In the template editor, a mask cuts one element to the shape of another. The masked element only shows where the two overlap. This is how you show a photo inside a circle or inside a path of your own, for example.
This takes three steps:
- Create the mask on the canvas.
- Set up the mask in the properties panel.
- Remove the mask again in the layers panel if you need to.
Create a mask
- Click the shape that should do the cutting on the canvas, for example a circle. The element you select first gives the mask its shape.
- Hold Shift and click the element you want to cut, for example an image. Both elements are now selected.
- Click the square with the circle at its top right in the middle of the toolbar. This is the Mask elements tool. The image now only shows inside the shape, and the new mask is selected. You also find the Mask command in the context menu in the layers panel.
You can't click Mask elements?
The tool needs at least two selected elements. Hold Shift and click one more element.
- Click the small arrow to the left of the new mask in the layers panel. It opens and shows two parts: Masked Layers holds what shows through the shape. Masking Layers holds the shape that does the cutting.
The wrong element got cut?
The mask uses the element you selected first as its shape. Drag each of the two elements into the other part in the layers panel. Or undo the step with Cmd + Z (Windows: Ctrl + Z) and select them in the other order.
Set up the mask
In the properties panel, you set the properties of the selected element, here the mask's.
- Click the mask in the layers panel. Its properties appear in the properties panel.
- Tick the option you need in the Mask section:
- Invert Mask: the element shows outside the shape instead of inside it.
- Apply grayscale as opacity: not only the outline of the shape counts, but also its brightness. Light areas let the element show through, dark areas hide it. This option only appears for masks that support it.
- Check the result on the canvas, especially light, dark and transparent areas.
To give the mask a background, use Fill Color in the Appearance section. Under Background Clip you choose where it goes: Mask Frame is one box around the whole mask, Shape follows the visible part. Padding makes the background larger by a distance, and the button next to it sets each side separately.
Remove a mask
- Click the small arrow to the left of the mask in the layers panel. Masked Layers and Masking Layers open.
- Drag all elements out of both parts, for example below the mask. They are normal elements again, and the mask is empty.
- Right-click the empty mask and click Remove. The mask is deleted. If a mask isn't empty, you delete the elements inside it too.