6 Totally Essential Photoshop Skills Even Your Mom Should Know

Posted 03/11/2009 at 11:00am | by Florence Ion

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Use the Clone Tool

This process can either test your patience or turn out to be a fairly simple task—it really depends on the complexity of the background in your image. In this case, we're going to use the Clone Tool to ensure that we can mask what once was. Copy and paste your photo into a new layer (or right-click and select “Duplicate Layer”). Having two layers means that you can mess one up and still retain the original, in case you run into some trouble and need to start over from scratch.

Original image:

Click on the image to download the original and try out the tutorial for yourself

1.    Select the Pen Tool and trace the main subject of your photo. This is to ensure that the Clone Stamp doesn’t identify the main image as something it should duplicate.

Right click and select “Make Selection”. When the dialogue box appears, make sure there is zero feathering selected, and then press “OK”.

Invert the selection so that everything else is selected except for what you traced. You can do so by going to Select – Inverse or by hitting Ctrl + Shift + I.

2.    Select the Cloning Stamp Tool by pressing S. Scan your image and look for a suitable area to clone. This can be a tricky decision—if you choose the wrong spot, your image will look out of whack. We suggest that you clone certain areas one section at a time.

Hold the Alt key and click your left-mouse button to select a section of your background, and then choose a brush size. Make sure it’s set at Normal and Zero percent hardness, and that it feathers a bit.

3.    Start the cloning process by repeatedly clicking with your mouse over the object you want to remove. It also becomes easier to do so if you zoom into the image. Look for repeating patterns and make sure when you dab with your clone tool that it matches the background—attention to detail is extremely crucial for pulling this off.

When you choose sections, try going horizontally for accuracy.

4.    When you’re finished, and if your endeavor proved successful, delete your duplicated layer and save your image.
This tool also works well at removing scratches out of color photos and objects that seem out of place in a photo, such as a lamp post or a trash can.

Final product:

Finishing Touches—Typing On a Path

What better way to finish off a soiree of Photoshop tutorials than by adding text? Text lets you add witty remarks and character to your image, giving it a sense of completion—or, you could be accidentally generating the next big meme. Either way, here’s a few tips on how to lively up your photos, besides adding thought bubbles or diagonal text. 

You’ll need to create a path for the text to follow; do this by selecting the pen tool and make sure that paths is selected in the options bar towards the top of the window. Go ahead and create yourself a fun little shape. You can pretty much shape it however you like, but make sure it has some sort of fluidity. Otherwise, the text could come out looking a bit awkward and illegible.

You can also type according to the outline of a preloaded Photoshop shape or manipulate the text box so that the end result looks like the shape itself. To do so, make sure you have the pen tool selected and click the shape you’d like for your text box (it can be anything: a square, a circle, a heart, or a custom shape). Make sure that it is selected and then point your cursor inside the box (your cursor will have the text symbol with a circle around it). Click and type. 

Take note of the various cursor states. You can decide on a start-point by dragging the cursor either way—the choice is yours. When you’re finished, you can either click on the outside of the shape selection or click on the check mark on the right side of the options bar, towards the top of the window.

Quick Tip:  You can make your own shapes for the text boxes if you have a very complex graphic. Simply select the pen tool, customize your shape (making sure all open ends are closed), and then right click “Define Custom Shape”. Give it an alias of your choice and accept the changes. It should be available at the end of the custom shapes list.