How to Use Photoshop’s Clone Stamp Tool

1. Select brush settings.
2. Adjust the Clone Stamp tool’s various settings.
3. Choose your clone source(s).
4. Apply the Clone Stamp tool.

The steps that follow will show you how to use the Clone Stamp tool to remove the kissing couple from the otherwise pristine landscape of the sample image.

 

Step 1: Select Brush Settings

To select a brush, click the tiny arrow to the right of the brush icon in the toolbar. This action opens the brush settings drop-down menu. The drop-down menu contains two settings (Master Diameter and Hardness) as well as various brush tips.

 

The Master Diameter Setting

• To remove minor flaws: If you’re using the clone source to remove flaws such as blemishes, dust spots, and so on, you should choose a brush diameter that’s just a bit larger than the flaw you intend to remove. That way you can sample the clone source from an area right next to the flaw and cover it up with one click.
• To remove large unwanted elements: To remove an entire element from an image with results that look seamless and realistic, you’ll need to sample dozens of different clone sources and then use as small a brush diameter as possible—probably not more than 5–10 pixels or so—to make the changes. For instance, in the sample image, the couple is surrounded by varying textures and colors (snow, reeds, shadows, and so on), so you’ll need to sample pixels at many points all the way around the couple and apply those samples in the proper place to make the couple disappear.

The Hardness Setting

Brush Tips

Step 2: Adjust the Clone Stamp Tool’s Settings

The Mode Setting

The Opacity Setting

The Flow Setting

The Airbrush Setting (On/Off)

In the middle of the Clone Stamp toolbar is the icon for the Airbrush setting . Clicking this icon turns on the brush’s airbrush feature. The airbrush feature makes the brush (and its effects) softer, or more diffused. Think of it as a quick way of setting the brush’s Hardness to a low setting. Though turning on the airbrush won’t actually change the Hardness setting, it will deliver effects similar to using a soft brush. Since you’ll almost always want the effect of using a hard brush when working with the Clone Stamp tool, it’s generally best to keep the Airbrush feature turned off.

 

Aligned

Sample

• If your image contains just one layer: Leave the setting set to Current Layer.
• If your image contains more than one layer: Choose Current Layer to sample only from pixels in the active layer (the layer in which you’re currently working). Choose All Layers to sample from pixels in all of the layers in the image, not just the active layer. Choose Current & Below to sample from pixels in the active layer and from all other layers below the active layer in the Layers palette. Press F7 at any time to open the Layers palette and view a list of all of the layers in your image.

Adjustment Layers (On/Off)

If you’d like the Clone Stamp tool to sample from Adjustment Layers as well as ordinary layers, click the Adjustment Layers icon at the far right end of the Clone Stamp toolbar. If you’re not using Adjustment Layers, or are not familiar with them, just ignore this setting.

 

Step 3: Choose Your Clone Source(s)

1. Zoom in on the area where the pixels that you want to sample are located. To zoom in, press Ctrl+Plus Sign (Command+Plus Sign on a Mac). Usually it’s best to zoom in very closely until you can see the actual pixels that make up the target area. For instance, in the zoomed-in version of the sample image shown here, you can see the pixels along the edge of the couple’s clothing.
    
   
2. Press and hold down the Alt key (the Option key on a Mac). You should see the cursor change to a small target (a crosshairs surrounded by a circle).
    
   
3. With the Alt key (or Option key) still held down, move the mouse to the sampling point, the location of the pixels that you’d like to use as your clone source. If you want to replace a minor flaw, such as a freckle or blemish, choose a sampling point that contains pixels that you think will make a seamless replacement for the flaw. Usually, those pixels are located directly next to (or around) the flaw you’re trying to cover up. But if you’re trying to remove an entire unwanted element, such as the happy couple in the sample image, choose a sampling point in an area of strong contrast between the clone source and the target area. For instance, when zoomed in on the sample image, it’s probably above and to the right of the man’s shoulder, where the man’s jacket contrasts sharply with the brown grass. These types of fixes are the easiest ones to do with the Clone Stamp tool, so as a beginner it’s best to start off easy and work your way to more difficult areas.
    
   
4. Click once on the sampling point and release the Alt key (or Option key). Photoshop stores the clone source, and you can begin pasting it in other parts of the image (as explained in Step 4, below).

How to Store More than One Clone Source

1. Open the Clone Source palette: If the palette isn’t already visible, click Window > Clone Source.
2. Choose a clone source stamp: Along the top of the Clone Source palette you’ll see a horizontal row of five clone source stamp icons . Click the first (leftmost) icon.
    
   
3. Sample and store your clone source: Proceed as you normally would to sample and store the pixels in your clone source—press and hold Alt (or Option), and so on.
4. Repeat: To store another clone source without losing the first one, click any of the four unused clone source stamp icons and repeat step 3 above.

Once you’ve saved more than one clone source in the Clone Source palette, whenever you want to paste pixels from a specific clone source, simply click that source’s stamp icon. Photoshop will load the pixels from that particular clone source into the Clone Stamp tool, and you can then click the image wherever you’d like to apply those sampled pixels, just as you normally would. Note that anytime you close a file—even if you’ve saved it—you’ll lose any existing clone sources that you’ve created.

 

Step 4: Apply the Clone Stamp Tool

• Clicking: Every time you click and release the mouse button, Photoshop will paste in an exact copy of the pixels in the clone source.
• Stroking: If you click and drag with your mouse to apply the clone source pixels, Photoshop will paste in a stroke that contains the same pixels as those that make up the clone source. In other words, it’s as if Photoshop pastes the clone source pixels once and then stretches them out as long as you stroke with the mouse.
   
  

Which Method Should You Use?

• If you’re removing a minor flaw: Use the clicking method. If you’re using a round brush and the clicking method makes the circular boundary of the brush visible, undo your work (Ctrl+Z on a PC or Command+Z on a Mac), lower the brush’s opacity, and try again. If you still see a faint, round, unnatural-looking outline, undo your work, select a brush tip with uneven edges, and try again.
• If you’re removing an entire element: The clicking method will allow for the most precise and convincing fixes, but the stroking method can make the task faster in areas in which one sample can be stretched to cover a significant portion of the image. For instance, in the sample image, you can get away with stroking a sample of the snow in the ground to replace the man’s pant leg, as shown in the image included here. In more detail-rich areas, such as in the background above the woman’s head, you’ll get more convincing results by sampling and then clicking repeatedly to “eat away at” the element you’re trying to remove—sometimes it can take dozens of samples and clicks to replace an entire element. For complex fixes like these, often a combination of clicking and stroking ends up delivering the best results. To help make your fixes look as natural as possible, vary the opacity and shape of your brush tip. Keeping your tip at the same shape and opacity can make your fixes look too obvious. For instance, if you use a round brush tip at 100% to make all of your fixes, you’ll end up with a series of visible round blotches. Varying the opacity and brush shape will help your fixes blend more naturally into the surrounding pixels.

Step 5: Review Your Work

1. Zoom out: Since you’ve most likely been working in a highly zoomed-in view, you should first zoom out to a view that lets you see the image at the size at which you intend to use it. For instance, if you’re working on a photo that you intend to print at 4"× 6", you should view it at 4"× 6" on your screen to see how your fixes look at that size. To zoom out, press Ctrl+Minus Sign (Command+Minus Sign on a Mac) until you arrive at the desired size.
2. Check for problems: Often, fixes that looked great at a very close-up view look too obvious when viewed zoomed out. If you can see any trace of the flaw that you tried to fix, or of the object that you tried to remove, zoom back in and keep working with the Clone Stamp tool to eliminate the problem.