Clipping Masks, at least according to Karl, are the essence of Layers.

The recipes for working with Shapes, Marquees and Lassoes with adjunct Clipping Masks are so flexible, giving many different looks – with just a few  little gotcha’s. Think how these methods would work well for web and eMail blast advertising, whether product, sale or service. My fictional example is an eMailable or printable birthday party invitation.

Here are the 2 starting images: the background photo was a closeup of a mylar balloon, the girl’s face an interpretive sketch enhanced from a portrait sitting.

Using Shapes

The Shape tool puts a wide variety of, well, shapes right at your fingertips. The in-dwelling Photoshop shapes have 95% of everything you might want, including lots of kid-friendly ones if your business caters to products and services for the young set.

• Open background image, size and format it to suit your end use.
• Select any full black shape, not an outline (because all you’d get with an outline is just that, not the full image).

Tip:

Set the Color Picker to neutral gray (I used 150/150/150) to make the Shape cutout easily visible against the background.

• Draw the shape anywhere on the background, by click>hold>pull. Holding the Shift key constrains the shape; holding the Option/Alt key centers the shape.
• Position and alter the shape to suit. Rotate, flip, resize and/or proportion in Edit>Free Transform (or simply T) to get the bounding box and handles.

Tip:

Take full advantage of the Distort and Warp features (right click anywhere within the bounding box for options) to customize your shape.

• Drag and Drop image that will appear inside the shape.
• In the Layer Options (click tiny drop-down icon at top right of Layer palette select both Create Clipping Mask and Convert to Smart Object.

• Resize this image with Edit>Free Transform (T).

Gotcha:

If your second image is much larger, as this portrait images is, you may not be able to see the bounding box in the window. Use the top menu bar % to drastically reduce the size so you can begin to see your image in useful proportion. I have found it best to set my Photoshop>Preferences>General>ImageInterpolation to Bicubic Sharper, regardless if reducing or enlarging. It can also be a good idea to enlarge the window by pulling out the lower right corner, so you can better find the edges/handles of the bounding box.

• Move the image around with the Move tool to refine appearance and placement.
• Double click on the Shape layer to bring up the FX options. In this example I used fairly straightforward options. Stroke>10px, Outside and a color picked up from the background. Stroke alone is stylistically too plain, so I added Outer Glow>Normal Blend Mode, Spread 15, Size 125 and a contrasting color from the background. All other settings for both FX were the default.

Using Marquees

The Marquee tool is your choice for varying rectangle/square and oval/circle shapes. The recipe has just a few different steps from using the Shape tool. Those steps are noted in italics.

• Open background image, size and format it to suit your end use.
• Select Marquee tool (rectangle or oval) and draw the shape anywhere on the background, by click>hold>pull. Holding the Shift key constrains the shape; holding the Option/Alt key centers the shape.
• Jump selection to a new layer (J), and in top menu bar Selection>Load Selection.
• Use Brush tool at 100% opacity to fill selection with plain color.

Tip:

Set the Color Picker to neutral gray (I used 150/150/150) to make the Shape cutout easily visible against the background.

• Position and alter the shape to suit. Rotate, flip, resize and/or proportion in Edit>Free Transform (or simply T) to get the bounding box and handles.

Tip:

Take full advantage of the Distort and Warp features (right click anywhere within the bounding box for options) to customize your shape.

• Drag and Drop image that will appear inside the shape.
• In the Layer Options (click tiny drop-down icon at top right of Layer palette select both Create Clipping Mask and Convert to Smart Object.

Gotcha:

You’re ready to size and position the portrait image, but it’s necessary to Deselect the Marquee to be able to go to Edit>Free Transform (T).

• Resize this image with Edit>Free Transform (T).

Another Gotcha:

If your second image is much larger, as this portrait images is, you may not be able to see the bounding box in the window. Use the top menu bar % to drastically reduce the size so you can begin to see your image in useful proportion. I have found it best to set my Photoshop>Preferences>General>ImageInterpolation to Bicubic Sharper, regardless if reducing or enlarging. It can also be a good idea to enlarge the window by pulling out the lower right corner, so you can better find the edges/handles of the bounding box.

• Move the image around with the Move tool to refine appearance and placement.
• Double click on the Shape layer to bring up the FX options. In this example I experimented with options. For Stroke > 3px, Outside, Multiply Blend Mode, 50% Opacity, and an orange tone picked up from the background. Outer Glow > Normal Blend Mode, Noise 15, Spread 20, Size 115. Inner Glow > Normal Blend Mode, a burgundy color from the portrait image, Choke 5 and Size 65 that give a vignette effect. All other settings for both FX were the default.

Using Lassoes

When the Shape and Marquee tools are just too constrained, drawing with the Lasso tool is the answer. It can be the most pliable and sophisticated enhancement. The recipe has just a few different steps from using the Shape tool. Those steps are again noted in italics.

• Open background image, size and format it to suit your end use.
• Select Lasso tool (I chose default) and draw the shape anywhere on the background, by click>hold>pull. Holding the Shift key constrains the shape; holding the Option/Alt key centers the shape.
• Jump selection to a new layer (J), and in top menu bar Selection>Load Selection.

Gotcha:

Generally a shape drawn with the Lasso will make an odd, hard, amateurish-looking cut out, but by feathering with Selection>Modify>Feather (I used 100 in the example), the background and feature images will meld in an exciting manner.

• Use Brush tool at 100% opacity to fill selection with plain color.

Tip:

Set the Color Picker to neutral gray (I used 150/150/150) to make the Shape cutout easily visible against the background.

• Add or subtract to the Lassoed shape to suit your vision, as well as rotate or flip in Edit>Free Transform (or simply T) to get the bounding box and handles.
• Drag and Drop image that will appear inside the lasso.
• In the Layer Options (click tiny drop-down icon at top right of Layer palette select both Create Clipping Mask and Convert to Smart Object.

Another Gotcha:

You’re ready to size and position the portrait image, but it’s necessary to Deselect the Marquee to be able to go to Edit>Free Transform (T).

• Resize this image with Edit>Free Transform (T).

One More Gotcha:

If your second image is much larger, as this portrait images is, you may not be able to see the bounding box in the window. Use the top menu bar % to drastically reduce the size so you can begin to see your image in useful proportion. I have found it best to set my Photoshop>Preferences>General>ImageInterpolation to Bicubic Sharper, regardless if reducing or enlarging. It can also be a good idea to enlarge the window by pulling out the lower right corner, so you can better find the edges/handles of the bounding box.

• Move the image around with the Move tool to refine appearance and placement.
• Double click on the Shape layer to bring up the FX options. In this example Stroke does not work well. It you want a Stroke effect, add a Blank Layer, draw a Marquee of your choosing, go to Edit>Stroke. I added only an Outer Glow > Normal Blend Mode, Size 200 and a warm orange color chosen from the background.  All other settings for both FX were the default.

Final Touches

It’s no secret that a tablet and stylus are almost a necessity to creating the most precise and artistic effects with Clipping Masks, particularly when you want to refine a Lasso for an exotic layering project.

Add type, in this example to create the invitation. I used Drop Shadow, Bevel and Emboss and Stroke enhancements, plus an Outer Glow to call attention to the date and time info.

The example uses 3 identical images to make clear the different effects. But I’d recommend using just one image plus the type, or 3 different images with the same enhancement style.