ptg 278 Chapter 16 Unlike the Clone Stamp tool, which merely copies a source color without blending it into the target area, the three tools discussed next sample a texture, apply it to the target area, and blend the texture into the existing color and brightness values. With these tools, it’s easy to x imperfections such as facial blemishes or paper creases in a vintage photo, and the results are usually seamless. With the Healing Brush tool, you Alt-click/ Option-click to sample from an unblemished area, then apply strokes to repair the blemish. A e blemish pixels are replaced with the sampled pixels. With the Patch tool, you select the blemish area rst, then drag the selection marquee over an unblemished area to sample it. Here again, the blemish pixels are replaced with the sampled ones. And with the Spot Healing Brush tool, you simply stroke over blemishes without sampling. Pixels are replaced almost magically based on data from neighboring pixels. Using the Healing Brush tool To use the Healing Brush tool: 1. Choose the Healing Brush tool (J or Shift-J). 2. Create a new, blank layer. 3. Optional: To conne the repair to a specic area and to prevent the Healing Brush from pick- ing up colors from neighboring areas, create a selection with the Lasso tool. 4. On the Options bar, B do all of the following: Click the Brush picker arrowhead, and choose a high Hardness value. (Also, in Edit/Photoshop > Preferences > Cursors, click Full Size Brush Tip.) Choose Mode: Normal to preserve the grain, texture, and noise of the area surrounding the target; or if you don’t need to preserve those attributes, choose a dierent mode, such as Lighten for subtle retouching or to correct wrinkles or creases that are very close together, to prevent them from cloning onto one another. Click Source: Sampled. Because you will be working on a new, blank layer, from the Sample menu, you should choose A We will soften the crow’s feet around the eyes in this portrait photo. B We chose these Options bar settings for the Healing Brush tool. All Layers to sample pixels from all the layers below the pointer. Check Aligned to maintain the same distance between the source point and the area that you drag across, even if you release the mouse between strokes, or uncheck this option to resample from the original source point each time you release the mouse. If you’re using a stylus and tablet, click the Tablet Pressure Controls Size button and from the Size menu on the Brush Preset picker, choose Pen Pressure or Stylus Wheel. ★ Click the Toggle Clone Source panel button, then check Show Overlay and Clipped on the panel. 5. Press [ or ] to scale the brush to suit the area to be cloned. 6. Alt-click/Option-click an area to sample it as the source texture ( A , next page). e sampled area displays inside the brush cursor. ptg Retouching 279 7. With the new, blank layer still selected, drag across the area to be repaired. B When you release the mouse, the source texture will be applied to the target area and will be blended with neighboring pixels. It will render in two stages, so be patient. C–D 8. To establish a new source point for further repairs, Alt-click/Option-click a dierent area, then apply more strokes (you can change the diameter of the brush tip). 9. Optional: To make the results more subtle, lower the opacity of the new layer slightly to blend it with the original image layer. ➤ To correct mistakes made with the Healing Brush tool, hide the image layers below the new layer that you applied strokes to so you’ll be able to see your strokes more easily, then with the Eraser tool, erase the unwanted strokes. i s i s e a s i e r t h a n s t e p p i n g b a c k t h r o u g h s t a t e s on the History panel. C e a r e a a r o u n d t h e e y e o n t h e r i g h t n o w l o o k s s m o o t h e r . A With the Healing Brush tool, we held down Alt/Option and clicked the area to be used as replacement pixels… B … then dragged across the area to be repaired. Note that the brush tip is separate from the sampling pointer. B r u s h t i p S a m p l i n g p o i n t e r D Our retouching brush strokes are on a separate layer that we named “healing brush.” ptg 280 Chapter 16 C With Darken chosen as its Mode, the tool repaired only the light areas of skin. Now her nose looks less shiny. B Drag once or twice over a hot spot, letting your stroke(s) follow the natural contours of the face. A e H e a l i n g B r u s h t o o l i s a l s o h a n d y f o r r e m o v i n g shiny hot spots from a portrait, which are caused by harsh, uneven lighting. Choose Mode: Darken on the Options bar for the tool, then Alt-click/Option-click to sample a medium-tone area of skin. REMOVING FACIAL HOT SPOTS PUPPET WARP To apply reshaping to areas of an image (perhaps to slim a neck or chin in a portrait), try using the Puppet Warp command (see pages 314–315). ptg Retouching 281 Using the Spot Healing Brush tool Sampling an area correctly for a repair can be dif- cult in tight areas, such as folds of skin, which tend to be close together and have highlights and shadows. With the Spot Healing Brush tool, no sampling is required. It’s an eective blemish and wrinkle remover (and it’s cheaper than Botox!). To use the Spot Healing Brush tool: 1. Do either of the following: Duplicate the Background by pressing Ctrl-J/ Cmd-J, and keep the duplicate layer selected. Create a new, blank layer to contain your correction strokes, and keep it selected. 2. Choose the Spot Healing Brush tool (J or Shift-J), and zoom the document to 100%. 3. In Edit/Photoshop > Preferences > Cursors, under Painting Cursors, click Full Size Brush Tip and check Show Crosshair in Brush Tip. 4. On the Options bar, do the following: Choose a Mode. For preserving skin tones, we’ve achieved good results with Normal and Lighten modes. When used with Replace mode, the tool may pick up unwanted facial details in the stroke, such as hair or eyelashes. To help preserve the existing tonal values, such as in skin tones, click Type: Create Texture. (For the Content-Aware option, see the next three pages.) To allow the brush to sample pixels from all the layers below the pointer, check Sample All Layers (check this option if you created a new, blank layer in step 1), or uncheck this option if you’re working directly on an image layer. 5. Make the brush slightly wider than the area to be repaired (such as a crease) by pressing [ or ], then drag once along it. A–B Repeat to repair other areas. C We’ve found that a small brush produces the most seamless repairs. 6. Optional: To make the results look more subtle, lower the opacity of the new layer slightly to blend it with the original image layer. ➤ If you applied the Spot Healing strokes to a separate layer, you can erase any unwanted strokes from that layer. A With the Spot Healing Brush tool, we’re dragging along a crease. B e c r e a s e s w e d r a g g e d o v e r a r e smoothed out. C e c r e a s e s a r e r e m o v e d . ptg 282 Chapter 16 USING THE CONTENT-AWARE OPTION WITH THE SPOT HEALING BRUSH TOOL ★ In the right scenario, the Spot Healing Brush tool, used with its Content-Aware option, can be quick, easy, and powerful. When used to remove an object from a photo, it works better if the object being removed has small random shapes around it (such as foliage, water, or clouds in a landscape) A–C than if the surrounding area contains isolated, distinct objects. This tool and option also work well for repairing tears or scratches in a vintage photo. A We want to remove the hydrant from this image. C Poof ! To supply the replacement pixels, the Spot Healing Brush tool analyzed and sampled pixels from neighboring areas. is is as easy as retouching gets. B For the Spot Healing Brush tool, we chose a brush Hardness of 100% and Normal mode, and clicked the Content-Aware option. We made the brush a medium size, then with one continuous stroke, we covered the hydrant and its shadow. ptg Retouching 283 A We want to zap the barn from this photo. B For the Spot Healing Brush tool, we chose a brush Hardness of 100% and Normal mode, and clicked the Content-Aware option. We made the brush a medium size, then covered the barn with one continuous stroke. C On this photo, we ran into a glitch: e automatic healing process that the tool performed left behind a red tint from the original object. To see how we were able to apply a successful content-aware repair without healing, see the following page. Continued on the following page USING THE CONTENT-AWARE OPTION FOR THE FILL COMMAND ★ On this page, you’ll see an unsuccessful use of the Content-Aware option with the Spot Healing Brush tool, A–C and on the next page, you’ll see a successful alternative solution ( A–C , next page). ptg 284 Chapter 16 C e c o n t e n t - a w a r e l l s u c c e s s f u l l y removed the barn without leaving behind a reddish tint, because no healing was involved. ➤ To achieve a similar result with the Spot Healing Brush tool, use it with Replace mode chosen and the Content- Aware option clicked on the Options bar. A Via Undo, we removed the Spot Healing Brush edit from the photo so we could try a dif- ferent approach. Our rst step was to create a loose selection of the barn with the Lasso tool. B Next, we chose Edit > Fill. In the dialog, we chose Use: Content-Aware, Mode: Normal, and Opacity: 100%, then clicked OK. . it selected. 2. Choose the Spot Healing Brush tool (J or Shift-J), and zoom the document to 100%. 3. In Edit /Photoshop > Preferences > Cursors, under Painting Cursors, click Full Size. following: Click the Brush picker arrowhead, and choose a high Hardness value. (Also, in Edit /Photoshop > Preferences > Cursors, click Full Size Brush Tip.) Choose Mode: Normal to preserve