Clone Tool

[arkitekt878]

I've never been able to use the Clone tool properly in PSP so I'm hoping someone can help with settings



You can see that the cloning is blotchy and just isn't right....any help would be appreciated.

[WilsonC]

It looks like you've copied the same patch over and over. If I were you, I would zoom in pretty close so you can select a sample close to what you want to remove. And then make sure you sample several different times so that you don't get repeating patterns. Setting the "Aligned" mode should help (I only uncheck this when I'm working on a very small area with only a small available sample...like brightening and repairing the small white edges of an older faded photograph). In my opinion...it's not so much the settings that you need to find, but maybe a slight change in technique. Use the smallest brush that will cover your object. Select different samples often. If you mess up hit the undo button. Use an empty layer to clone on with the "Use All Layers" setting enabled in the tool.....that way the original is preserved if you don't like what you've done. Don't try to rush it. Hopefully that will be some help to you!

[brucet]

I agree. I think you need to work on technique as much as settings.
Try using as small a tool size as you can get away with. Keep changing your source frequently to avoid repeating a pattern. Once you have covered your area go back over it with your 'Hardness' set way low and 'Opacity' also set way low. This will help soften up any obvious cloning paterns. I also recommend setting 'Steps' way down to 1.

The practice practice practice.
Good luck.

[Ken Berry]

A pretty quick (and admittedly thus imperfect) application of some of the suggestions made by brucet:

[wds937]

While the background in this picture is a little less suited to this, I often find the scratch remover tool useful for removing such things as power lines. Use the scratch remover to get rid of a segment of the power line, then smooth over the edges with the clone tool and/or the soften brush.

For areas where there is a patterned background, such as the roof in your picture, you may also try copying a portion of the patterned area to the clipboard, selecting the area where the power line is, then pasting into the selection. The better you match the size and edges of the copied and selected areas, the better the result will look.

As others have suggested here, practice and some tolerance for trial-and-error will be needed.

[arkitekt878]

Surely sampling once is enough. As I move the clone tool across the line the sample point moves with it. So I would have thought that getting close to the line, taking a sample and then moving along should work. Or maybe I'm reading the situation totally wrong. However as you say practice makes perfect but I honestly have to say I never had this much trouble with, dare I say it, Photoshop.

[WilsonC]

Surely sampling once is enough. As I move the clone tool across the line the sample point moves with it. So I would have thought that getting close to the line, taking a sample and then moving along should work. Or maybe I'm reading the situation totally wrong. However as you say practice makes perfect but I honestly have to say I never had this much trouble with, dare I say it, Photoshop.

For me, the experience between Photoshop's clone tool and PSP's is nearly identical. Although, PSP is a bit faster just from different hotkeys (changing brush size and sample selection is much much faster in PSP). Some images (and portions of images) are harder to clone than others. If you are having a hard time doing what you want in PSP, open it up in Photoshop and see if you can do what you want with it. If you can't do it there, then perhaps the image is too much work to correct. I've rarely come across an image like this....it just depends on how much time and effort you want to put into it, and if the fix is worth it to you! In the end, they are just tools that are available for you to use. And it seems that no matter how long you've been into photo editing, and how much you know....there is always something more to learn (new tricks and techniques).

Sometimes sampling once is enough. But usually more is better. From the image you posted it appears that you sampled below the line and continued to move up in subsequent passes (could be the other way around). The problem with that is you are duplicating image data over and over again each time you move up, creating repeating patterns.

I agree with all suggestions in this thread. Give them a shot next time and see if it helps!

[WilsonC]

A pretty quick (and admittedly thus imperfect) application of some of the suggestions made by brucet:

Good job Ken!

[arkitekt878]

Multiple passes with the scratch tool first seems to give better results. I accept that practice makes perfect and maybe that's what I need to do. I need to find something that helps me more with the relationship between hardness, step, density, opacity, thickness and blend mode because that's where I seem to be getting it wrong.

Thanks for your suggestions and thanks to Ken I know it can be done. I just have to spend time on it.

[brucet]

I often need to do very fine cloning with reflections on the sides of cars.
I find that mutiple passes with the Hardness set way down low to almost it's minimum. Opacity way down to just 1 or 2. Steps on 1. Sometimes the Density can be dropped way down as well but I'm not a great fan of Density. It can leave you with rather ordinary results.

Then simply repeat many passes and keep changing the Source. (Try to keep the Source as close as possible to the Target. This will Clone in material that is similar to what you are replacing). This will take a while but it will give you much more control over the results.

[teknisyan]

Just like the others said. It's not a matter of settings but a matter of technique.