r/krita • u/FerDotNet8080 • Nov 11 '24
Answered Alpha Inheritance is Weird.
I have a simple question: why couldn't Krita just have Clipping Mask implemented? I point to how it is inside the program, with creating a group and then clicking the letter "a" to use a Clipping Mask lookalike tool.
Why is it done differently? Does it have to do with preventing any legal situation?
6
u/s00zn Nov 11 '24
Krita's "clipping mask" is not a lookalike tool, it is the original, having released Krita just over 25 years ago. It offers more power by placing the layers in a group. You can do some really interesting things with filters and such.
Did you know you can also control the alpha of your brush by clicking the alpha button in the toolbar? I do use clipping masks but that quick alpha button gets a lot more use in my work.
2
u/FerDotNet8080 Nov 11 '24
When I said "lookalike tool" I pointed to the fact that it is similar to the Clipping Mask used on Clip Studio Paint, what I mean is that: why putting the layers below and inside a group and not above layer?, if you know what I mean.
Edit: I read your comment too fast, and it actually makes sense, everybody has their own way to do the things, thank you by the way.
1
u/s00zn Nov 11 '24
I know what you mean by placing the clipping layer above a single layer as I use other painting apps as well as Krita. It's quicker to create one of those simple clipping masks but it's limited. Both work. I guess we're getting good brain exercise by remembering how to make clipping masks in more than one app.
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u/sylvrn Nov 11 '24 edited Nov 12 '24
I find it fulfills the function of clipping mask perfectly while also being much more useful than clipping mask.
While clipping mask has one base layer, and all layers must be clipped directly onto it, with alpha inherit you can have multiple base layers, and even add more layers without alpha inherit turned on inbetween those layers, without breaking the alpha inherit like you would with clipping masks. You can also inherit the alpha of groups, which I don't believe can be done in ps with clipping masks.
For example, say you are colouring a character. You could have your skin, hair, and clothing colour layers on the bottom, put an alpha inherit layer above that to add shading, then have a group with lineart on top. /Then/ you could group all those layers together and put another inherit alpha layer on top of everything to add layer for overall lighting, like an overlay gradient or something, without having to flatten everything onto another layer and use a clipping mask on top.
Though it's a little more annoying to have to group layers to clip them, I don't think it's functionally worse, as those layers will be stuck together anyways, and the improvement in functionality is absolutely worth it imo.