Using the Rubber Stamp

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If you do a lot of image repair, you'll use this tool often. The Rubber Stamp tool copies one area of an image onto another area. It's frequently used to remove unwanted portions of an image (such as an old boyfriend/girlfriend) or to make repairs, perhaps scratches, blemishes, and so much more. Anywhere you need to make a touch up, the Rubber Stamp can probably do the job. It does take some practice to get the hang of it so that you don't produce noticeable patterns. You'll find that textured areas are the toughest to repair because of distinct patterns. You can remove utility wires from a photo, a car, or other undesirable elements using the Rubber Stamp. The Rubber Stamp tool is indispensable for those of you who work often with bitmap images. To get a feel for how the Rubber Stamp works, do the following:

1. Open any bitmap image.

2. Select the Rubber Stamp tool from the Tools panel.

3. When you determine the size of the stamp, keep in mind it is the sampling area as well as the area you are repairing. If the size is too large you may copy more than you want.

4. Also adjust the edge softness. The higher the setting, the softer the edge.

5. If you want to sample pixels from the composite image, in other words, objects that overlap each other and/or on different layers, select the Use Entire Document option.

6. Now that you finished the settings for the sampling area, you need to set the sampling point. To do this, press the Alt (Option) key and click in the area you want to sample.

7. Before you begin to stamp, you need to choose either Source Aligned or Fixed. Set the Opacity slider to control the amount of paint you are copying. This is especially important when you are working on textures or patterned areas. You'll get a better blend of textures if you paint in a building process.

   Note 

   The Aligned option means that the sampling spot is aligned with the Rubber Stamp tool and will move horizontally and vertically. No matter where you move your cursor the sampling point stays in the same alignment with the cursor. If you uncheck Source Aligned, the sampling point is taken from one spot as you click. You can click anywhere and copy from the same spot. But if you drag, the sample source moves horizontally or vertically in relation to the sample point.

8. Click the area you want to cover with the sampling area. You can also click and drag but be careful of making a distinct pattern. For this reason I usually click when making repairs to a smaller problem area.

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