Note: Photoshop tools and menus are used here as examples which may be different from other image editing programs.

The clone stamp tool

The clone stamp tool takes a sample of an area within an image. You can apply this area over another parts of the image. It is simply copying areas of an image and then painting it over another or inside the same image. The cross hairs sets the starting point of the area you like to clone . Use the Clone brush to copy or fix flaws inside the image, for instance, remove dust and scratches. The clone brush requires two separate areas or images. You can clone inside an image ( Raster layers), or between two grayscales or  color images.

 


By using the clone stamp tool, I took a sample of the blue sky and painted over the bird to remove it from the image.

To use the clone stamp tool:

  1. Select the clone stamp tool ().
  2. Choose a brush size from the options bar.
  3. Select blending mode and opacity.

Hints: Select Aligned to copy the entire selected part of the image once for cloning several areas of the image no matter how many times you stop and resume cloning. This is very helpful and speeds up operation when you want to use different sized brushes. Without Aligned selected, the selected area is painted from the original selected area every time you stop and restart cloning.

Aligned

  1. Select "Use All Layers" to sample data from all layers, otherwise samples are taken from the active layer.
  2. Place the pointer on the area of the image you want to copy.  Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the area you wish to copy from.
  3. Drag to paint with the tool.

Using the pattern stamp tool

The pattern stamp tool lets you paint with a pattern. You obviously must have some patterns to choose from. Most image editors include pattern libraries or you can create or download your own patterns.

To use the pattern stamp tool:

  1. Select the pattern stamp tool ().
  2. Choose a brush size from the pop-up palette in the options bar.
  3. Specify a blending mode and opacity.
  4. Choose a pattern from the pop-up palette in the options bar.