How does clone stamp work in photoshop

Scale or rotate the sample source. Select the Clone Stamp or Healing Brush tool and set one or more source samples. In the Clone Source panel, select a clone source and then do any of the following:. To scale the sample source, enter a percentage value for W width or H height or scrub W or H. The default is to constrain proportions.

To adjust the dimensions independently or restore the constrain option, click the Maintain Aspect Ratio button. To rotate the sample source, enter a degree value or scrub the Rotate The Clone Source icon. To reset the sample source to its original size and orientation, click the Reset Transform button. Adjust the sample source overlay options. In the Clone Source panel, select Show Overlay and do any of the following:.

To hide the overlay while you apply the paint strokes, select Auto Hide. To clip the overlay to the brush size, enable the Clipped option. To set the opacity of the overlay, enter a percentage value in the Opacity text box. To invert the colors in the overlay, select Invert. Specify the clone source offset.

In the Clone Source panel, select the source you want to use and enter the x and y pixel values for the Offset option. Retouch with the Healing Brush tool. Select the Healing Brush tool. Set the sampling point by positioning the pointer over an area of the image and Alt-clicking Windows or Option-clicking Mac OS.

Optional In the Clone Source panel, click a clone source button to select the sampled source you want. Drag in the image. The sampled pixels are melded with the existing pixels each time you release the mouse button. Retouch with the Spot Healing Brush tool. Select the Spot Healing Brush tool from the toolbox. If necessary, click either the Healing Brush tool, Patch tool, or Red Eye tool to show the hidden tools and make your selection.

Choose a brush size in the options bar. A brush that is slightly larger than the area you want to fix works best so that you can cover the entire area with one click. Optional Choose a blending mode from the Mode menu in the options bar. Choose a Type option in the options bar:.

Uses pixels around the edge of the selection to find an area to use as a patch. Select Sample All Layers in the options bar to sample data from all visible layers.

Deselect Sample All Layers to sample only from the active layer. Click the area you want to fix, or click and drag to smooth over imperfections in a larger area. Video Retouching cars in Photoshop. Learn how to retouch images of cars in Photoshop. Scott Kelby. Patch an area. When repairing with pixels from the image, select a small area to produce the best result. Repair an area using sampled pixels. Select the Patch tool. Do one of the following:. Drag in the image to select the area you want to repair, and select Source in the options bar.

Drag in the image to select the area from which you want to sample, and select Destination in the options bar.

You can also make a selection prior to selecting the Patch tool. To adjust the selection, do one of the following:. Shift-drag in the image to add to the existing selection.

To extract texture with a transparent background from the sampled area, select Transparent. Deselect this option if you want to fully replace the target area with the sampled area. Position the pointer inside the selection, and do one of the following:. If Source is selected in the options bar, drag the selection border to the area from which you want to sample. When you release the mouse button, the originally selected area is patched with the sampled pixels.

If Destination is selected in the options bar, drag the selection border to the area you want to patch. When you release the mouse button, the newly selected area is patched with the sampled pixels. The difference with other Photoshop tools is that you have full control. Read on to learn the basics of the clone stamp tool. You can find the clone stamp in the tool bar on the left hand side.

Imperfections or distractions could mess up a great fashion or publicity photo. Luckily, removing them with the clone stamp tool is easy.

The clone stamp can remove anything from wires, dust spots, unwanted hair, and even people. It does this by cloning pixels from another part of the photo.

Open the photo you want to clean up and zoom in on the area you want to work with. Click on the clone stamp tool in the tool bar on the left. Always duplicate the background layer before you start working. This way, you can always go back to the original photo. Pick a soft brush. Set the size of the clone stamp so it will cover the object you want to remove.

It takes some practice to know how hard and big your brush should be. A good setting to start is a medium soft brush to achieve smooth edges. Move the cursor to the area you want to take pixels from. In this case I need sand. Use Alt-click to confirm your source pixels.

The cursor will change into crosshairs. Simply open the Brush panel, then adjust the Hardness slider:. Now, hardness determines the extent to which your cloning will blend in with the surrounding pixels. It will help you seamlessly blend in your effect. There will be times, however, where you are working near a defined edge, in which case you should increase the hardness.

Do your cloning before making adjustments via adjustment layers to contrast, color, etc. So what do you do? Most of the time, your pictures will have some easy items to clone out — along with some harder items. Clone out the easy items first, such as small blemishes on a portrait subject, dirt in a landscape, trash in a street scene, etc.

For one, this will give you confidence in your Clone Stamp tool abilities always a good thing! Plus, removing unnecessary items will help when the time comes to make hard changes. How will it help? When using the Clone Stamp tool, the cleaner the space you have from which you can draw pixels, the better. There is an easy way to avoid patterns: as you clone, frequently choose a new source point. Sample from one area and clone one part of your image, then sample from another area and clone another part, and so on.

A key to the successful use of the Clone Stamp tool is making all the lines in your picture match. Even slight deviations from the correct lines will look fake and destroy the effect you are trying to achieve.

In an urban context, follow lines on buildings such as roof edges, doorways, and brickwork. Let the rest of the pixels fall where they may. Afterward, if you need to go back over other areas, you can do so.

As previously mentioned, a dead giveaway of the Clone Stamp tool is repetition. If you draw pixels from an immediately adjacent area, you risk the viewer noticing the repetition. So take the pixels from somewhere else in the image instead. Inadvertently creating a pattern is an easy trap to fall into when using adjacent areas, but at the same time, using non-adjacent areas can be tricky.