Inkscape » Clipping and Masking

Chapter 15. Clipping and Masking

Table of Contents

Clipping and masking are methods for restricting what part of an object (or Group of objects) is visible. For clipping, a clipping path defines the visible part of the object, while for masking, the transparency or lightness of one object determines the opacity of a second object. In both cases, the target object is not changed and can be unclipped or unmasked if needed.

Simple examples of clipping (top) and masking (bottom). The left column shows the text that serves as the clipping path and the text for masking, both overlaying blue rectangles that are the targets of the clipping and masking. In the right column are the results of the clipping and masking.

	Tip
	A clipped or masked object can be edited (transformed, style changed, nodes edited, etc.) while clipped or masked. Objects within a clipped or masked Group can also be moved relative to the clipping path or masking object if the Group is entered.

Tip

The clipping or masking path can be edited without unclipping or unmasking. With the clipped or masked object selected and the Node Tool active, click on either the icon (clipping) or icon (masking) icons in the Tool Controls. New in v0.48: The clip or mask path and the object can be edited at the same time. (This only works if the mask path is an actual path and not a shape.)

Demonstrating the editing of a clip path (left) and a mask path (right).

New in v0.48: By default, Inkscape will clip or mask each object separately if several objects are selected. In the Clippaths and masks section of the Inkscape Preferences dialog you can change this to have Inkscape first group the objects before applying a single clip or mask.


Adding to a Fill		Clipping