Final image :

This is a simple example of using a Clipping mask in Adobe Photoshop. The purpose is to get the effect of using a magnifying glass to read a blurred text. Open a new document of width-640px and height- 480px to work out the following.

STEP 1 : Creating the Background > Create a new layer and name it = Background and fill it with brownish grey color ( # 454141) Use ALT + Bcakspace to fill the area. The color can be selected first in the color box. Go to Filter menu > Filter gallery > Texture > Craquelure and set the Crack spacing as 40, Crack depth as 5 and Crack Brightness as 6.

STEP 2 :Type a Text (In this example, 'BODDUNAN') with Font set as > Minion Std, and style selected as > Black, you can type the text in any size and later use the Transform tool to enlarge it to the desired size. Choose the Plain Black color for the text. Use the String effect also.

STEP 3 : Once the text is created, create TWO copies of the Text layer to keep the original as reference. Hide the original text layer as you do not need it. Select both the duplicate copies and right click them and select the option > Rasterize Type. The text layers become ordinary layers. Name one copy as = Boddunan Text and the other as = Blurred Text.

STEP 4 : Now select the Blurred text layer. As the name indicates, let us use the Blur effect. Go to Filter menu > Blur > and select the option Gaussian Blur, and set the radius to 9.

STEP 5 : Now create another layer and name it Lens and draw a circular selection using Elliptical Marquee tool in such a way that the size of the circle is sufficient to fit a single alphabet at a time. After creating a circle, try moving it over every letter to see if it fits allright. If it does not fit properly, go to Select menu > use the Transform option to resize / rescale the circular selection. Once you have got the perfect circle, select the lens layer and fill it with White color (Use ALT + Bcakspace to fill color to selection). That means the circular selection is filled with White color and that is saved in the Lens layer.

STEP 6 : Once the circle is filled with white color (since it is white it will not be visible, so apply stroke(border) to the lens) right click the Lens layer and select Blending options or go to Layer menu > Layer style > Blending options. Set the following adjustments to the Lens layer >

• Bevel and Emboss:  The bevel used is= Inner Bevel and technique used is = Smooth and size is= 21px with Depth= 120% and direction set to = UP and soften level is 16px. The contour used is = Llinear Gloss contour and Highlight color is white and mode is = Screen and shadow color is Grey (# aca0a0)  and mode is = multiply and both set at 75%. The bevel is placed at an angle of 120 degree.

• Stroke settings : The stroke size is 5 px. The stroke is positioned = Inside and Blend mode is = Normal and the opacity is 100 %. The stroke style used is = Gradient. The gradient is the default available bi color black and white gradient . Set the Style as = Reflected. This is very important as the reflected style gives a perfect look. The gradient is placed at an angle of 90 degree and scaled to 100 %.

STEP 7 : Once the lens required to read the text is completed, lets prepare the Handle required to move the lens ( this is not compulsory, as you can move the lens directly, but to give the magnifying glass look, let us add an handle). Use the Rectangular marquee tool and draw a vertical rectangle. Go to Select menu > Transform selection. use this option to rotate the rectangle to allign with the lens. Once transformation is complete, create a new layer called > Handle and select this layer and fill with white color (Use ALT + Bcakspace to fill color to selection). This means the rectangular selection is filled with White color and that is saved in the Handle layer.

STEP 8 : Set the following Stroke settings for the Handle layer. Stroke settings > The stroke size is 5 px. The stroke is positioned = Inside and Blend mode is = Pin Light and the opacity is 100 %. The stroke style used is = Pattern. The pattern used is the default available = Fibres 2. The pattern is scaled to 100%.

STEP 9 : Next step is to Merge the 'Lens' and 'Handle' Layers. Select both the layers and right click the layers in the layer box and select the option > Merge layers. Once both the layers are merged, name the layer as > Magnifying Glass and set the following adjustment. Bevel and Emboss > The bevel used is= Emboss and technique used is = Smooth and size is= 13px with Depth= 201 % and direction set to = UP and soften level is 5 px. The contour used is = Llinear Gloss contour and Highlight color is white and mode is = Screen and shadow color is Black and mode is = multiply and both set at 75%. The bevel is placed at an angle of 120 degree.

STEP 10 : Now comes the Important step to get the desired effect. Before that, see that the layers are arranged as follow : Hide all the layers. Make on the three layers namely, Magnifying Glass layer, Boddunan Text layer and Blurred Text layer. First place the Blurred Text layer ( it should be present below the remaining two layers), on top of that place the Magnifying Glass layer and at the extreme top place the Boddunan Text layer. Now select the Boddunan Text layer  in the layer box, press ALT key in the keyboard and try moving the mouse below the Boddunan Text layer  and above the Magnifying Glass layer and correctly in the intersection, the mouse icon changes, then click the intersection. A clipping mask is created. You can also directly go to Layer menu and select the option clipping mask > reveal all to get the same function.

Now that the clipping mask is created, select the Magnifying Glass layer and use the Move tool in the tools box and move the magnifying glass over the letters. Initially, the text on top is Blurred and when you move the Magnifying Glass over the letters, they become clearly visible. Following the procedure for clipping mask in an order is very important or else you will not get the desired result. LAYER ARRANGEMENT >