Mask inversion does not apply

Symptoms

If one or more of these match what you are seeing, you are on the right page.

• •The wrong half of the element is visible
• •No invert option can be found on the mask
• •Inverting the mask color changes nothing
• •A clip path needs to hide rather than reveal its interior

Causes and fixes

Ordered from most to least likely. Work down the list — each cause is paired with what to do about it.

1. 1

   The mask artwork needs inverting, not the mask setting.

   In Luminance mode, swap the mask layer’s light and dark areas — reverse a gradient’s stops, or flip its angle by 180°. White reveals, black hides, greys are proportional.

2. 2

   The mask is in Alpha mode when Luminance would be easier to invert.

   Alpha mode reads the mask layer’s alpha channel directly. Luminance mode reads brightness, which is far easier to invert by editing the fill.

3. 3

   A clip path is being used where an inverse is needed.

   A clip path always shows the target inside the clip shape. For the opposite, build the inverse shape with a boolean subtract operation and clip to that.

4. 4

   The mask layer is not directly above the target.

   Alpha and luminance masks require the mask layer positioned directly above the target layer in the stack. An element in between breaks the relationship.

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