Apr 27 2009
Photoshop Quick Tip 8– On-target Cloning
Photoshop’s Clone tool works on a two part process. First you tell Photoshop what area you are going to use as source material for cloning. Then, when you are actually cloning, you tell Photoshop, by painting, where you want that source material cloned.
To get "down to the pixel" accuracy when cloning one area to another, choose the Clone Tool (S) and hold down the Option key. This will turn your cursor into crosshairs and afford you greater accuracy in pinpointing the exact pixel from which you would like begin cloning. Click with the Clone Tool’s crosshair cursor to specify your source point. Once you have done that, release the Option key.
Now you will notice that, when you released the Option key, you went from pinpoint accuracy to the vague area within the perimeter of chosen brush; your cursor changed into an outline of the brush you currently have selected for the Clone Tool. Not very useful for accuracy!
To fix this, we can do one of several things:
- Go to the Preferences (Command-K) and choose Display & Cursors from the top pulldown menu (or hit Command-3). From here you can choose "Precise" which will make all cursors that had formerly been displayed as the outline of the currently selected brush change to a crosshair by default.
- Adobe Photoshop CS2, you can go to the Preferences (Command-K) and choose Display & Cursors from the top pulldown menu (or hit Command-3) and leave the cursor as the brush outline, but add to that by checking the box beside Show Crosshair in Brush Tip. The best of both worlds in one cursor.
- To give yourself a crosshair cursor only when you need it, activate the Caps Lock key on your keyboard and deactivate it when you no longer need the crosshair.
- Finally, you can simply keep the Option key held down while you target where you want to lay down the cloned information and release the Option key only when the cursor is directly over that desired spot. This is the way I have accurately cloned imagery for years. The trick is to keep the mouse still between releasing the Option key and pushing down the mouse button to start Clone Stamping.
