Page 1 of 2 Few features in Photoshop have as much impact on the world of journalism as the Clone Stamp Tool. Adobe has heard the cry to give this infamous capability new life, to make it easier to add to your army's arsenal of missiles. Turn your favorite politician into a blood-drinking vampire, or otherwise tastefully enhance the truth and beauty of the photographic record. But, let's see how the new stuff helps the plain old user, like you and me.
*NB: Some of these features are only available in CS4 Extended. Check with Adobe for final feature sets in your version.
The first thing to note about the new Clone Stamp (S) is that is has its very own panel. Many of Photoshop CS4's tools now have panels to house extended options. Like other panels, you can rip this one out of the well, leave it laying by itself, or group it with other panels for work flow configuration. Of course, there is also a dropdown menu for a few extra features.
Figure 1 - The Clone Stamp panel in all its glory!
Figure 2 - The menu options.
My favorite new gizmo for the Clone Stamp is the ability to set up to five sources for your cloning. This gives you more control over your retouching, especially because you can work on the same spot with several different sources at your disposal, but then move to a new spot and not lose those same sources. Trust me; this is a biggie for glamour and portrait retouching! You will see exactly why these are cool in a moment, when I show you some of the other nifty stuff. To use these memory dots (the official name is Clone Source Button, but that's boring), you simply click on one dot, then Opt/Alt + Click for your source sample anywhere on your image, and then in your target location just as normal. You can then create another dot, up to five unique samples.
Each dot or location can have its own adjustments, too, as you'll see in a moment.
Figure 3 - Clone source buttons - fill 'er up!!
Keywords
Photoshop CS4 Extended, clone stamp, panel
