Cloning content in video and animation frames (Photoshop Extended)



In Photoshop Extended, you can use the Clone Stamp and Healing Brush tools to retouch or duplicate objects in video or animation frames. Use the Clone Stamp to sample content from one part of a frame (the source) and paint it over another part of the same or different frame (the target). You can also use a separate document as the sampling source, instead of a frame. The Healing Brush includes options for blending the sampled content with the target frame.

Note: You can also clone content with the Spot Healing Brush and the Patch tools. However, the Clone Stamp and the Healing Brush tools let you store up to five samples in the Clone Source panel, and set overlay, scaling, and frame offset options.

After you sample content from a frame and paint with it, and then move to another frame, the source frame changes relative to the frame you initially sampled from. You can lock in the source frame you first sampled, or enter a frame offset value to change the source to a different frame, relative to the frame you first sampled.

For a video on cloning, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0025.

Clone video or animation content

  1. Select the Clone Stamp tool  or Healing Brush tool , and then set the tool options you want.
  2. Do one of the following:

    • Select a video layer in the Layers panel or Animation panel, and then move the current-time indicator to the frame you want to sample.

    • Open the image you want to sample.

  3. Position the pointer in an open image or frame, and Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) to set the sampling point.
  4. To set additional sampling points, click each clone source button  in the Clone Source panel.
  5. Select the target video layer and move the current-time indicator to the frame you want to paint.
    If you want to paint on a separate layer, you can add a blank video layer. Make sure you choose the appropriate Sample option to clone content onto the blank video layer.
  6. If you have set multiple sampling points, select the source you want to use in the Clone Source panel.
  7. Do any of the following in the Clone Source panel:

    • To scale or rotate the source that you’re cloning, enter a value for W (width) or H (height), or the rotation in degrees .

    • To show an overlay of the source that you’re cloning, select Show Overlay and specify the overlay options. (The Clipped option restricts the overlay to the brush size. Deselect this option to overlay the entire source image.)

      To move the source overlay to an offset position, Shift + Alt-drag (Windows) or Shift + Option-drag (Mac OS). To temporarily show overlays, deselect Show Overlay, and press Shift + Alt (Windows) or Shift + Option (Mac OS).
  8. Drag over the area of the frame you want to paint.

    Painting on a video layer is nondestructive. You can choose the Restore Frame or Restore All Frames command to discard the altered pixels on a specific frame or video layer.

Change frame offset for cloning or healing

 In the Clone Source panel:

  • To always paint using the same frame you initially sampled from, select Lock Frame.

  • To paint using a frame relative to the frame you initially sampled from, enter the number of frames in the Frame Offset box. If the frame you want to use is after the frame you initially sampled, enter a positive value. If the frame you want to use is before the frame you initially sampled, enter a negative value.