

    Thank you so much for this excellent tutorial.

    Reply
  2. Nancy
    April 11, 2012

    Thank you for the tutorial. It is great to see something new to do as far as the tuts go. Sometimes they are always the same!

    I like your ideas.

    Reply
  3. Tutorial | How to Align and Distribute | Sahlin Studio | Digital Scrapbooking Designs
    May 8, 2012

    [...] One: Start by Creating Shapes 1. Using our previous tutorial on making shapes, create three boxes that are of equal shape. (The simplest way to do this is to create one shape [...]

    Reply
  4. Shamim
    June 2, 2012

    An excellent tutorial, very clear and a fantastic outcome, thank you very much.

    Reply
  5. Gina
    June 30, 2012

    Thank you for posting this. It helped me so much!!
    Blessings to you!

    Reply
  6. Shamim
    July 19, 2012

    Some of these tutorials are extremely good, magazine like. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Scrapbook Page Designs Using Three Photos | Sahlin Studio | Digital Scrapbooking Designs
    October 12, 2012

    [...] and “clip” your photos to the design. Not know how to do this? See this tutorial here. kristasahlin NicoleLeBlanc sucali rebecca h kaydee sahlink ashleywb Lor mrsski07 rebecca h breeoxd [...]

    Reply
  8. The Beginner’s Guide to Digital Scrapbooking: Supplies and Basics | Two More Days
    November 19, 2012

    [...] masks to clip papers to the shapes in the template. Sahlin Studio has a great tutorial on using clipping masks in Photoshop and Paislee Press has a tutorial that will take you step-by-step through using a layered [...]

    Reply
  9. Beginner’s Guide to Digital Scrapbooking: Making a Layout Step by Step | Two More Days
    November 26, 2012

    [...] + Opt/Alt + G) to clip it to the green block. (If you’re unfamilar with clipping masks, this tutorial by Krista Sahlin is a great introduction to them.) Now we’ll start to decide what papers and elements [...]

    Reply
  10. Monday News ~ 12.03.12 « Digital Design
    December 3, 2012

    [...] of the questions Friday was how to put pictures inside a heart shape.  Check out the tutorial at http://sahlinstudio.com/tutorial-creating-shapes-and-using-clipping-masks/ to learn how to create a clipping mask.  Keep in mind if you have multiple layers of photos that [...]

    Reply
  11. Dubai website design
    January 31, 2013

    In this tutorial you are masking image on share, but any one tell me how can I mask or reshape with other shape, or how can I use solid icons with shapes no color, no shades only solid icon in photoshop. Please share link for guidance is any body knows.

    Thanks.

    Reply
  12. Amber
    February 20, 2013

    You’re the bomb! I knew much of this over years of using Photoshop but you just laid all this out so perfectly and was such a nice refresher. Your steps are put together so clear and comsise. Thank you!

    Reply
  13. Photoshop Class 3 | RAE - Research and Exploration
    March 3, 2013

    [...] Here is a link to a Clipping Mask tutorial on SalinStudio.com [...]

    Reply

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