Retouching Tools

The Retouching Tools are four tools that can be used for retouching away image defects. They include these functions:

• Smart Healing;
• Healing Brush;
• Clone Stamp;
• Structure Cloning.

Smart Healing

Allows retouching a spot by simply drawing around an area, with the surroundings automatically serving as the source for filling. After drawing a closed stroke, the area fills itself. The tool is suitable for example for removing unwanted objects from a photo.

Healing Brush

Use this to transfer the structure surrounding a source point to a target point. At the target point, the colors of the background will be harmonized to make the effect look natural. This tool is useful for example when retouching away skin defects.

Clone Stamp

This transfers the color and structure surrounding a source point to a target point. This tool is useful for example when removing electrical wires from a picture.

Structure Cloning

This transfers the structure surrounding a source point to a target point, but it does not harmonize the background colors.

For the functions Healing Brush, Clone Stamp and Structure Cloning, you can either set the source region manually or leave it up to the program to set it automatically using its algorithm.  If the Seek Source Region Automatically option is active, you do not need to look for a source region manually; the program will find it automatically. That means you just need to click in the parts of the picture where you want to make changes.

If this option is inactive, the source region must be set manually—by holding down Ctrl and clicking in the picture to set the spot from which the program will take the source point. Then let go of Ctrl and click to set the region to which the information will be transferred from the source. You can also activate manual mode temporarily even when automatic mode is on. To do this, hold down Ctrl.

After a tool has been used, two rings ("tool handles") connected by a line are displayed in the picture. One handle represents the source region, while the other represents the target region. The source region can be moved to a different place; to do this, click and drag it with the mouse. This lets you change the source region after you have started working with a tool. The target region cannot be moved unless you click on Enable the Moving of Destination Points in the Mask display menu.

Each individual click or drag is represented by a separate handle. Every tool handle can be clicked at any time and deleted by pressing Delete or right-clicking.

The Mask Display has options for setting under what conditions tool handles will be displayed:

• Show tool handles always
• Show tool handles on hover

With normal settings, each left-click starts a new brush stroke ; to change this, switch into Add Brush Stroke or ORemove Brush Stroke mode. lze upravovat aktuální tah štětce. To turn these modes on temporarily, use [Shift] or [Alt]. The brush parameters can be forced to be the same in both modes, or allowed to be different – to change this, use Shared Brush Settings.

After choosing a mask, use the slider here to set its intensity in the range from 0 to 100 percent.

The controls of the Smart Healing function differ from the other three functions.

The function does not support adding or removing brush strokes. Because the algorithm does not draw from a specific source point but generally from the surroundings of the selected area, after using the tool two circles connected by an arrow are not displayed – only a single circle is shown, which cannot be moved with the mouse.

The Mask area inside outline option allows you to circle the area to be retouched. Using the Regenerate button, a new retouch result can be obtained for the same area. In the Settings of the selected stroke section, the Diameter slider can be used to adjust the brush size of an already created stroke – however, this is only possible if the area was selected with a simple click and not with a brush stroke.