Attention Photoshop Guru's...I need your help!

Chrissy D · Joined: 12 Jan 2006 Posts: 1048 Location: Queensland

I am a photoshop vigin, and am taking an intro class at uni.
We are using photoshop CS3

I am trying to use the cloning tool to clone a transparent area into a solid area. e.g. a sky area see area below

So when I do (look at the + sign and the circle) this is what happens. Everytime I move the tool it picks up an area I don't want and puts it there instead like below. See how the cloned area has got the clouds in places.

This last one shows how uneven the coverage I got.

I have got two photoshop 'help' books on the go with the 'help' menu from the program. I don't understand what I am doing wrong? And why the + sign is sometimes in different places and picks up different areas?

Does anyone know how to use the cloning tool properly and what am I doing wrong?

greenfrog · Joined: 10 Feb 2006 Posts: 795 Location: Fairfield

Im no expert...

Have you changed the brush sizes to see if that makes a difference?

I can't see the first pic, but I think this is what your trying to work out:

When you need to use Alt (or Control, I can never remember) to pick the area you want to 'clone'. If I remember correctly, the cross area you picked, moves the same distance from the circle, so if your cross moves past a cloud, thats what will appear in the circle area...

Or am I not understanding your question?
Which could be very possible...
(note, Im not a photoshop Guru, more a hack... hehe)

gggraph

Hi Chrissy - I am an expert. (Really, I have the T-shirt, and the hat.) Wink

I think Greenfrog's probably set you right: you need to set where you want to clone FROM by clicking and holding down the option key (Mac) or Alt (?? Windows).

It would be worth clicking on the options (towards the top left of your screen: in this screenshot it says Brush: 145) and seeing what the brush hardness is set to. For the clone tool, I would have it set to 0, which gives a nice, blurry edged clone which blends better with the underlying image. This is also where you change the size of the clone brush - ie how much image gets copied at a go.

Cheers

Grant

The Pook · Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 2904 Location: Tasmania

Yes it's the ALT key in Windows.

Put the cursor where you want it to clone TO, then press ALT and click where you want it to clone FROM. The place it clones from will then stay the same distance and direction from the cursor as you move it, so you will need to click ALT again several times most likely.

Chrissy D · Joined: 12 Jan 2006 Posts: 1048 Location: Queensland

I get what you are saying, and I have had a little try again. It is not so bad now because I understand a bit better.

From what I can tell when you hold down the mouse (left-click) and the + sign appears, it is still reading the information when you move. So you have to keep stopping and starting re-clicking on areas you want to clone. Which is a bit annoying. Your eyes have to be looking in two places, not just one

I have had some more play around, I tried the eye dropper colour replacement tool, than I filled the foreground 'behind' and basically it filled using my colour in one solid area. Which is good. A little unrealistic because there is no tonal variation, and there is a distinctive fill line.

Here is the improvement

belle · Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 1016 Location: Newcastle

I probably would have deleted the whole sky. Selected a sky from either the original or somewhere else and "paste into" the selected blank. But I am not an expert!

Chrissy D · Joined: 12 Jan 2006 Posts: 1048 Location: Queensland

Yes Belle that is what I ended up doing in the end as I was not 100% satisfied with it (as I am a perfectionist). But I wanted to know how to do it anyway and doing it again helped.

I will show the end picture when Im done.

Thanks for your help guys! Smile

zaphodity · Joined: 09 Jan 2011 Posts: 6 Location: Perth