Clipping Masks (or sometimes called clipping layers, which is what I'm suggesting the idea for) are standalone layers that are above the base layer.

This is useful for picking what parts of the base layer should be visible, though changes to the base layer are still 'destructive' and this mask can only be made to a single layer. Using the mask, you can define what areas of the layer is visible.

Layer Masks are applied on a single layer & it's a separate layer that's 'linked' to the base layer.

But basically, there are 2 different 'masks' that can be made with different methods & while they can essentially have the same result, they both have their pros and cons to it.

Hi there the terminology regarding clipping masks is a bit broad since they can be used different in different programs. This is what happens when we duplicate the layer, use transparency lock, & use the Screen blend mode (I copied the same highlight pattern from the previous drawing into this one)

This is the desired result, by painting the lighting on a layer above the base color with the Screen blend mode. It's possible to duplicate the layer and use transparency lock with that one, and while this is the closest workaround for clipping layers, we still aren't able to take full advantage of the blend modes (see example below).Ĭlipping layers can allow these tasks to be more efficient and precise without sacrificing functionality, & it'd be a great addition to Sketchbook. But in cases such as shading, coloring over the base layer is something that tends to be avoided, not to mention that blend modes are unable to be used in the intended way (because the shading is done over the same layer). The other involves using transparency locking. The problem is that this can be a tedious process to do repeatedly & with the Wand, a low enough tolerance can lead to unwanted exclusions in the selection. One is to navigate to the base layer, use the Wand to select it all (or maybe just a portion), go back to the previous layer, & paint. There's currently a couple of workflows that I found out to work around this, but they both have drawbacks. I personally think this is a rather important tool for a lot of people, especially those who are familiar with other software like SAI or Photoshop, so it'd be great to have this. But the one thing that I'm kinda surprised it doesn't have are clipping layers. So I recently decided to try out Sketchbook since it became free to use, & I actually really like a lot it has to offer, like the slick UI and its versatile tools and brushes.

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