Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Things You’ll Need:
- A working installation of Flash
Step1
Before you add a layer mask, first you'll need to create the content that you want to mask. On a single layer, draw your Flash content or import an image that you want to mask. Masks are most useful with complex drawings or raster imports that can't be edited easily.
Step2
Click on the "New Layer" button to the bottom right of the Layers area to add a new layer above the one containing the artwork to be masked.
Step3
On the new layer, draw or import the shape of your mask. Remember that although right now what's on this layer obscures what's beneath, once the layer is converted to a mask the only thing that will be visible is where the bottom layer and top layer overlap. Think of your mask layer as a peephole, where the artwork that you place on this layer is the shape of a peephole. You can place more than one drawing/object on your mask layer for multiple cutout areas of the image below.
Step4
Once you've finished drawing your mask layer, right-click on the layer in the Layers list and select "Mask".
Step5
Both the mask layer and the layer beneath will immediately lock; an icon will appear next to the mask layer to indicate that it's a mask, while the layer beneath will appear indented as a sub-layer of the mask layer with a corresponding icon to indicate that it's being masked. On the stage, you'll be able to see how your mask works--what areas are visible.
Step6
Your mask will only appear properly in the working area if both the mask layer and the layer being masked are both locked and visible. To hide the mask or edit it, unlock both layers.
Step7
To remove the mask, right-click on the masking layer again and once more click "Mask", which should have a check-mark next to it. This will ungroup the masking layer and the layer being masked.
How to Create a Layer Mask in Flash
Novice 
Comments
Beveronius said
on 2/9/2008 Great! May consider photos.