Note: If you have a different UI than in the course, you can change it back by clicking the '?' in the bottom right corner of Figma and select 'Go back to previous UI'. Happy Figma'ing!

How to mask using transparent pngs with alpha channels in Figma

This lesson is exclusive to members

Course contents

Questions

2
6
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Course info

177 lessons / 16 hours 46 quiz questions 21 projects Certificate of achievement

Overview

Hi there, aspiring Figma enthusiasts! Are you ready to embark on an exhilarating journey with me, Dan Scott, as we unlock the full potential of our Figma skills in the dazzling realm of UX/UI Design using Figma Advanced?

Try Figma for free by clicking here.

This course is tailor-made for those who have already mastered the fundamental principles of UI/UX Design using Figma. If you've triumphed over my Figma Essentials course or have a sneaking suspicion that there's a treasure trove of unexplored tools, tips, workflows, and updates awaiting your discovery, then look no further! This course is your golden ticket to taking your UI/UX prowess to the next level.

Together, we'll start by delving into the depths of multilevel nested autolayouts, and unravel the secrets used by UX professionals by learning:
- Workflow techniques, managing design assets, styles, components, grid and column layouts like true virtuosos.
- Learn how to use Variables and put them to work creating even more complete prototypes.
- Use variables to make Light & Dark Modes + Compact & Comfortable spacing versions of your components. 
- You’ll then take your new knowledge of variables to understand and create your own Design Tokens. 
  • - Unleashing the magic of advanced animation techniques, captivating users with animated background gradients and Houdini Text.
  • - Harness the power of Lottie animation files, breathing life into your designs.
  • - Crafting responsive elements that effortlessly adapt to any device, proving your design prowess knows no bounds.
  • - Unleashing the full potential of powerful images & video masking techniques, amplifying the visual impact of your creations.
  • - Mastering advanced typography features, transforming words into captivating works of art.
  • - Embracing the realm of AI, infusing your process with its genius to elevate your skills as a UX designer.
  • - Elevate your prototyping game, conducting user tests with finesse using advanced techniques.
  • - Unveiling sticky scroll buttons that stack, animated anchor points and booleans, and a host of other captivating effects.
  • - Creating enchanting dropdown menus, hover grow effects for images, and expanding search bars.
  • - Discovering the right accessibility tools & techniques, ensuring inclusivity and usability for all users.
  • - Becoming a variant boss, expertly taming unwieldy variants to just 1 or 2.
  • - Unveiling the secrets of seamless collaboration with designers, developers, and stakeholders.
  • - Mastering the art of exporting production-ready assets, bringing your designs to life beyond the realm of Figma.
  • - Unearthing professional workflow tricks & shortcuts, saving you precious time and skyrocketing your efficiency.
  • - Plus much more exciting advanced Figma goodness along the way!

As you journey through this course, you'll acquire the skills wielded by UX professionals, gaining a profound understanding of the UX Design industry. From concept to a highly polished finish, you'll confidently manage your own UX projects ideal for your portfolio.

Throughout the course, I'll assign assignments and projects that nurture your skills and empower you to create your very own unique UX design masterpiece for your portfolio. Don’t worry if this all seems overwhelmingly advanced right now, because the BYOL crew stands ready to support and guide you, ensuring your questions get answered.

It's time to embrace the call to upgrade yourself and transcend from being a good UX Designer to a bona fide Figma UX Superhero! Unlock your potential, save the day, and let your design prowess soar!

Requirements:

- A copy of Figma (a free plan is available on the Figma website).
  • - Basic knowledge of Figma is required. I recommend watching my Figma Essentials course prior to embarking on this epic adventure.

Who this course is for:

  • - UX/UI adventurers who already have a basic understanding of Figma.
  • - Self-taught Figma enthusiasts yearning for structured guidance.
  • - Graduates of my Figma Essentials Course, hungry for more knowledge and skills.
  • - Visionaries who have developed their own unique Figma approach but crave exploration of the vast universe of tools, updates, and time-saving techniques.

What you'll learn:

  • - Diving deep into multi level nested autolayouts. 
  • - Robust components that are easy to update and hard to break. 
  • - Component properties. 
- Variables
- Design Tokens
- Advanced Prototyping using Variables
  • - Learn Workflow tips and tricks for managing your design assets, styles, components, grid and column layouts.
  • - Advanced animation techniques
  • - Animated Background gradients. 
  • - Houdini Text
  • - Animate along a path in Figma
  • - How to add Lottie animation files in Figma
  • - Build responsive elements ready for any device size.
  • - The best shortcuts & plugins to make you a more efficient UX designer.
  • - Absolute Positioning of Autolayouts. 
  • - Powerful images & video masking techniques. 
  • - Advanced typography features. 
  • - Learn to use AI in your process to make you a better UX designer. 
  • - Advanced prototyping techniques to level up your user tests. 
  • - Make prototypes better and faster using tricks & shortcuts. 
  • - Sticky scroll buttons that stack. 
  • - Video playback controls. 
  • - Animated anchor points and booleans.
  • - Create a Dropdown menu
  • - Create a hover grow effect for images.
  • - Create and expanding Search Bar 
  • - Learn the right accessibility tools & techniques  
  • - Become a variant boss. Cutting down those 100 variants to just 1 or 2. 
  • - Learn the best ways to work with other designers, developers and stakeholders. 
  • - Build a UX project from beginning to end ready for your portfolio.
  • - Export production ready assets.
  • - Learn professional workflow tricks & shortcuts.
  • - Forum support from me and the rest of the BYOL crew.
  • - All the techniques used by UX professionals
  • - 160 videos of detailed Figma Advanced Content.
Daniel Scott

Daniel Scott

Founder of Bring Your Own Laptop & Chief Instructor

instructor

I discovered the world of design as an art student when I stumbled upon a lab full of green & blue iMac G3’s. My initial curiosity around using the computer to create ‘art’ developed into a full-blown passion, eventually leading me to become a digital designer and founder of Bring Your Own Laptop.

Sharing and teaching are a huge part of who I am. As a certified Adobe instructor, I've had the honor of winning multiple Adobe teaching awards at their annual MAX conference. I see Bring Your Own Laptop as the supportive community I wished for when I was first starting out and intimidated by design. Through teaching, I hope to bring others along for the ride and empower my students to bring their stories, labors of love, and art into the world.
True to my Kiwi roots, I've lived in many places, and currently, I reside in Ireland with my wife and kids.

Certificates

We’re awarding certificates for this course!

Check out the How to earn your certificate video for instructions on how to earn yours and click the available certificate levels below for more information.

How to earn your certificate

Work your way towards your certificate for this course by following these simple steps.

  • Watch the course videos
  • Complete the Class Projects - look out for the videos marked with
  • Upload your class projects into the My Projects area in your account
  • Complete and pass the Knowledge Quiz (Merit level courses only)
  • Complete the Distinction Certificate Project (Distinction level courses only) - look out for the video marked with
  • Upload your Distinction project to the My Projects area in your account
  • Request your certificate when you've completed the requirements for the certificate level you're working towards

Good luck!

Pass certificates

We’re awarding ‘Pass’ level certificates for this course.

You can work your way towards your ‘Pass’ certificate by following these simple steps.

  • Watch the course videos
  • Complete the Class Projects - look out for the videos marked with
  • Upload your class projects into the My Projects area in your account
  • Don’t forget to request your certificate when all your projects are complete

Good luck!

Merit certificates

We’re awarding ‘Merit’ level certificates for this course.

You can work your way towards your ‘Merit’ certificate by following these simple steps.

  • Watch the course videos
  • Complete the Class Projects - look out for the videos marked with
  • Upload your class projects into the My Projects area in your account
  • Complete and pass the Knowledge Quiz
  • Don’t forget to request your certificate when you have passed the quiz and completed all your projects

Good luck!

Distinction certificates

We're awarding 'Distinction' level certificates for this course.

You can work your way towards your 'Distinction' certificate by following these simple steps.

  • Watch the course videos
  • Complete the Class Projects - look out for the videos marked with
  • Upload your class projects into the My Projects area in your account
  • Complete and pass the Knowledge Quiz
  • Complete the Distinction Certificate Project - look out for the video marked with
  • Upload your Distinction project to the My Projects area in your account
  • Don't forget to request your certificate when you have passed the quiz and completed all your projects

Good luck!

Downloads & Exercise files

Transcript

Hi everyone, let me show you how to use images... they have transparency to mask background images, and fills... this image has transparency, double wham, masking out another image... I'll show you how to do it, and then if you want to stick around... I'll show you how I made these transparent background images in Photoshop... they're nice and easy to make, and a really nice effect in the end...

all right, let's jump in. First up we have got, in your Exercise files there's two Alpha01s, under Image... there's a JPEG and a PNG... JPEGs have no transparency or alpha, alpha is another word for transparency... but PNG, in this case does, often we're looking for PNGs to make this work... so I'm just going to bring it in and I'm going to scale it down...

use my 'K' tool get it to an appropriate size... oh, what are you doing there? Yes, I've already recorded this one, it didn't go very well, I lost my way... so we're restarting, so we've got this, we need an image for this to mask out... so I'm going to bring in another image, 'Command Shift K'... and let's bring in, I'm going to bring in 'Alpha 4', those are cool...

it's kind of a cool abstract thing... I'm going to make it the right size to cover this... and we need to remember that, who's on top, is it this, or that? That seems normal, so it's wrong, that needs to be at the back... and you select both of these... and all you need to do is hit 'Make Mask', and there we go...

it looks at our PNG, that has transparency or Alpha... and just says, all right, we'll make you a mask... who remembers the shortcut-- because it, it's not framed very well... the paint marks aren't coming through very well... who remembers the shortcut to kind of show both this and the outside? That's right, hold down the 'Option' key on a Mac, 'Alt' key on a PC...

double click it, and now I can kind of move this background one around... to kind of get it to where I want... there we go, 'Esc' a couple of times to get out, that is how you do an Alpha Mask. You can do it with shapes as well... weirdly, I can't do it with this frame, but if this frame is a rectangle... this might change in the-- I don't know why this is happening...

so let me copy the properties of that, paste the properties... rectangle, using the 'Rectangle' tool, 'Frame' tool... I'm going to bring in my PNG again... get it to an appropriate size, holding 'Shift'... I'll do one there, and I'll do another one down here, so the rectangle... as long as this is at the back, square bracket, to the back...

I can go with 'Mask', wohoo, works... play around with my gradient there, lovely... this one here though, at the moment... I need to double check that this image is not inside of the frame... it just happens to not be, where is it? My frame, 21, is there...

where's my image? Man, these are far apart on the Layers panel... I'm going to select both of them and hit my close square bracket, ']'... so they all come to the top. Now this image needs to be below the frame, but not inside of it... there you go...

and now do the same thing, and boom, they don't work... I don't know why, I haven't been able to get that to work... let me know in the comments if you do, but hey, we can just make it a rectangle... I'm going to undo that... there you go, you can do it with anything that has an Alpha channel... there's another one in there to practice with, it says Mountain Range...

what I'd like to do is actually just show you how I make... because I made these for us... you could just go out to something like Google... and say, "cityscape png" and find something... you need to check on the licenses if you're going to use this properly... or if it's just personal use, and you're practicing, download anything.

So if you want to make stuff, just out of interest... I'll show you how I do it in Photoshop... so I've got this one here, I want to mask the background... do I want the water, there's two options, right... you can 'Select', 'Subject', which often grabs the point of interest... and then over here, in your 'Layers' panel you can hit 'Mask Layer'...

save this out as a PNG, and you're away... you might have to do some tidying up. So you can use the Quick Selection tool... I'm going to hold down the 'Option' key, get rid of some of these bits in here... you just kind of drag them down, it's pretty good... there's holes that you need, you let go of that, 'Alt', or 'Option'...

just color in the bits that were left out... depends on how detailed you need to be. I'm going to add my Layer Mask, and how am I going to save it? I'm going to use the option here, so I use 'File', 'Export'... 'Export As', it's brilliant... it allows me to do a couple of things, it allows me to say...

because remember, jpegs, I kind of mentioned there, don't have transparency... so it's just going to fill it with white, which is not good, we want PNG... so it has transparency, you can see it there... and an appropriate size, so I'm going to put it in, it's 1500 pixels wide... just so it's not so big, and then I'm going to export it, so that's what I do. The other 'Option' might be, is this one here...

there's an 'Option' here to say, 'Select', 'Sky'... and I can say, 'Select', 'Inverse'... then hit that 'Layer' mask option, and do the same thing, save it out as a PNG. One last little tip, if you're looking for a really cool silhouette... sometimes the edges of this is not very strong... what you'll find is, if I do this...

can you see, it's a little bit fuzzy at the edges here... which is maybe what you want, maybe not... what you can do, is try not to be a Photoshop tutorial... but if you do want to learn Photoshop more I have an Essentials and Advanced course... with this layer selected... you can go to your 'Adjustments'...

let's look at 'Levels', which is the second one in here... and you can just mess around, because you don't actually want... you don't care about the sky and the mountains, right... you're looking for a nice high contrast between the two. So you can mess around trying to get a really clear definition between the two... it'll get rid of some of the ambiguity when you go to--  select both of these, we're being very destructive...

and let's go to... 'Merge Layers', I just right clicked, now if I go to 'Select', 'Sky'... it's just a little bit clearer about what is what... I can do the same thing, let's invert it... I have a Layer mask... and we just have a nice tidier edge...

on a lot of this, can you see, just crisper... you can spend more time and get it better... now we do a 'File', 'Export', 'Export As'... and just make sure it's a PNG, and away you go... give it a more appropriate size... and do what we did at the beginning of this course...

bring it in and use it as a mask. All right, that is masking using transparent pngs... a. k. a. Alpha Masks, a.

k. a. Alpha channels... that's it, I will see you in the next video.
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