A new faster kind of mask
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 2:23 am
A lot of times a mask is only used to add a quick shadow or a pattern to an artwork, after the artwork is essentially done. It's a common thing when making vector art, but there are several steps and it's not fast, and those steps also involve creating a group layer.
I have an idea how to speed things up, and the idea involves keeping everything on ONE LAYER.
The trick is to make the name of a shape decide if the shape is masked.
For example, if the first four letters of a shape's name is "mask," then the shape will be masked, while the other shapes in the layer will combine to define the visible area. Make sense?
So, for example, if a person creates a new vector layer and then creates a red apple with a stem and a leaf and this artwork takes 5 shapes total (on one layer), and now the person wants to add a shadow, all they would need to do is create a big shadow shape that goes beyond the apple art, name the shape "mask-1" or "mask-apple" or whatever, and the shadow would be masked! The part of the shadow that extends beyond the apple would not be visible.
Under layer settings, there could be a checkbox for stroke visibility, but the default would be "exclude strokes," since that's more common (I'm guessing).
This idea is not intended to suggest that the usual masking process needs to be replaced - not at all. This idea is a supplemental thing, something new to speed up art-making for all those times when all you need to do is add a quick shadow on a rock or a leaf or whatever, and you don't feel like adding 2 new layers to accomplish this.
I have an idea how to speed things up, and the idea involves keeping everything on ONE LAYER.
The trick is to make the name of a shape decide if the shape is masked.
For example, if the first four letters of a shape's name is "mask," then the shape will be masked, while the other shapes in the layer will combine to define the visible area. Make sense?
So, for example, if a person creates a new vector layer and then creates a red apple with a stem and a leaf and this artwork takes 5 shapes total (on one layer), and now the person wants to add a shadow, all they would need to do is create a big shadow shape that goes beyond the apple art, name the shape "mask-1" or "mask-apple" or whatever, and the shadow would be masked! The part of the shadow that extends beyond the apple would not be visible.
Under layer settings, there could be a checkbox for stroke visibility, but the default would be "exclude strokes," since that's more common (I'm guessing).
This idea is not intended to suggest that the usual masking process needs to be replaced - not at all. This idea is a supplemental thing, something new to speed up art-making for all those times when all you need to do is add a quick shadow on a rock or a leaf or whatever, and you don't feel like adding 2 new layers to accomplish this.