How to Use the Clone Stamp Tool in Adobe Photoshop
Posted on 18th June 2023
The Clone Stamp tool is one of the most essential tools in Adobe Photoshop for both beginners and experts alike. It allows you to “stamp” a certain area of an image with another area of the image, which is perfect for removing objects, fixing imperfections, or even just copying a certain area.
In this article, we’ll show you how to use the Clone Stamp tool, step by step, so that you can start using it in your own projects right away!
Step 1: Select the Clone Stamp Tool
The first step is to select the Clone Stamp tool from the Photoshop toolbar. You can do this by clicking on the tool icon, or by pressing the letter “S” on your keyboard.
Step 2: Choose a Brush Size
Now that you have the Clone Stamp tool selected, you need to choose a brush size. You can do this by clicking on the brush size drop-down menu in the options bar, or by pressing the left and right bracket keys on your keyboard to decrease or increase the brush size.
Step 3: Set the Opacity
The next step is to set the opacity of the Clone Stamp tool. You can do this by clicking on the opacity drop-down menu in the options bar, or by pressing the numbers 1-9 on your keyboard. The lower the number, the more transparent the tool will be, so you can use this to your advantage to build up the effect gradually.
Step 4: Choose a Sample Point
Now it’s time to choose a sample point. This is the point from which the Clone Stamp tool will take its information. To do this, simply click on the area of the image that you want to use as a sample.
Step 5: Clone the Sample
Once you have a sample point chosen, you can start cloning! To do this, simply click and drag the Clone Stamp tool over the area of the image that you want to clone. As you do this, you’ll see the sample point being “stamped” over the area.
Step 6: Deselect the Clone Stamp Tool
When you’re finished cloning, you need to deselect the Clone Stamp tool. You can do this by clicking on the tool icon again, or by pressing the letter “S” on your keyboard.
Assuming you have an image open in Photoshop:
1. Select the Clone Stamp tool from the Tools palette, or press S.
2. Adjust the brush size and hardness as desired.
3. Set the mode to Normal and the opacity to 100%.
4. Optionally, check the Aligned checkbox to enable continuous sampling. With this option enabled, the source point is sampled only once per stroke. If you paint over an area multiple times, the source point doesn’t move, which can give your cloned area a more natural look.
5. Optionally, check the Use All Layers checkbox to clone from all visible layers. This option is only available if the image has multiple layers.
6. Press Option (Mac OS) or Alt (Windows) and click the area you want to clone. This defines the source point.
7. Release the Option or Alt key, and then click and drag to paint the cloned area.
If you’re using a pressure-sensitive tablet, you can vary the opacity, size, and hardness of the brush tip by how hard you press on the tablet with the pen.
How to Use the Clone Stamp Tool in Adobe Photoshop
The Clone Stamp tool is one of the most essential tools in Photoshop. It allows you to copy pixels from one location to another, which is perfect for repairing damaged areas of an image or removing unwanted objects.
In this article, we’ll show you how to use the Clone Stamp tool and some of its most important features.
To use the Clone Stamp tool, select it from the Toolbox or press S on your keyboard. Then, hover your mouse over the area you want to copy and click. This will set the source point.
Next, move to the area you want to paste the copied pixels and click again. The pixels will be copied from the source point to the destination.
You can also use the Clone Stamp tool to create a textured background. First, select an area of the image with the desired texture. Then, set the clone source and destination to different points on the image.
Keep clicking and dragging the Clone Stamp tool to copy the texture across the entire image.
There are a few things to keep in mind when using the Clone Stamp tool. First, the source point will stay the same until you change it. So, if you want to copy pixels from multiple areas, you’ll need to set the source point each time.
Second, the Clone Stamp tool only copies pixels. It doesn’t move them. So, if you want to move an object to a different location, you’ll need to use the Move tool.
Finally, the Clone Stamp tool works best on images with high contrast. This is because it’s easier to see the pixels you’re copying and pasting.
Now that you know how to use the Clone Stamp tool, try it out on your own images. Experiment with different source and destination points to see what effects you can create.
Now that we have selected our brush size and hardness, we need to set our clone source. To do this, hold down the Alt key (Windows) or Option key (macOS) and click on the area you want to clone. Now release the Alt/Option key and position your cursor over the area you want to retouch. Click and drag your mouse to begin cloning the pixels from your source to your destination.
If you make a mistake, you can always press Alt/Option+Shift and click to reset your clone source.
If you want to change your brush size while you’re cloning, you can press the right or left bracket keys ([ or ]) on your keyboard. Pressing the right bracket key will increase your brush size, while pressing the left bracket key will decrease it.
