A game-changer in the world of cloning- the Patch Tool

You may be familiar with the Clone Stamp Tool in Photoshop, but did you know there is a distant cousin just a few tools above?  The Patch Tool is not too far away from the Clone Stamp tool and in many cases, it does a better job of cloning pesky areas.  I typically use the Clone Stamp tool in unison with the Patch Tool and find the combination of the two to be an unstoppable force for cloning difficult distractions.

The Patch Tool may have been a little scary the first time you opened it up.  I don’t blame you for running away as there are several options on the menu that are different from the Clone Stamp tool.  However, these settings are what make the Patch Tool so dominant in your cloning workflow.  In this tutorial, we will dissect the menu bar and look at each tool and how it changes the effects of the Patch Tool.

Before After Patch Tool in Photoshop 2

What we will discuss in today’s tutorial:

  1. When to use “Normal” and “Content Aware” modes in the tool menu.
  2. What is the difference between Source and Destination?
  3. How does structure affect the Patch Tool when using the Content-Aware mode?
  4. How the Patch Tool can be used to effectively clean up distractions in your photographs.
  5. The importance of duplicating your background layer rather than sampling layers.
  6. How to use any selection tool or method to modify the Patch Tool.

Download the RAW File to Practice 

Blake Rudis
f.64 Academy and f.64 Elite are the brainchildren of Blake Rudis. While he is a landscape photographer, he is most passionate about post-processing images in Photoshop and mentoring others.

For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
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