

If you want to edit the mask, just paint on it-you can erase it, repaint it, smudge it, move it around, and this will automatically affect the look of the layers below. The “cast shadow” layer is outside of the group, so the mask doesn’t affect it. So you can have separate layers for the colors, shadows, shine, textures-all clipped by default! If you want to draw something that is not clipped, just create a layer outside of the group, or above the Mask layer. You can add as many layers below the mask as you want-as long as they’re inside the group, they will be properly clipped. Now go to the Clipped Layer and start drawing whatever you want-Sketchbook will not let you cross the borders defined by the mask! You can hide the Mask layer to see what you’re really drawing. This will make the shape disappear, as it’s no longer a part of the drawing-it’s simply a definition of the area that you want to limit your drawing to. Time for the most important step: change the Blend Mode of the Mask layer to Alpha Mask. Step 5īy drawing the line art you’ve created an inside and outside of the object-draw that inside area on the Mask layer using a hard brush. You can also download the sketch I’ve used here. Keep it simple, just for the demonstration purposes. Name the upper one Line Art, the middle one Mask, and the lower one Clipped Layer. Step 3Ĭreate three layers inside the group. This will ensure that whatever you do inside the group will not affect the layers outside of it. Step 2Ĭhange the Blend Mode of the group to Normal. Grouping layers will help you quickly separate the clipped layers from the non-clipped ones. Go to the Layers panel and create a New Group. So it may seem pretty unhandy at first, but once you see how it works, you may discover you actually like it more! Step 1 How to Create a Clipping Mask in Sketchbook Proįirst of all, if you’re familiar with the Clipping Mask feature in other programs, I have to warn you that it looks very different in Sketchbook. Yes, that’s right-the newest Sketchbook Pro update gave us the long awaited feature, the Clipping Mask/Alpha Mask! Let me quickly show you how to use it and why it should become an essential part of your workflow from now on.
