# Alpha Lock, Clipping Mask, Layer Mask: in Procreate and Photoshop - review & insight | Gareth B. Davies Source: https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/alpha-lock-clipping-mask-layer-mask-in-procreate-and-photoshop/ [← All courses](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/) Illustration & Drawing · Quick win · Rated 7 /10 # Alpha Lock, Clipping Mask, Layer Mask: in Procreate and Photoshop Updated September 2026 Esther Nariyoshi · Published Illustrator based in the US Beginner · 58 min A concise, hands-on breakdown of three masking tools that finally explains when to use each one and why. [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Falpha-lock-clipping-mask-layer-mask-in-procreate-and-photoshop%2F1579462797) New to Skillshare? Your first month is free, enough to take this course at no cost. ## What it actually covers The course is built around three tools that get confused constantly: Alpha Lock, Clipping Mask, and Layer Mask. Each gets its own short lesson with a definition, a visual diagram, and a live demonstration on an iPad. Alpha Lock is introduced first and framed correctly as the weakest option of the three: it locks a layer's transparent pixels so new strokes only land on existing paint, but any change made under it is permanent once the file closes. The clipping mask lesson follows, showing how a new layer clipped to a parent becomes visible only where the parent has paint, and how several clipping layers can stack independently on the same base without ever touching the original artwork. The layer mask lesson closes the technical portion, using a scratch-off lottery ticket as the analogy for how painting black or white on a mask hides or reveals the layer beneath it, with grayscale values producing partial transparency in between. The structural choice to teach all three back to back, rather than in isolation, is the course's strongest decision. Because Alpha Lock is explicitly positioned as the fallback for when a file has hit its layer limit, and Clipping Mask as the default choice otherwise, a viewer walks away with an actual decision rule instead of three disconnected definitions. ## The case studies carry the real teaching The two case studies are where the ideas stop being abstract. The first takes a photograph and a typed word, then masks the lettering into the image so it appears to weave through elements in the photo. The instructor deliberately redoes part of the layout midway through, moving individual letters and repainting the mask, specifically to demonstrate that nothing has to be redrawn from scratch. The second case study shades a hand-drawn leaf twice, once with Alpha Lock and once with layered clipping masks set to blending modes like multiply and screen, then swaps the leaf's entire color palette in seconds by dragging a new color onto each independent layer. That side-by-side repetition of the same shading task under two different techniques is a smart way to make the tradeoffs tangible rather than theoretical. ## Where it comes up short At 58 minutes, the course does not waste time, but that brevity has a cost. Nearly everything happens in Procreate, with Photoshop mentioned only as a verbal aside that the concepts transfer over. Anyone hoping to see the actual Photoshop panels and menu clicks will not find them. The pacing also assumes a viewer already has basic comfort with layers and layer panels; total beginners to digital drawing may find the vocabulary (parent layers, blending modes, baseline adjustment on text) moves faster than the runtime suggests. There is also no real troubleshooting of common mistakes, such as what happens when a clipping mask's parent layer gets deleted, beyond a brief mention that the clipping relationship shifts to whatever layer sits below. As a focused explainer of a genuinely confusing corner of digital illustration software, it does its job cleanly and without padding, even if its Procreate-only execution limits how directly it serves Photoshop users. The standout The letterform case study, where a text layer is masked into a photograph and later repositioned without redrawing, makes the payoff of non-destructive masking concrete. ## What you will learn - · How Alpha Lock restricts painting to already-painted pixels and why it is destructive - · How to convert a layer into a non-destructive Clipping Mask and stack multiple clipping layers on one parent - · How Layer Masks use black-and-white (and grayscale) painting to reveal or conceal content without touching pixels - · How to combine Alpha Lock, Clipping Masks, and Layer Masks on the same artwork for flexible color and shading changes - · How to apply masking to real projects: blending hand-lettered text into a photo and shading a hand-drawn leaf Best for: Beginner to intermediate Procreate or Photoshop users who already draw but keep resorting to erasing and redrawing instead of masking. Skip it if: Anyone already comfortable with clipping masks and layer masks, or anyone who needs Photoshop-specific screenshots rather than Procreate-led demonstrations. Helpful Examples Clarity of Instruction Organization of Lessons Actionable Steps [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Falpha-lock-clipping-mask-layer-mask-in-procreate-and-photoshop%2F1579462797)