Let's say you want to achieve a particular shape. Artwork by Seamus Lloyd Which One is Best? The light and dark values in the layer (textures are a prime example here) determine the amount of masking applied to your artwork. All the gifs you’ve seen until now were from this nifty little tool.Ī transparency layer mask is a single large graphic that acts as a transparency mask.

Since the best way to learn anything is through play, we propose you check out The Boolean Game - a super fun tool that lets you practice with simple shapes to get the hang of these concepts. Below is a comparison of all operations so you visualize it easier: Divide splits selected objects into individual objects created by intersecting paths. This operation is unique in itself and results in the most amount of vector shapes that you can then play around with and use in your designs. If we think of this mathematically, Difference is Subtracting the Intersection from the Union shape. It deletes the path that overlaps when two shapes are combined. Just like the Unite operation, the order of the layers does not matter. You will be left with only the portion where the two layers overlap. This outlines the path of the shape shared by both layers. As you might have guessed, the order of the layers does play a role in this operation the bottom layer is treated as the base, and the top is subtracted from it. This operation subtracts the shape on top from the shape below. The order of the layers does not matter in the case of Unite operations, but the output shape converts to the style of the bottom layer. This combines two input shapes into a new shape. Creating complex shapes is something you’ll inevitably come across in icon or logo design, so let’s take a deeper look at these five options: Boolean Unite

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