Creating a Clipping Mask from Type in Photoshop Cs3

A clipping mask is an object or a group of objects whose shape masks other artwork so that only areas that lie within the shape of the masking object are visible. In effect, you are clipping the artwork to conform to the shape of the object (or mask). In Photoshop, you can create a clipping mask from shapes or letters. In this exercise, you will use letters as a clipping mask to allow an image in another layer to show through the letters.

Adding Guides to Position Type

The file contains a background layer, which is the bottle, and a Blank Label layer, which will be the foundation for your typography. The Blank Label is the active layer on which you will begin your work. You'll start by zooming in on your work area and using ruler guides to help position your type.

1. Select the Zoom tool and drag over the black-and-white portion of the blank label to zoom in to the area and center it in the image window. Repeat until you have a nice close-up view of the area, and enlarge the image window if necessary.

2. Choose View > Rulers to turn on guide rulers along the left and top borders of the image window. Then, drag a vertical guide from the left ruler to the center of the label (3 1/2 inches) and release.

Adding Point Type

Now you're ready to actually add type to the composition. Photoshop lets you create horizontal or vertical type anywhere in an image. You can enter point type (a single letter, word, or line) or paragraph type . You will do both in this lesson, starting with point type.

1.	Make sure that the Blank Layer is selected in the Layers palette. Then, select the Horizontal Type tool, and in the tool options bar, do the following: Choose a sans serif typeface, such as Myriad Pro, from the Font Family pop-up menu, and choose Bold from the Font Style pop-up menu. Type 79 pt into the Size field and press Enter or Return. Click the Center text alignment button.
2.	Click on the center guide in the white area of the label to set an insertion point, and type OLIO in all caps. Then click the Commit Any Current Edits button in the tool options bar.   The word "Olio" is added to your label, and it appears in the Layers palette as a new type layer, OLIO. You can edit and manage the type layer as you would any other layer. You can add or change the text, change the orientation of the type, apply anti-aliasing, apply layer styles and transformations, and create masks. You can move, restack, copy, and edit layer options of a type layer as you would for any other layer.
3.	Press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS), and drag the OLIO type to visually center it vertically in the white box.
4.	Choose File > Save to save your work so far.

Making a Clipping Mask and Applying a Drop Shadow

Photoshop wrote the letters in black, the default text color. You want the letters to appear to be filled with an image of olives. So next you will use the letters to make a clipping mask that will allow another image layer to show through.

1.	Click the Go To Bridge button or use File > Open to open the file in Photoshop. In Photoshop, arrange the image windows on-screen so that you can see both of them at once, and make sure that is the active image window.
2.	In the Layers palette of the image, hold down Shift and drag the Background layer to the center of the file, and then release the mouse. Pressing Shift as you drag centers the image in the composition.   A new layer appears in the Layers palette, Layer 1. This new layer contains the olives image, which you will use to show through the type. But before you make the clipping mask for it, you need make the olives image smaller, as it is too large for the composition.
3.	With Layer 1 selected, choose Edit > Transform > Scale.
4.	Grab a corner handle on the bounding box for the olives, and Shift-drag to make it smaller within the same proportions. You may need to move the pointer inside the box and drag to reposition the olives so that the image remains centered on the label. Resize the olives image so that it is approximately the same width as the white label.
5.	Press Enter or Return to apply the transformation.
6.	Double-click the Layer 1 name and change it to Olives. Then, press Enter or Return, or click away from the name in the Layers palette, to apply the change.
7.	With the Olives layer still selected, choose Create Clipping Mask from the Layers palette menu.       The olives now show through the OLIO letters. A small arrow in the Olives layer and the underlined Type layer indicate the clipping mask. Next, you will add a drop shadow to give the letters depth.
8.	Select the OLIO type layer to make it active, and then click the Add Layer Style button at the bottom of the Layers palette and choose Drop Shadow from the pop-up menu.
9.	In the Layer Style dialog box, change the Opacity to 35%, accept all other default settings, and then click OK.
10.	Choose File > Save to save your work so far, and close the image file without saving any changes.