Repairing areas with the clone stamp tool

The clone stamp tool uses pixels from one area of an image to replace the pixels in another part of the image. Using this tool, you can not only remove unwanted objects from your images, but you can also fill in missing areas in photographs you scan from damaged originals.

You’ll start by filling in the torn corner of the photograph with cloned water from another area of the picture.

1.	Select the clone stamp tool ().
2.	In the tool options bar, open the Brush pop-up palette and select a medium-sized brush with a soft edge, such as Soft Round 21. Then, make sure that the Aligned option is selected.
3.	Move the clone stamp tool pointer to the center of the image so that it is at the same horizontal level as the top edge of the torn corner. Then, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) so that the pointer appears as target cross hairs, and click to start the sample or copy at that part of the image.
4.	Starting at the top edge of the torn corner of the photograph, drag the clone stamp tool over the missing area of the image. Notice the cross hairs to the right of the clone stamp tool and how they follow the brush as you paint. The crosshairs indicate the area of the image that the clone stamp tool is using to paint.
5.	When you finish cloning a small area of the missing corner, release the mouse button. Move the pointer to another area of the missing corner, and start dragging again. Notice that the crosshairs reappear at the original sampling position. This happens because you selected the Aligned option, which resets the crosshairs at that position regardless of the position of the brush. Note When the Aligned option is not selected and you make multiple brush strokes, the crosshairs and the brush maintain the same spatial relationship (distance and direction) that they had when you started your first brush stroke, regardless of the location of the original sample site.
6.	Continue cloning the water until the entire missing corner of the image is filled in with water. If necessary to help make the surface of the water appear to blend in naturally with the rest of the image, you can adjust your cloning by resetting the sample area (as you did in Step 3) and recloning. Or, you can try deselecting the Aligned option and cloning again.
7.	When you are satisfied with the appearance of the water, choose File > Save.