AND SPEAKING OF CLIPPING MASKS...

In this morning's mail, here's a promo from Anthropologie...a perfect example of using Photoshop clipping masks as described in yesterday's post.  (Click to enlarge.)

PHOTOSHOP CLIPPING MASKS

Here are two examples of clipping masks. You see them used on billboards and in magazines...they're effective, simple, and a really fun way to use your photos in your layouts...be it greeting card, blog banner, promo piece, calendar, scrapbook page, mixed media, whatever.

Basically, in Photoshop, you want a photo on one layer and text or a shape on the layer beneath it in the Layers palette. Then hold down the Alt/Option key, hover over the line separating the two layers, and when you see the double circle icon, click and, voilá!

For fonts, it's best to choose a "fat" one (I love Bauhaus Heavy) or the image won't show, and make sure the piece itself is big enough to "read" the effect...otherwise it's a wasted effort. In other words, a business card may be too small, but a greeting card is just right...and anything bigger is even better. Use the Move tool and the Transform feature to tweak things to your liking.