Where's the clipping mask in Aff Photo?

[Julie Magerka]

This might not be "on topic" for the Aff. Bootcamp, but the whole masking thing in Affinity seems to be clunky and more challenging than in PS Elements or in PSP (with Carole's Clip to It script). Or is it just me? I use masking of images quite a bit and want it to be quick and easy. Maybe I don't grasp their way of doing it yet. Anyone know how it works? (I don't want to create a mask; I want to use a pre-designed mask with an image and have them blended together.)

Edited January 18 by Julie Magerka

[Rene Marker]

I haven't run across any videos on using pre-designed masks yet in my youtube viewing so I don't know if there is a way to use them. However, I have come across some other videos and it appears there are multiple ways of using masks. I certainly want to try them out when I've used it enough to feel more comfortable with the program.

I've actually started a One Note page on tips and tricks for Affinity. I'll probably spend tomorrow watching a few more of some of the beginning videos to see what other tricks are out there. I've run across several videos about masking but haven't watched them yet.

[Cristina]

7 hours ago, Julie Magerka said:

This might not be "on topic" for the Aff. Bootcamp, but the whole masking thing in Affinity seems to be clunky and more challenging than in PS Elements or in PSP (with Carole's Clip to It script). Or is it just me? I use masking of images quite a bit and want it to be quick and easy. Maybe I don't grasp their way of doing it yet. Anyone know how it works? (I don't want to create a mask; I want to use a pre-designed mask with an image and have them blended together.)

I haven't gotten there yet, either. But I'm following this thread to see if anybody knows more about it.

[Julie Magerka]

I did some digging around and learned that the masking in Affinity Photo happens BELOW the mask layer which is the OPPOSITE of PSP or PS. So the photo is placed under the mask, then, on the Layers Panel, you drag the thumbnail of the mask layer down on to the photo THUMBNAIL - NOT to the photo name or title. You should see a blue outline appear around the photo thumbnail. When you release the mouse, the mask layer is dropped on to the photo layer. You can do some adjusting with the Move tool (V).

Hope this helps anyone who might've been wondering. Many of the videos I watched on YouTube were too long-winded and convoluted and made my head hurt. It's simpler than they made it look, but it is still not as easy as PSE which can be done with shortcut keys Ctrl+Alt+G, or with a great Clip-to-It script!

[Cristina]

5 hours ago, Julie Magerka said:

I did some digging around and learned that the masking in Affinity Photo happens BELOW the mask layer which is the OPPOSITE of PSP or PS. So the photo is placed under the mask, then, on the Layers Panel, you drag the thumbnail of the mask layer down on to the photo THUMBNAIL - NOT to the photo name or title. You should see a blue outline appear around the photo thumbnail. When you release the mouse, the mask layer is dropped on to the photo layer. You can do some adjusting with the Move tool (V).

Hope this helps anyone who might've been wondering. Many of the videos I watched on YouTube were too long-winded and convoluted and made my head hurt. It's simpler than they made it look, but it is still not as easy as PSE which can be done with shortcut keys Ctrl+Alt+G, or with a great Clip-to-It script!

It's interesting to see how each program works differently.  Once you know and practice it, it becomes automatic, but until then, we have to dig in to learn the new stuff.

I agree it's easier in Photoshop, which also has this blue outline in a mask layer. You can choose to select the image or the mask.
 

[Rene Marker]

I actually ran across that accidentally. I was trying to move a layer and it ended up clipping which actually was OK. I was using a template and have always selected a paper element then put a kit paper in the layers file and delete the outside to get my paper element. (Old habits die hard... been doing this since I started 17 years ago!). So I was trying to figure that out in AP. I was just moving the kit paper to where I wanted it and it got clipped.

[Corrie Kinkel]

8 hours ago, Rene Marker said:

16 hours ago, Julie Magerka said:

I did some digging around and learned that the masking in Affinity Photo happens BELOW the mask layer which is the OPPOSITE of PSP or PS. So the photo is placed under the mask, then, on the Layers Panel, you drag the thumbnail of the mask layer down on to the photo THUMBNAIL - NOT to the photo name or title. You should see a blue outline appear around the photo thumbnail. When you release the mouse, the mask layer is dropped on to the photo layer. You can do some adjusting with the Move tool (V).

Hope this helps anyone who might've been wondering. Many of the videos I watched on YouTube were too long-winded and convoluted and made my head hurt. It's simpler than they made it look, but it is still not as easy as PSE which can be done with shortcut keys Ctrl+Alt+G, or with a great Clip-to-It script!

Thank you Julie I was wondering too and I didn't have time to do anything because we had the celebrations for my husband's 80th birthday. Well no problem I'll catch up tomorrow.

[Cassel]

I am sorry I didn't notice that thread sooner. Yes, "clipping" is very easy in Affinity, and you just have to drag the "paper" layer on the "shape" layer and voilà!

We will look into it in the Mask Workshop as all the videos will also be available for Affinity.