Skip to main content

Hi all,

I’ll try to keep it short and simple — I couldn’t find anything that directly addressed this issue, but in my opinion the way masks work in Figma is not optimal.


Full disclosure, I come from a very comfortable with Adobe Illustrator angle (which essentially established the standard way to apply masks as far as I’m aware, and with good reason).


The problem with needing the mask object under the object that is being masked, is that the mask object will invariably be smaller than the target object, and therefore this makes it extremely fussy to both select the correct items for masking and editing the mask layer itself.


Once a mask is applied, to edit the vector points of the mask, the only way I can see is to find the mask layer in the layers panel and hit enter or the “edit object” button in the toolbar. This is a serious workflow killer when considering you could just double click into the mask object had it been on the layer above.


That’s it! Please consider changing the mask behaviour — I know that all my colleagues feel the same way as I’m sure others do. Thanks! 🙏


Edit: I have now been introduced to the technique of using a shape as a mask for images specifically (requiring images already in figma to be copied with “copy properties” and pasted into the shape). This is an interesting workaround specifically for images, but doesn’t work with components or groups, etc – hence a more robust masking solution would be preferable imho 🙂

Personally I like that they’re at the bottom. I’m coming from years of using Sketch, where masks are also on the bottom. If they were on top, I’d always have to work my way through them to be able to select the contents of the mask. They’d be way more “in the way” in my personal workflow. I guess an option to toggle whether they’re on top or bottom would suit everyone, though! I wouldn’t go so far as to say that having them on top inherently is more “robust”, though.


Like you mentioned about the image workflow, there’s a chance you’ll come to see Figma’s way of doing certain things that now feel off coming from Adobe’s apps. In the beginning I certainly didn’t like how Figma handled images, but now I’ve come to appreciate it.


Is there a more specific use case you could describe where you find having the mask at the bottom to be annoying? I can’t really picture a scenario where it has annoyed me yet! 🙂

Yes! Having the mask on the bottom is completely opposite to what is happening visually when you’re creating the mask. It does not make any sense the way Figma has it. Having them at the top also follows the folder structure behaviour.

Cropping is not something I do a lot of and I have to go find the answer on how to make them work in Figma every time.

agree

Absolutely agree.


One thing I do a lot is I screenshot the APP I am working on, and I try to make a screen that partially come from the screenshot; therefore it is important that I am able to see the exact area that I will end up have, pixel perfectly.


When I do such thing in Adobe XD, I am able to just:



  1. put a rectangle over the screenshot and have its opacity 50%

  2. adjust the size and position of the rectangle

  3. select both the rectangle and screenshot

  4. right click and select make clipping mask


When I need to do such thing in Figma, I have to:



  1. put a rectangle over the screenshot and have its opacity 50%

  2. adjust the size and position of the rectangle

    3. put the rectangle under the screenshot

    4. change the rectangle’s opacity back to 100%

  3. select both the rectangle and screenshot

  4. right click and select make clipping mask


Also notice how I need to change the masking layer’s opacity back to 100% because for some reason (that I don’t understand at all) the opacity of the masking layer has to affect the masked group.

Coming from a photoshop & adobe illustrator user, I guess you could try to make some sense of the mask on Figma visually if you try to think of it as some sort of an object that is being painted on; instead of a cover that has a hole cut in it to enable everything below it visible (which most of us would probably intuitively think of honestly x’D)

Yeah I’d at the very least like a preference to switch the masking order around.


The vast majority of the time, when I’m using a mask, I’m cropping a larger image or shape…


So for example, I want this larger image cropped to my red rectangle here… with the shape on top I can move both layers around easily


Screen Shot 2022-05-26 at 2.17.28 PM


By default in Figma… the layer I want to mask occludes the smaller layer… so I have to find it in the layer palette rather than select it directly


Screen Shot 2022-05-26 at 2.18.53 PM


I’m aware of copy properties as mentioned in OP… but I can’t maintain two separate objects that way… and this masking annoyance isn’t limited to images, it applies to groups as well.

Coming from Illustrator here. Wasn’t it the other way around? In Illustrator mask geometry is above, say, a photo. Same way it’s suggested in this thread. Why I remember - after several years in Figma I still can’t use masking as efficiently as I could in Illustrator 😅

Coming form an older generation that has more experience and working across platforms like after effects, 3d animation, flash… no … it is counter to established patterns

Hey All, thanks for the feedback!


We hear you. We’ll pass this onto the feedback for future consideration.

Just copy the way Adobe does masks please. Masking in Figma is a nightmare.

I agree that the current order makes no sense and is hard to use. By definition, the mask is almost certainly going to be smaller than the thing users are trying to mask. This makes the mask more difficult to select since the thing you’re trying to mask will be in front of it, preventing you from clicking on the mask. You have to resort to some workaround, like switching to outline mode, finding the item in the layer list, or click-and-drag selecting on the canvas, but each has downsides. Please allow for an option in preferences, or make it an option when masking (e.g. add ‘use top object as mask’ and rename the old one ‘use bottom object as mask’).

Reply


Terms & ConditionsCookie settings