How to use the clone stamp tool in Photoshop

There will be times where you have a photograph that is almost ready to use - except for one or two details. It is inevitable that there will be things about a photograph that you don't like and that you want to change. Photoshop makes it easier to get the look you're going for, even if you want to edit a part of the picture out. In this tutorial, we'll look at how to use the clone stamp tool in Photoshop CS4 to remove an unwanted berry.

First, open the picture of the berries in Photoshop. You don't want to override your original picture, in case you want to use it some day, so save it under a different name (such as clone stamp sample) by clicking on File then Save As. The next thing you should do is analyze your picture and look at what you need to change or remove; you can use the zoom tool (the magnifying glass in the Tools panel on the left hand side of the workspace) if you need to. Are there any elements that stick out or detract from the overall composition? In this case, I felt as though the berry on the far right took away from the focus too much, and I wanted to remove it.



Use the zoom tool to zoom in on the stem of the berry. Look for where it is attached, then select the clone stamp tool (it's right under the brush tool) from the Tools panel. Go to the top bar and change the brush size to something like 20 px, then make sure that the brush opacity is set for 100%.



Hold down the ALT button until you see the crosshair appear in the brush circle, then click on an area close to the stem. This will copy those pixels and let you drag the selection over the area you paint, concealing it. The crosshair will move with the brush, selecting new pixels as you go, so make sure you don't select pixels right up on the very edge of the stem. Continue to brush and select new areas along the stem until you've painted over the whole thing.



Do the exact same thing for the rest of the berry. You can make your stamp size larger, but keep in mind that the bigger it is, the more adjacent pixels it will pick up with each selection and movement. Paint along each edge carefully, working your way into the center of the berry. Once you're finished, you can grab the healing brush tool (it looks like a band-aid) and brush over any patterns that stick out to smooth it over.





This was an easier example, but there will be pictures that are more difficult to work with. It takes time and practice to master the use of the clone stamp, but it is a very powerful tool that you should know how to use if you plan on working with Photoshop.

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