Guidelines for using clipping masks


    The following guidelines apply to clipping masks:

    • The objects that you mask are moved into the clipping mask's group in the Layers palette if they don't already reside there.
    • Only vector objects can be masking objects. Any artwork can be masked by the masking object.
    • If you use a layer or group to create a clipping mask, the first object in the layer or group masks everything that is a subset of the layer or group.
    • Regardless of its previous attributes, a clipping mask changes to an object with no fill or stroke.
    Before masking (left) compared to after masking (right)
    Before masking (left) compared to after masking (right)