Little tutorial but masks are are really useful when it comes to hide certain parts of an object without having to deform the object itself. For exemple, you could use a mask in a shape to only show itself in a determined rectangle. Masks can also be used for transparency on a precise value or even with a gradient.

They made of 2 values, black and white. You can�t put any colors in a mask itself. The black color means "Hide" and the white color means "Show". Making a gradient from white to black will make a fading effect from show to hide.

= Show (opaque)
= Hide (transparent)

Making a mask is simple.

1) You first need to make your shape. In this exemple, we will make a rectangle. I also made an oval over the rectangle. I want to only show the part of the oval that is inside the rectangle.



2) Now we need to make the mask. Select your oval shape, CRTL + C -> CRTL + V to copy and paste your oval shape. Change the color of the copied oval to black.

3) Copy the rectangle (see step 2 for instructions). Change the copied rectangle color to white. To move the rectangle on top of the black oval, press CTRL + UP ARROW until the white rectangle is on top of the black oval.



4) A mask can only be one object, so you will need to group them. Select both the white and black shapes (hold SHIFT while clicking them) then press CTRL + G to group them. Now select the group and the original oval that is below. (You can use the object list in the right panel to select them). Do not group them, only select them.

5) In the top menu, Modify > Mask > Group as Mask .

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More advanced�

- You can also use a gradient in your mask to make a fade effect.



- You can use as much objects as you want to make your mask.