Creating a Clipping Path in Expression Blend

A clipping path is where a shape or path is overlayed on top of another object path or shape in order to mask off certain areas that fall outside of the front path or shape.

The example that I have used here is of a London Skyline contained within the word "London". This is a great effect and really simple to do, read on to find out how.

1. Once you have opened Blend December Preview and created a new project, go to the project pane, and right click on the name of your project.

2. Right click on add existing item and select the image that you want to use in this example. You can now see the file selected in the Properties list. Select and drag this image file on to the canvas and resize appropriately.

3. Select the text tool and choose a bright forecolour and large size to suit the size of the image. Begin writing the desired text. You should now see something that looks like the following:

4. Using the select tool, select the object that you want to be the clipping path. In this case, that will be the text path "London". Press and hold Ctrl and select the other object that you want to clip (the Image).

5. With both objects now selected, go to "Object" --> "Path" --> "Make clipping path"

6. That's it, you're done! Enjoy experimenting with this cool feature in Blend.