Clipping Mask Postcard Activity

Aim: to create a postcard that has your photo

contained within a shape.

1. Open Photoshop or Elements.

2. Use the file menu to select “new”

3. In the box that appears give your new document

the following settings:

a. Name: postcard

b. Width: 6 inches

c. Height: 4 inches

d. Resolution: 300

Before choosing your photo, draw a shape onto the

blank postcard, using the shape tool:

4. You can alter the shape by using the menu that

appears at the top (photoshop) or bottom

(elements). Make sure you draw the shape onto

the postcard.

5. Now go and get a photograph and paste this onto

your new creation [open the photo you want,

ensure it is the right size, select it (ctrl A) copy it

(ctrl C) and past it onto the postcard file (ctrl V)].

6. You should see the following stages:

7. Here is the magic bit:

Right click on the layer with the photo and select

“create clipping mask.”

If you have done this correctly, you should see that

the photo has gone into the shape you created

and the layer menu should now have an arrow

showing that clipping is taking place:

8. Experiment by changing the shape. You may need

to re-do the clipping mask stage when you do this.

Once you have got used to clipping one photo to a

shape here two other things you can do:

A. Clip a series of photos to shapes:

In this creation, there are three shapes spaced

across the background and the photograph is

clipped to each of the shapes in turn.

B. Use the above technique to focus your

adjustments to one part of the creation. In the

example below, the black and white filter has been

used and “clipped” to the middle shape: