Touching Up/Cloning Photos
Programs Used: Photoshop 6
Skill Level: Intermediate

This tutorial does not really have set a step-by-step procedure, but is more of an overview of what you should be looking out for. It requires initiative more than technique.

The first part of this tutorial will describe the usage of the clone stamp tool on cleaning areas of a picture, and the second part will describe a technique to attach an area of a body that has been cut from the picture.

PART A: Touching Up
Copy the following picture into Photoshop:

We wish to remove the tattoo on her ankle so that it is just an even skin tone like the rest of her leg. First select the clone stamp tool (or press S) .

Now zoom into the tattoo to 500% and select a suitable brush. I have selected a soft brush of size 13. A soft-edge brush is used as the skin has to look blended and smooth. A hard-edge brush will be used later for more precise cloning when we recreate a part of her body. -

To begin cloning, Alt-click an area of skin near the tattoo, and to apply, click normally over the tattoo. Use this technique to go back and forth between the source (clear skin) and the destination (tattoo).

As the direction of the leg is vertical, it is best to clone the part of skin right above the tattoo, and not to the left or right of it as to retain the same brightness.

Keep on the same vertical path of the leg and keep to the skin that is closest to the tattoo, as to keep a similar tone. If need be, zoom in more and apply a smaller sized brush to the little parts left over. This is a trial-and-error process and you may find yourself going backwards in history, to use a better source. Here is my final zoomed in cloned section:

Here is my final product zoomed out:


PART B: Recreating a Body Part

This next section makes use of the above technique but mainly makes use of a good eye. I will not be using an example as the degree of variance in which you can apply this technique varies immensely. The variables include:

1. If you have many different pictures of the same person to source from,
2. Size of the area,
3. Complexity of the area (eg. an elbow will be harder to recreate than the length of an arm),
4. Amount of detail in the area,
5. Color of the source clone.

Here are some tips for each variable:

1. This variable makes the cloning easier. Using a hard-edge brush, you can re-add the side of a leg, or corner of an elbow from another source picture. You may have to rotate it, or alter its color balance and brightness/contrast. Once added, the line that joins the two areas should be cleaned up using the above touching up technique.
2. The larger the area, the harder it is to recreate, obviously, as there is more of an area to make up. The best way is to just recreate it a bit at a time, slowly rebuilding the area.
3. A good amount of source images (1) and the size of the area (2) affect the easiness of this.
4. Using a smaller brush and zooming in more will help you work a more detailed area. Once again, point 1 and point 2 will help.
5. A similar color is easier to fit in. However, if the newly cloned area is noticeably off color, then cloning it on a new layer above the picture is advisable. Then you are able to control its color balance and brightness/contrast accordingly. When a similar color is obtained, merge down the layer, then use a soft-edge brush to the area.

There are many situations when you will need to recreate a part of a person. Say there is a branch from a nearby tree covering part of an arm, or the actual photo has been cropped so that part of an elbow has been cut off, or part of the top of their head. It may not even be a person! It could be anything else.

Use your intiative and keep out a good eye for similar areas that you can use to clone and stamp. Good luck!

BlueDesignStudios