Can anyone explain to me the difference in how to use clipping

>>2729915
Clipping mask: use when you would use lock layer transparency but it provides extra layers for you to work on. So lay in a clean shape of your choice then paint within only that shape

Regular mask: Use as a superior way to erase from a layer since you don't permanently lose any information and can work back and forth infinitely with positive/negative and with control of opacity.

>>2729926
its like you speak in a different language.

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>>2729993
Okay I made a quick diagram to show how to use a clipping mask.

Basically you use it to paint confined within a shape. I used the example of a tree over a complex background that you want to leave intact. So you can paint the tree shape then paint within it using a clipping mask to keep it contained. Otherwise if I wanted to add shading to the tree or put something like that light line across it, I would need to carefully pay attention to start and stop my strokes before it got to the outside of the tree shape or else I will paint over my background. You can click the button to lock the transparency of a layer that wil llet you only paint within the pixels on that layer, but it is inferior because it is still manipulating that one layer, and if you use clipping masks instead you can use lots of layers and have way more control, as well as use layer modes on some of those layers.

Honestly I think my explanation in the previous post makes sense, you just aren't familiar with photoshop so the terms I am using are foreign.

For using regular masks on things it's just like using the eraser basically. Take a layer then set a mask to it and paint in black on the layer mask, you will see how it acts like an eraser. Now paint with white over those areas you painted black, and they are restored! Using an eraser just loses the information but the mask preserves it and just hides it.

>>2730019
thanks.

>>2730019
In what situation would you use a regular mask? I've heard of them and seen them used in speed paints but i just can't wrap my head around how they would be used. Thanks for taking the time to respond to op, very nice of you.

>>2730019
Wait isn't layer 3 on layer 2? And what about layer mask?

>>2730174
I personally literally only use it as an eraser. So say I am painting a character in an illustration and I want it on a separate layer. I may start painting the character pretty rough on a new layer, then slowly add more detail. The outer silhouette of it is probably very rough and messy, so I might put a mask on the layer and paint around the outline "erasing" it, but because it is a mask I can restore it. So if I go too far in, or want to experiment with cutting into the silhouette I can do this and undo all those changes or modify it since the mask is just hiding the pixels rather than deleting them. It also lets me cut into that shape with a textured brush, then restore with a textured brush too, so I have way more control than an eraser.

I suppose there's other ways of using a regular mask, but they're not all that common. You can for example have something that's painted, then mask it out entirely, and paint it back in. Mullins in a demo I saw did this, he was painting a room that had white papers along the far wall. Due to how the window was positioned some of them would receive more light than others so there would be a gradation. So he painted the entire wall white on a new layer, put a gradation on entire thing, then masked it out entirely and paint then revealed parts of the mask in the shapes of the papers on that far wall. Whereever he reveals those papers they already had that gradation built into them. You could get the same end result with a clipping mask though.

There's probably other uses for a regular mask that others will tell you are essential, but I don't use them/know of them really. The thing to remember with photoshop is it's such a large and complex tool there are almost always multiple ways to achieve the same results, and which one you use is largely preference.

>>2730183
Yes layer 3 is sitting on layer 2, so only the pixels that align overtop layer 2 pixels are shown. Try it out yourself. I may have worded it incorrectly as which is the layer mask, but I dunno, just do it and see, you hold alt and click between two layers then one of them will be indented with a little arrow showing it is being masked.

Layer mask is a different tool but can achieve similar things sorta. It just determines which pixels on a layer are hidden or shown, and you get it by clicking on the mask button under all the layers, then painting on the mask with white or black (or grey for partially hiding pixels-- affecting the opacity of them).

>>2730197
I know how clipping works but I was just making sure it was a mistake on your wording. If you could can you do an example of layer mask?

>>2730192
Thank you for your explanation and all the examples. And this Mullens person, does he have demos on youtube or somewhere. I'll be using regular masks in the same way that you described yourself using them but im interested to see any demos i can get my hands on. Just started learning to render. Thanks again :)

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>>2730200
>I know how clipping works but I was just making sure it was a mistake on your wording
Yes I think I worded it poorly. I'm not used to thinking of it in words, I just use the tool.

>If you could can you do an example of layer mask?
Yes I made one for you using hair as an example. The end result is ugly because it is fast but it shows how to use a mask to hide and restore parts of something and how it can be used like a better eraser. Hopefully seeing this you can think of other applications than just hair :)

>>2730210
He doesn't really have much like that. There's a couple demos he's done but he hasn't really shown this stuff much, he mostly talks about things in art that are general and can be applied to all painting mediums, not just stuff that is specific to one program.

>>2730214
Thats perfectly fine with me. Learning about art in general is important to actually grow as an artist (which im sure you know) and thats what i meant when i said im trying to watch a lot of demos. Thats the "studying" art aspect im after. Thanks again :)

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>>2730214
thank you.

So clipping is more adding and layer mask is for subtracting but with you able to fall back on the original work.

>>2730372
>So clipping is more adding and layer mask is for subtracting but with you able to fall back on the original work
That's a good way of putting it, at least for how I personally use them. I'm sure there are some other pros who do different things than me though or have other uses of them.

>>2730378
Just wanted to add on to this that I don't really rely on either of these tools all that much. There's a time and place for everything, and having it at your disposal is useful but it's best imo to not rely on digital tools too much. Use them in special cases when necessary, don't use them in other cases if you don't need to.

I am for example painting a book cover at the moment and even though there's lots of overlapping things (so most people would use organized layers and clipping masks and things) I am painting it basically on one layer. The reasons for it are as follows: it is easier for me since I don't need to keep track of many layers and pay attention to which I am working on, it lets me work the image as a whole easier, it keeps the file size smaller since it is a very large wraparound image, and the client wanted it to look like traditional fantasy covers so I am going for a more classical oil painting look, in which case I want to avoid things that are marks of digital painting like some of the overly hard edges or weird overlaps from using tools like these.