Adobe Photoshop is a highly flexible image editing tool which offers a range of techniques in removing background from photos/images. Two very significant techniques in this realm are clipping and masking images. Though both clipping and masking images are used for image editing purposes, they have specific features and differences associated with them. Some of the dissimilarities between clipping and masking images are listed below.

Clipping Images

1.E-commerce applications are more.

2.Supports all formats

3.Image output size is less.

4.Illustrator or In-design wont support clipping images.

5.As clipping is saved, any modification or further use is possible.

6.Pen tool is used. The output obtained will have hard edges.

7.Clipped image can be saved as a masked image using layer mask or Alpha channel.

8.In clipping images, the images are saved including their path. Easy to select the path

9.More commonly used.

10.Clipping image is faster.

11.Less natural appearance compared to masking when defining hairstyles.

Masking Images

1.Less e-commerce applications.

2.Supports only .tiff and .psd

3.Image output size is more.

4.Alpha channel supports other software or commercial applications.

5.Not as flexible as image clipping.

6.Mask tool or techniques such as Layer mask can be used. Output will have smooth edges.

7.Not possible to be saved as a clipped image.

8.The images are saved without a path associated with them.

9.Not used much, compared to clipping images.

10.Not as fast as clipping images, but fixes complex hair styles faster.

11.Even intricate hair structures can be masked with natural effects.

Article by : Rarima N S

SBL – Technology People Trust

http://www.sblgraphics.com/photo-masking_service.aspx