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# Mask for Group Layers

A **Mask** crops a Group of Layers to an area you choose: the design shows inside that area and is cut away outside it. The crop sits on the Group, so every Layer inside it — text, image, clipart, vector — is cut by the same line and stays correct whatever your customer types, uploads or picks.

### 📖 Table of Contents

* [When you need a mask](#when-you-need-a-mask)
* [Step 1. Group the Layers you want to crop](#step-1-group-the-layers-you-want-to-crop)
* [Step 2. Turn the mask on](#step-2-turn-the-mask-on)
* [Step 3. Choose the mask type and set the mask area](#step-3-choose-the-mask-type-and-set-the-mask-area)
* [Notes](#notes)

## When you need a mask

* **One design has to be split across two areas of the same product.** A design that runs across the front of a button-up shirt cannot print over the button placket in the middle. Each panel has to carry its own half of the same design, cut at the same line. [Split one design across two panels of a product](/en/article/PASTE-USE-CASE-ARTICLE-SLUG-HERE/) walks through this one from start to finish.

* **Only part of a composition should show.** A name, a photo and a clipart have to appear together inside one shape — a circle, a brush stroke, a window in the artwork — instead of filling the whole printarea.

* **Several Layers have to be cropped as one.** The cut has to land in the same place on the text, the clipart and the uploaded photo at once, and has to keep landing there when you move or resize the design.

Because the design is personalized, you cannot prepare the crop in advance in a design tool: your customer's name, photo or clipart choice changes the artwork on every order. A mask lives in the Artwork, so it follows whatever they choose — in the preview on your product page and in the print file alike.

| The **Mask** setting belongs to a **Group**. To crop a single Layer, group it first, then apply the mask to the Group.

## Step 1. Group the Layers you want to crop

1. Open your campaign in **Teeinblue Portal**, then click **Edit artwork** on the printarea card.

2. In the Layer panel, select the Layers that belong together and press **Ctrl (Cmd) + G** to group them. See [Upload & manage Layers in Artwork](https://support.teeinblue.com/en/article/upload-manage-layers-in-artwork-1ss5ws5/) and [Keyboard Shortcuts for Teeinblue](https://support.teeinblue.com/en/article/keyboard-shortcuts-for-teeinblue-1x0y7bg/) for more on grouping.

3. Select the Group. The **Mask** tab appears in the toolbar above the canvas, next to **Print Effects**.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/upload-1/plugin/-/4/f/9/3/4f9341b80ae70800/01-select-group-mask-tab_ug2jja.png)

| The **Mask** tab only appears when you select one single Group. It does not appear for an ungrouped Layer, or when several Layers are selected at once.

## Step 2. Turn the mask on

1. Click **Mask**. The popover opens with **Enable mask** turned off.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/upload-1/plugin/-/4/f/9/3/4f9341b80ae70800/02-enable-mask-toggle_16395c0.png)

2. Turn **Enable mask** on. The Mask Editor opens right away with a rectangle that matches the current size of the Group, and a green dot appears next to the **Mask** tab.

| Turning **Enable mask** off keeps your mask settings. Turn it back on and the same area is restored.

## Step 3. Choose the mask type and set the mask area

Set the **Type** before you spend time on the area. Switching the Type later resets the mask area you have already set, and Teeinblue asks you to confirm before it does.

| The mask area stays inside the bounds of the Group. You can resize it freely, but drag a handle past the edge of the Group and it stops there — there is nothing outside the Group to show. To crop a wider area, make the Group itself bigger first.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/upload-1/plugin/-/4/f/9/3/4f9341b80ae70800/04-mask-type-rectangle_4psalq.png)

###### Rectangle

The default type. The mask is the rectangle you draw in the Mask Editor.

1. With the Mask Editor open, drag the box to move it, or drag a handle to resize it. Everything inside the box stays visible, and everything outside it is faded so you can still see what you are cutting off.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/upload-1/plugin/-/4/f/9/3/4f9341b80ae70800/03-mask-editor-mode_tu5f2i.png)

2. Click **Apply** to confirm the area, or **Cancel** to discard it.

| While the Mask Editor is open, you cannot select or edit other Layers. Finish with **Apply** or **Cancel** first.

To change the area later, select the Group, click **Mask**, then click **Edit mask**.

###### Custom shape

The mask takes the shape of an image you supply: the design is kept where the image is opaque and cut away everywhere else.

1. Select **Custom shape**, then click **Browse** and choose a `PNG` or `WEBP` file from your computer. The shape is the opaque part of that file, so use an image with a transparent background.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/upload-1/plugin/-/4/f/9/3/4f9341b80ae70800/06-custom-shape-cloud_1hbfzbm.png)

2. Click **Edit mask** to place the shape on the canvas, then click **Apply**. **Edit mask** stays disabled until a mask image is set. Everything inside the shape stays visible, and everything outside it is faded so you can see what you are cutting off.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/upload-1/plugin/-/4/f/9/3/4f9341b80ae70800/08-custom-shape-edit-mask_1eeua4a.png)

3. Switch to **Live preview** to check the result on the real artwork. The mask stays on the Group, so the crop holds for every personalization option your customer picks.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/upload-1/plugin/-/4/f/9/3/4f9341b80ae70800/14-custom-shape-live-preview_5glmgd.gif)

| To see a mask at work in a real campaign, read [Split one design across two panels of a product](/en/article/PASTE-USE-CASE-ARTICLE-SLUG-HERE/). It takes a button-up jersey from the Artwork to the Mockup, so the two halves print on their own panels but still look like one design.

## Notes

* The mask applies to the Group as one image. Every visible Layer inside it is cropped by the same area and keeps its position relative to the others. Effects set on a Layer inside the Group are applied first, then the Group mask.
* Moving or resizing the Group moves and scales the mask with it. Moving a Layer inside the Group only changes where that Layer sits within the mask.
* Add a Layer into a masked Group and it is cropped too. Move a Layer out of the Group and the mask no longer applies to it.
* Ungrouping a masked Group removes the mask.
* When a Group is used as a Linked Layer, its mask is set per copy and is not synced with the source. See [Introducing Artwork 2.0](https://support.teeinblue.com/en/article/introducing-artwork-20-qhojd0/).
* A mask on a global template Group is not supported.

||| **IMPORTANT**: The crop is part of the design, not just an editor preview. It shows in your customer's preview on the storefront and in the final print file, so check the masked result before you launch the campaign.