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How to Make a Clipping Mask in Adobe Illustrator

Megan Martin

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One of my favorite graphics to make for my online marketing efforts combines imagery and screenshots of what I am up to. Over the past couple year, styled stock photography has emerged in the creative industries and it has been HUGE is helping me grow my brand with stunning quality images. My sweet friend, Shay Cochrane, created the genre of styled stock images that we see all over the place these days, including the look of an empty desktop or phone styled with on-brand colored props for you to overlay your recent work, blog posts, social feeds and more. So for today’s episode of Bar Cart Branding, I’m going to show you just how to make the look happen and teach you how to make a clipping mask in Adobe Illustrator!

 

DIY Branding and Graphic Design Help for Creatives with Megan Martin

 

“Illustrator, you say? Why wouldn’t you use Photoshop for that? Photoshop was made for images, right?”

 

You’re so smart. 😉

 

Yes, indeed. Photoshop was created specifically for the purpose of editing and enhancing images. I actually learned the art of design with Photoshop way back in the day. But as any graphic designer will tell you, Illustrator is where it is at. Illustrator was designed for graphic design. Although you can absolutely create graphics in Photoshop, Illustrator is the winner in that department. Plus, it is much easier to quickly edit layers and more than Photoshop is (in my opinion).

 

I rarely use Photoshop these days. Even though Illustrator isn’t made for image altering, most of what I’m doing with images isn’t actually editing, but rather re-sizing. If I needed to edit a photo to enhance its appearance, I couldn’t use Illustrator. But I still don’t even use Photoshop for that, ha! I use Lightroom to edit images straight out of the camera because it is WAY faster.

 

Okay so enough about the Photoshop vs. Illustrator debate.

 

I love Illustrator, so that’s what I’m going to teach you!

 

Here is the final image look of what you are going to learn today.

 

how to make a clipping mask in Adobe Illustrator on Megan Martin Creative, SC Stockshop, styled stock photography, lifestyle imagery, lifestyle photography, brand, branding, how to overlay an image onto a screen, tips for bloggers, brand photography

 

This image is included in our Lifestyle Styled Stock collaboration with the SC Stockshop! I love the pop of black and white polka dots our model is wearing and using the image of her holding an iPhone for overlaying peeks of my website, my latest blog post, and a slew of other ideas!

 

Related: How to Rock Lifestyle Styled Stock Photography in Your Brand!

 

Ready to learn how to make this happen?

 

Let’s get to it!

 

 

Related: Leaning into Community Over Competition – The Story of how our SC Stockshop Collab came to be!

 

how to make a clipping mask in Adobe Illustrator on Megan Martin Creative, SC Stockshop, styled stock photography, lifestyle imagery, lifestyle photography, brand, branding, how to overlay an image onto a screen, tips for bloggers, brand photography

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  1. Brooke says:

    I’ve been making these all day for BK! So fun once you get the hang! Can’t wait to post these on our social media for events!

  2. Ashlyn says:

    Literally didn’t know that it had to be on the bottom in AI … DYING with this epiphany baha. No wonder this 10 year PS vet couldn’t figure out clipping masks in AI …. 😉 Thank you!!