Hello! My name is Liz Staley and I’m a long-time user of Clip Studio Paint (I started using the program back when it was known as Manga Studio 4!). I was a beta-tester on the Manga Studio 5 program and for Clip Studio Paint, and I have written three books and several video courses about the program. Many of you probably know my name from those books, in fact. I write weekly posts on Graphixly.com and on CSP Tips, so be sure to come back every week to learn more Clip Studio Tips and Tricks from me!

Since I’m not on the “Clock app”, I usually see trends pretty late because it takes time for them to migrate over to the social media sites I do use. I’ve been seeing the Magic Window trend around and thought it’s very cool when creating videos for social media to show off two images that are related to one another, such as characters with a secret identity, a hero and villain, or anything else where you want to show two images in an interesting way. This definitely works best with video because moving the “window” around is what shows off the second image, so if you’re looking for an interesting idea for social media give this one a try! There is a video example at the end of this article.

In this article we will cover the following topics:

Setting Up Your File

Making the Magic Window

Let’s get drawing

Setting Up Your File

You will need two images of whatever you wish. We will be seeing one image through a “window” cut out of the other image. I’ve seen this technique done with characters that are a romantic couple, rivals, characters with secret identities, and more. It’s an interesting way to do some storytelling!

I have found that, depending on the shape of the window you are making, you will want the subject of each image to be relatively the same size. Below are the two images I will be using, of one of my original characters and her ‘hero identity’.

Each image will need to be a single layer, so let’s do a little prep! My hero identity image is still split out into layers, so I’m going to right-click on the layer palette and select “Merge Visible to New Layer” to combine the layers to a new copy and preserve the original layers.

Select your entire image, then go to Edit - Copy to make a copy of the merged layer.

Paste the copied image into the file of the other image. You should now have two layers, one with each drawing on it.

Now let’s create the window!

Making the Magic Window

You will want the image you want to be seen through the window to be on top of the other image.

I will be putting a custom shape in to act as my window, but you can use anything to do this effect. A circle works great, or you can create a graphic such as a magnifying glass to use. If you are using a graphic that you created, you can either paste it in from an open Clip Studio file, or use File - Import to place it from a saved file.

Put the frame of your window on a layer above the two image layers and set it as the Reference Layer by clicking on the lighthouse icon in the layer palette, shown in the red square below. 

Now we’re going to make another layer for the inside of the window. Click on the Magic Wand tool and make sure that you are using the “Selection for referred layers” tool. Click inside the window shape to select it. Because we set the window shape to the reference layer, the inside of the window should be selected.

Fill the selection with any color. It really doesn’t matter what color you pick, we just need to tell Clip Studio Paint what the area is that we want to show.

Then move the inside fill layer so that it is below the window shape layer AND the top illustration layer.

Click on the top illustration layer to select it, then right-click it. Go to Layer Settings - Clip to Layer Below.

Now the top illustration will only show on the window fill layer, since that’s the layer below it!

Select the Window Shape and Window Fill layers by holding down Ctrl and clicking each one.

Now you can use the Move Layer tool to move the magic window around to see the hidden illustration!

The video below shows the effect in action.

Conclusion

This effect involves very simple techniques that can be applied in so many situations, which is something that I love about these trends! They make you think creatively about how you can take that trend and do something new in a program you may have used for years.

For more information on CLIP Studio Paint, please visit https://www.clipstudio.net/en or https://graphixly.com