Clipping masks are useful for many reasons. In this lesson I'll show you how to stack clipping mask layers to create a whimsical piece of art.

Here I have four files open, which you'll find in your Part 4 lesson five practice folder, a star called star-whimsy.png, two papers called pape-denim.jpg, paper-stripe-red.jpg, and a ribbon called ribbon-grommets.png.

We're going to build a whimsical element by stacking the paper and ribbon on top of the star. I'll move the denim paper onto the star paper. I'll press Shift as I let go of the mouse to center it on my document, click the paper to the star using one of the three clipping mask methods. I'll use my favorite which is to Alt click in Windows or Option click on a Mac between the two layers. Now let's move the red striped paper on to the star document.

Can I clip another paper to the star? You bet! Use exactly the same command to create a second layer clipped to the same clipping mask. Now I have two papers clipped to the star with the striped paper covering up the denim paper. Remember how I told you never to show a line inside the layer mask? Well, I'm going to break that rule. But actually I'm not breaking it because this is a regular shape with straight edges, not artistic edges.

If I use the Move tool to click and drag the striped paper up, we now have a totally different look. It's up to you where to put the dividing line. I'll put this right here across this part of the star. Now let's put the grommet ribbon across the dividing line. I will move it on to the star document. And it's quite large, so I'll need to resize it. If I clip it to the star first, it will conform to the star shape, making it easier to know how much smaller it needs to be. Now I can press Ctrl T on Windows or Command T on a Mac to access the Transform tool and Ctrl zero in Windows or Command zero on a Mac to see the full transform outline. I'll press Alt in Windows or Option on a Mac and click and drag from a corner handle and adjust the size as necessary.

We'll move this down a little bit and I'll use my arrow keys. Let's make this just a little bit smaller. And I'll move it to the right a little bit and click on the green checkmark to commit the change. Now I'm going to do something else you might not expect to work because of what I said in a previous lesson. I'm going to add a drop shadow to the ribbon layer, not the star, which is a clipping mask layer. I told you before to add layer styles to the clipping mask, not the layer clip to it. But that's only if the layer completely covers the clipping mask. The ribbon doesn't completely cover the mask, so I'm going to add a drop shadow.

In the Menu Bar, choose Layer, Layer Style, Style Settings. Click on Drop Shadow and adjust your settings. I'll use 120 degrees for the lighting angle. And we'll use five for the size three for the distance and 70% for the opacity. I'll leave the color at the default of black and click OK.

If I zoom in, you can see that the drop shadow is visible inside the shape but not along the edge of the shape. We won't be able to see a shadow along the edge until we add a drop shadow layer style to the star clipping mask layer. So if the layer is smaller than the clipping mask, you can see the layer style inside the mask shape. But when the layer hits the edge of the clipping mask, the layer style becomes invisible. I will press Alt in Windows or Option on a Mac and click and drag a copy of the effects icon to the clipping mask layer to give it a drop shadow. And now sure enough there's a shadow along the edge.

So that's how to stack clipping mask layers. It comes in very handy when you want to attach multiple layers to one object. One thing to note is that if you unclip one layer, any clipped layers above it will become disconnected as well. But the clipped layers below it stay connected. If you accidentally unclip several layers, you'll have to clip each one again individually, or you can press Ctrl Z and windows or Command Z on a Mac to undo and that will go back one history state to where all the layers are clipped.