To clip in Procreate, put the layer you want to clip directly above your base layer, tap the upper layer's thumbnail, and choose Clipping Mask. A small downward arrow appears on the layer, and anything you paint on it shows only where the base layer has pixels. Because nothing is erased, you can toggle the clip off, move the clipped layer, or recolor it without touching the base artwork.

What clipping does in Procreate

A clipping mask confines one layer to the visible shape of the layer directly beneath it. If the base layer holds a leaf silhouette and the clipped layer holds polka dots, the dots appear only inside the leaf. Paint outside the edges and nothing shows, but the paint is still on the layer. You can reposition or rotate the clipped layer and reveal more of it.

How to clip a layer in Procreate, step by step

1. Create the base layer. Draw or place the shape, lettering, or artwork that defines your boundary. This can be a flat silhouette or finished art.
2. Add a new layer above it. Tap the plus icon in the Layers panel. Clipping always refers to the layer immediately below, so order matters.
3. Open the Layer Options menu. Tap the thumbnail of the new layer.
4. Tap Clipping Mask. The arrow indicator appears, and the layer is now confined to the base layer's pixels.
5. Paint, fill, or paste. Add shading, texture, gradients, or highlights. Anything outside the base shape is hidden.

To release the clip, tap the layer again and tap Clipping Mask. The layer returns to normal, and you'll see the full content you painted, including the parts that were hidden.

Clipping to a shape you draw

You don't need finished art for the base. Draw a circle, hold at the end of the stroke so Procreate snaps it to a perfect shape, and fill it. Then place the layer you want to crop (lettering, a photo texture, a pattern) above it and clip it. The content shows only inside the circle. If you erase part of the circle or repaint it, the clipped layer follows, which makes the base layer work like a live window.

If your base layer ends up above the content you want clipped, drag it below. Clipping only works downward.

Stacking multiple clipping masks

You can clip as many layers as you want to the same base. A common setup is one clipped layer each for color shifts, texture, shadows, and highlights. Each one stays independent, so you can change its opacity, hide it, or give it its own blend mode.

The rule for stacks is that every clipped layer in a continuous chain is confined to the first unclipped layer beneath it. That's why stars clipped above a clipped dots layer end up inside the leaf, not inside the dots. The chain "trickles down" until it hits a layer that isn't itself clipped.

Some practical points:

• Reordering: Drag a clipped layer above or below another clipped layer to change the stacking and how blend modes interact.
• Adding to a stack: When you add a new layer with a clipped layer selected, the new layer typically inherits the clip. Check for the arrow, and if it's missing, apply Clipping Mask manually.
• Editing the base: Add to or erase from the base layer and every clipped layer updates automatically.
• Blend modes: Set a clipped layer to Multiply for shadows or Screen/Add for highlights, then paint loosely. The base layer keeps the result tidy.

Clipping inside a clipping mask

A frequent complaint is wanting to clip a layer to another clipped layer, such as adding a darker shadow only to one color region while the rest of a stack stays unaffected. Procreate has no single built-in answer, but these workarounds are reliable:

• Selection method. Tap and hold the base layer's thumbnail with two fingers to select its contents, switch to the layer you want to paint on, and paint. The paint is limited to the selection. This is fast and uses no extra layers, but it's less flexible if the base shape changes later.
• Selection to mask. Make a layer mask from the selection first, then paint. This is useful for strokes you can't easily redo, because the full stroke stays intact underneath the mask.
• Duplicate and flatten. Duplicate a group, flatten the copy, and use that flattened layer as a new base for further clipping. Your original layers stay untouched as a backup.
• Mind your groups. Moving clipped layers into a group can break the clipping relationship. Keep the base and its clipped layers together in the same group, or test the result before reorganizing a large file.

Clipping mask vs. Alpha Lock vs. Layer Mask

Procreate gives you three ways to keep paint inside an area, and they behave differently.

Alpha Lock is the fastest option. Swipe right with two fingers on a layer to toggle it, and the thumbnail shows a checkerboard when it's active. But because you paint directly over the layer's pixels, you can't pull the shading back out later.

Layer Masks are the right tool when you want to hide part of a layer rather than confine a second layer to it. When a mask is selected, the color panel ignores hue, so you always paint in grayscale. Lower-opacity brush strokes give you gradients and fade-outs, and painting white brings hidden content back.

A good rule: use clipping when you're adding something on top of a shape, use a layer mask when you're subtracting from one layer, and use Alpha Lock only for quick changes you won't revisit.

Troubleshooting common clipping problems

• Nothing shows on the clipped layer. The base layer may be empty or transparent where you're painting. Clipped content appears only over base pixels.
• The clip is applied to the wrong layer. Check the order. The layer must sit directly above its base, with no unclipped layers in between.
• The clip stopped working after grouping. Keep base and clipped layers in the same group and verify the arrow indicators.
• Edges look soft or haloed. Soft or semi-transparent edges on the base layer carry into the clipped result. Clean up the base edge or use a selection-based approach.
• You can't tell what's clipped. Look for the downward arrow on each layer thumbnail.

Using clipped Procreate art in a motion pipeline

Procreate can be a place where motion designers build style frames, character art, or textured elements before animating in other software. Clipping is a good fit for that stage because it keeps shading, texture, and highlights on separate layers you can revise quickly without repainting.

Before handing off, decide what you need downstream. If you need separate layers for compositing, check how your clipped layers appear after export, and merge or flatten clipped layers that don't need to stay editable so you get predictable alpha. If the art is going to serve as a reference or keyframe, a flattened, clean frame is usually enough.

Quick workflow summary

1. Build your base shape or artwork on its own layer.
2. Add a layer above it, tap its thumbnail, and choose Clipping Mask.
3. Paint shading, texture, and highlights on separate clipped layers, using blend modes and opacity to refine them.
4. Use layer masks for fades and hiding, and Alpha Lock only for quick, committed changes.
5. For clips inside clips, use selections or flattened duplicates.
6. Before export, flatten or merge what doesn't need to stay editable, then bring the frames into your animation or compositing pipeline.

Once clipping becomes habit, you'll rarely reach for the eraser to clean up an edge. You keep the original shape, the added detail stays editable, and you can change your mind late in the process, which is exactly what you want when a frame is headed toward animation.

To clip in Procreate, put the layer you want to clip directly above your base layer, tap the upper layer's thumbnail, and choose Clipping Mask. A small downward arrow appears on the layer, and anything you paint on it shows only where the base layer has pixels. Because nothing is erased, you can toggle the clip off, move the clipped layer, or recolor it without touching the base artwork.

What clipping does in Procreate

A clipping mask confines one layer to the visible shape of the layer directly beneath it. If the base layer holds a leaf silhouette and the clipped layer holds polka dots, the dots appear only inside the leaf. Paint outside the edges and nothing shows, but the paint is still on the layer. You can reposition or rotate the clipped layer and reveal more of it.

How to clip a layer in Procreate, step by step

1. Create the base layer. Draw or place the shape, lettering, or artwork that defines your boundary. This can be a flat silhouette or finished art.
2. Add a new layer above it. Tap the plus icon in the Layers panel. Clipping always refers to the layer immediately below, so order matters.
3. Open the Layer Options menu. Tap the thumbnail of the new layer.
4. Tap Clipping Mask. The arrow indicator appears, and the layer is now confined to the base layer's pixels.
5. Paint, fill, or paste. Add shading, texture, gradients, or highlights. Anything outside the base shape is hidden.

To release the clip, tap the layer again and tap Clipping Mask. The layer returns to normal, and you'll see the full content you painted, including the parts that were hidden.

Clipping to a shape you draw

You don't need finished art for the base. Draw a circle, hold at the end of the stroke so Procreate snaps it to a perfect shape, and fill it. Then place the layer you want to crop (lettering, a photo texture, a pattern) above it and clip it. The content shows only inside the circle. If you erase part of the circle or repaint it, the clipped layer follows, which makes the base layer work like a live window.

If your base layer ends up above the content you want clipped, drag it below. Clipping only works downward.

Stacking multiple clipping masks

You can clip as many layers as you want to the same base. A common setup is one clipped layer each for color shifts, texture, shadows, and highlights. Each one stays independent, so you can change its opacity, hide it, or give it its own blend mode.

The rule for stacks is that every clipped layer in a continuous chain is confined to the first unclipped layer beneath it. That's why stars clipped above a clipped dots layer end up inside the leaf, not inside the dots. The chain "trickles down" until it hits a layer that isn't itself clipped.

Some practical points:

• Reordering: Drag a clipped layer above or below another clipped layer to change the stacking and how blend modes interact.
• Adding to a stack: When you add a new layer with a clipped layer selected, the new layer typically inherits the clip. Check for the arrow, and if it's missing, apply Clipping Mask manually.
• Editing the base: Add to or erase from the base layer and every clipped layer updates automatically.
• Blend modes: Set a clipped layer to Multiply for shadows or Screen/Add for highlights, then paint loosely. The base layer keeps the result tidy.

Clipping inside a clipping mask

A frequent complaint is wanting to clip a layer to another clipped layer, such as adding a darker shadow only to one color region while the rest of a stack stays unaffected. Procreate has no single built-in answer, but these workarounds are reliable:

• Selection method. Tap and hold the base layer's thumbnail with two fingers to select its contents, switch to the layer you want to paint on, and paint. The paint is limited to the selection. This is fast and uses no extra layers, but it's less flexible if the base shape changes later.
• Selection to mask. Make a layer mask from the selection first, then paint. This is useful for strokes you can't easily redo, because the full stroke stays intact underneath the mask.
• Duplicate and flatten. Duplicate a group, flatten the copy, and use that flattened layer as a new base for further clipping. Your original layers stay untouched as a backup.
• Mind your groups. Moving clipped layers into a group can break the clipping relationship. Keep the base and its clipped layers together in the same group, or test the result before reorganizing a large file.

Clipping mask vs. Alpha Lock vs. Layer Mask

Procreate gives you three ways to keep paint inside an area, and they behave differently.

Alpha Lock is the fastest option. Swipe right with two fingers on a layer to toggle it, and the thumbnail shows a checkerboard when it's active. But because you paint directly over the layer's pixels, you can't pull the shading back out later.

Layer Masks are the right tool when you want to hide part of a layer rather than confine a second layer to it. When a mask is selected, the color panel ignores hue, so you always paint in grayscale. Lower-opacity brush strokes give you gradients and fade-outs, and painting white brings hidden content back.

A good rule: use clipping when you're adding something on top of a shape, use a layer mask when you're subtracting from one layer, and use Alpha Lock only for quick changes you won't revisit.

Troubleshooting common clipping problems

• Nothing shows on the clipped layer. The base layer may be empty or transparent where you're painting. Clipped content appears only over base pixels.
• The clip is applied to the wrong layer. Check the order. The layer must sit directly above its base, with no unclipped layers in between.
• The clip stopped working after grouping. Keep base and clipped layers in the same group and verify the arrow indicators.
• Edges look soft or haloed. Soft or semi-transparent edges on the base layer carry into the clipped result. Clean up the base edge or use a selection-based approach.
• You can't tell what's clipped. Look for the downward arrow on each layer thumbnail.

Using clipped Procreate art in a motion pipeline

Procreate can be a place where motion designers build style frames, character art, or textured elements before animating in other software. Clipping is a good fit for that stage because it keeps shading, texture, and highlights on separate layers you can revise quickly without repainting.

Before handing off, decide what you need downstream. If you need separate layers for compositing, check how your clipped layers appear after export, and merge or flatten clipped layers that don't need to stay editable so you get predictable alpha. If the art is going to serve as a reference or keyframe, a flattened, clean frame is usually enough.

Quick workflow summary

1. Build your base shape or artwork on its own layer.
2. Add a layer above it, tap its thumbnail, and choose Clipping Mask.
3. Paint shading, texture, and highlights on separate clipped layers, using blend modes and opacity to refine them.
4. Use layer masks for fades and hiding, and Alpha Lock only for quick, committed changes.
5. For clips inside clips, use selections or flattened duplicates.
6. Before export, flatten or merge what doesn't need to stay editable, then bring the frames into your animation or compositing pipeline.

Once clipping becomes habit, you'll rarely reach for the eraser to clean up an edge. You keep the original shape, the added detail stays editable, and you can change your mind late in the process, which is exactly what you want when a frame is headed toward animation.