5 Clone Stamp Secrets to Up Your Photoshop Cloning Game
Outline:
Photoshop’s Clone Stamp is the most versatile tool for removing things and fixing blemishes. But there is more to it than just cloning and stamping. In this article, I will feature 5 clone stamp secrets that will change the way you’re using this tool.
Non-destructive cloning
This is the most basic and most important technique for cloning effectively and efficiently: Use the Clone Stamp on its own layer so that it’s non-destructive.
It’s quite surprising that so many people use the Clone Stamp in a destructive way on the actual pixel layer. In this video, Pye Jirsa shows you the right way of using it.
How to make a cloned area blend in perfectly
When you’re using the Clone Stamp tool, you’ll sometimes end up with notable differences in color and tone to the surrounding areas. In this video, Aaron Nace shows you how to fix this and blend your Clone Stamp work in with the background, using the transparency lock feature.
Cloning with the right angle
Cloning becomes especially difficult when you have edges in the area you want to clone over. These will be messed up completely if you don’t pay attention. If the edges are vertical or horizontal and straight, it’s not going to be a big problem. But if you need to clone over curved lines, it’s becoming really difficult.
That’s where this tip from Piximperfect comes in handy. In this video, you will learn how to rotate the Clone Stamp while your working with it to solve this problem.
Cloning with the right perspective
Now, this is where it gets really advanced. Cloning over curved edges is already complicated, but cloning in a way that matches the perspective of the scene is impossible, right?
Wrong! In this video, Glyn Dewis shows you an amazing technique that is hidden in the Vanishing Point filter. In this filter, you can tell Photoshop what the perspective of the image is and then use the included Clone Stamp tool that respects that perspective while you’re cloning. This is amazing!
Cloning out big, complex things
Finally, what do you do if you want to remove large portions of an image and not only some small stuff? In this video, Aaron Nace shows you a technique for using the Clone Stamp tool in this scenario. He uses selections to protect the cloned area and mixes in some other tools and techniques to change large portions of an image in a believable way.
Now it’s your turn…
Do you know some other advanced, secret, magical ways to use the Clone Stamp tool? Did I forget anything or leave anything out? Let me know in the comments below!
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