Converting a Clipping Path to a Mask: “Knock out (but don’t lose) the background of a photo”
For people who want to see what an object in an image with a Clipping Path looks like without the background, but would like to be able to change it back later, there is a way to remove the background without actually deleting it (Clipping Paths to Masks).
“Knock out (but don’t lose) the background of a photo”
In Photoshop it is easy to make the background of an image invisible using Clipping Paths. The trick is to do so without cutting off too much of the object and without deleting the background forever.
This is how Mister Clipping accomplishes knocking out but not losing the background of a photo:
Converting a Clipping Path to a Layer Mask:
To Convert the Clipping Path to a Layer Mask go to the Path Window
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Unlock the background layer.
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Select the layer.
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Select the Clipping Path.
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Convert Clipping Path to selection
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Expand the selection by 2 pixels
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Convert the selection to a Layer Mask
If you have an image with transparent background and a clipping path and want to see the original background, simply click the layer while holding the [ALT] button. The background will show again (See screenshot). It is only possible to save an image with a Layer Mask when the output file format supports layers (e.g .tiff or .psd).
That's how you convert a Clipping Path to a Mask: “Knock out (but don’t lose) the background of a photo”.
