Photoshop technique: Clipping Masks: the basics.

Clipping masks are a really useful tool in Photoshop and can help you put an image into a specific shape or even inside your text. Perfect for those little design touches without delving into the world of InDesign.

This brief tutorial will show how to use clipping masks to create text which is filled with an image of your choice.

Step 1: Create a canvas and text layer.
Create a new canvas by clicking File > New and set your background colour to grey. Select the Type Tool by pressing T on your keyboard. Now select your desired font. The effect works best with chunky fonts (I chose Poplar Std). Choose white as your foreground and type your desired text. (Using white for your text makes it possible to reduce the opacity of your clipping mask later on)



Step 2: Choose the image you want to use.
Open up the image you want to use to fill your text. I decided on an image of clouds.



Now select all (cmd+A or ctrl+A) and click Edit > Copy.

Step 3: Create a new layer for your image.
Go back to the document with your text in and Paste your new image into a new layer by pressing cmd+V (Mac) or ctrl+V (PC) and make sure that the layer is directly above the layer with the text in.



Step 4: Make your clipping mask.
To make the clipping mask, hover your cursor over the line between the two layers in your Layers palette. Now press and hold alt and you will see a symbol that looks like two overlapping circles appear.

Click your mouse and Photoshop will create the clipping mask, pushing the image layer into the shape of your text layer.



It's worth noting at this point that once your clipping mask is created you can still amend your text layer, so if you need to adjust the size or spacing or fill, simply select the text layer and adjust away.

Step 5: Adjust.
Now you have your clipping mask, you can move the text layer around, adjust the size, change the opacity or change your font to give the desired effect. By pasting the same image into a layer below your text, and using the Bevel and Emboss Layer style, you can get a cool effect like this:



So there you have it. A simple way to use Photoshop's clipping masks to fill your text with an image. The technique works with any shape, and you can be used to add shading and highlights to shapes.