The Question: My Clipping Paths don't work: Can you make clipping paths with the magnetic lasso tool in photoshop? Why are my clipping paths not able to have text wrap around them when taken into Quark?

Clipping Paths to Quark

... but not if they're tifs

Our reply to a question sent in by: Rebecca
 

Yes, of course. You can make clipping paths out of any active selection -- the tool you used is immaterial. Simply create your selection exactly the way you want it.
   Now click on the "Make Work Path" button at the bottom of the paths palette. (Third from the right after the trash can and the new path button.) This will create a work path. Save the path by double-clicking on its name in the palette.
   Next use the palette pull-out menu and select "Clipping Path." Select the path you want to use and you're ready.

Using Magnetic Lasso

I don't recommend using the magnetic lasso because it's not accurate enough to give you a good clipping path. It needs to be very accurate and clean. You can "rough" in the path first using the magnetic Lasso, but then you'll want to do accurate clean-up and tweaking with the pen tools.
   If Quark is not running around it probably it's probably because you didn't save it as an EPS file. Most people want a tif but don't understand that the clipping path doesn't work unless the file is saved as an EPS.
 

A reader comments on this article:

Heather from Salem, NY, USA writes in to say:
 

Re: Clipping paths in photoshop question.

I make clipping paths on greyscale images and save them as TIFFs all the time.

They work fine in Quark, creating a runaround if I want, allowing the area outside the clipping path to be "clear" etc.
      I hate to use EPSs because you can't change the color or shade in Quark
 

Excellent comment, Heather... you're right, and we neglected to include that in our reply to the readers. Thanks for sending it in.

Fred
 

Retrieved from Photoshop 911: 09/01/2002

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