Essential Photo Editing:
Clone Brush

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clone brush
The clone brush is the most simple and powerful tool for digital retouching.

This retouching tool can be used to clean up dust spots, pimples, or even remove large areas of the scene.

 


original
clone brush

First you select where you want to copy pixels from: the origin.

Once the origin is set, the clone brush is ready to use. Click and drag to begin: the clone brush will copy pixels from the origin to the target as you paint. See examples for more information.

Step-By-Step: Clone Brush

1. open sample image

2. click on the clone brush icon

3. Set the origin by holding CTRL key and clicking. Then, begin painting with the clone brush - move the mouse around the image while holding down the button

4. experiment with CTRL-click and painting - Try making many copies of an object:

Practical Tips:

Clone Brush types - You can select several sizes of brushes, pick the one that best suits your retouching task. Some brushes have feathered edges, others are sharp

Using transparency - by default the clone brush copies is totally opague, like thick paint. By adjusting the opacity slider, you can set the clone brush to partial transparency - like thin paint. This slow layered technique is helpful when retouching tricky areas.

Blemish/Dust removal - Removing spots from the image is really really easy with the clone brush.

  1. After selecting the clone brush, select a feathered brush size similar the the spot you want to retouch.
  2. Carefully pick the origin - it should be a area nearby the offending spot, with an almost identical skin colour.
  3. After picking the origin, move the mouse over the spot and click once or twice... It will disappear like magic