Cloning Techniques

Cloning is often used to correct faults in an image. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind while cloning:

Zoom into the photo while cloning to see the details while working, but zoom out from time to time to see the overall effect in the larger photo. This is particularly important while working in large areas of similar tone.
For cloning details, use a clone tool opacity setting of 100% and a small sharp-edged brush. If cloning in an area not far from the source, watch out for areas that look too similar (such as cloning an identical leaf right next to itself). These can be fixed by cloning in small differences. In general, clone in the background first (probably with a softer brush), and then clone the details over the background.
For cloning seams between large areas of similar tone (such as sky) where the main problem is a difference in color, use a clone tool opacity setting of less than 100% (50% is a good starting point) and a large soft-edged brush.
In general, color correct before cloning and sharpen after cloning.

Cloning Out

A common use of cloning is to remove unwanted objects in a photo. The first photo on this page originally had a small insect on the flower that went unnoticed when the photo was shot. Since the photo could not be reshot, the insect was cloned out.

The leftmost photo below is a close up of the original of the image on the right. First, the background area behind the insect was cloned out. In the middle photo, the insect's legs on can still be seen on the foreground objects. In the last photo, those have been cloned out and a few of the edges cleaned up to remove all traces of the insect. This cloning was done with a small soft brush at 100% opacity.

Original Image	Cloned Background	Cloned Foreground

Cloning Seams

A frequent problem in panorama stitching is seams that don't quite match up. Cloning can be used to fix this problem. The photo in this example comes from the panorama tips page.

In the leftmost of the three photos, there is an obvious seam misalignment across the window. This can be fixed by cloning from the original image on the right-hand side of the seam. A point is chosen that will be easy to match in both photos. (In this case, it was the lower-right hand point in the dark decoration over the window.) The point in the original image is set as the source for the clone, and then the same point in used in the merged panorama as initial cloning destination point. In Photoshop Elements, this is done by option-clicking the starting point in the original image and then clicking on the corresponding point in the merged image. This cloning was done with a small soft brush at 100% opacity.

Merged Clone Seam	Original Right Photo	Merged Alignment Fixed

Due to the difference in color between the merged photo and the original, fixing the misalignment has left an area of obvious color difference (the dark line) on the wall on the left side of the window. This can be fixed by cloning with a small, soft brush at 50% opacity. Set the clone source just outside the dark line and clone over the dark line to blend the two colors.

Merged Clone Seam	Merged Alignment Fixed	Merged Color Fixed