How To Use The Patch Tool In Photoshop

The Patch tool helps eliminate pesky spots and marks on photos.

Read on to discover out where to find the Patch tool in Photoshop, and how to utilize it!

Person using the Photoshop patch tool on a laptop

Where to Find The Patch Tool in Photoshop

You can notice the Patch tool on the left-hand side carte. The shortcut cardinal for the patch tool on both Windows and Mac Bone is J.

If you can't run into it, check to run into if it's hidden in the modest drop-downwards menu when you click on the Healing Brush.

Screenshot of Photoshop interface with the Patch Tool highlighted in yellow.

How to Use the Patch Tool in Photoshop to Tidy Up Images

Yous have a cute photo taken at the correct moment… simply there's a water spot visible which has y'all tearing your pilus out.

The good news is you can remove information technology in a jiffy with the patch tool Photoshop. And this is also quite a bit cheaper than replacing your hair.

You lot can besides clean upward other forms of distractions with the Patch tool. These include stray grass, stones, wayward clouds, and graffiti.

My photographic vice is forgetting to make clean the lens properly when I'thousand in a rush. The patch tool comes in handy for those annoying dust spots besides.

Furthermore, you can use the Patch tool to remove larger areas that are distracting from your otherwise excellent image.

At present let's go through all the steps on how to utilise patch tool in Photoshop.

Footstep one: Open the Photograph

For this article, I decided to tidy up a photograph of a reflection of the 'Forest For Trees' sculpture past Regan Gentry.

I'll prove you lot how to tidy up a scene in Photoshop CC 2020 using a Windows PC. If you lot're using a version of Photoshop earlier than Photoshop CS6, and then this method might not work for you.

I open the RAW photograph in Photoshop and click on the Patch tool. I as well click on 'Content-Enlightened' on the top menu.

A stunning photo of artwork and architecture reflected in a puddle, perfected by using Photoshop patch tool

A screenshot showing where is the patch tool in photoshop

Step 2: Select the Area You lot Desire to Remove

I 'draw' effectually the stone I desire to remove past clicking and dragging around information technology. Marching ants (dotted lines) appear once I make the selection.

Screenshot of selecting a small area to remove in Photoshop

Step 3: Clear the Infinite

I click in the eye of the shape I drew and drag the cursor across to a nearby clear area.

You tin encounter that the original shape is now 'filled' with similar content from the new surface area. The stone is gone.

To get rid of the marching ants, I click Ctrl+D (Cmd+D).

Screenshot of selecting a small area of a landscape photo to remove in photoshop

I repeat this process in most 10 different areas of the photograph.

The finished consequence is a clearer pool reflecting the surroundings with fewer distractions.

Before and after using the patch tool on photoshop

How to Use the Patch Tool to Replicate an Object

Another fashion to use the patch tool in Photoshop is to replicate part of a photo.

You can see my example below of giving a native New Zealand Pīwakawaka (fantail) a twin.

Step 1: Open the Photograph and Create a Layer

I open my RAW photograph in Photoshop. On the lower correct carte of my PC, I duplicate this paradigm by right-clicking on the Layer and selecting 'Duplicate.'

Now I accept 2 identical layers.

A screenshot of opening a raw photograph in Photoshop before using the patch tool

Step 2: Re-create the Shape

I click on the Patch tool and brand certain that the Content-Aware option in the peak carte du jour is selected.

This time, instead of drawing around something I want to remove, I draw a shape where I want to copy the Pīwakawaka.

I click in the middle of the 'empty' shape that I created and drag information technology to the Pīwakawaka I want to copy.

I'grand working with two identical layers. So I however have another Pīwakawaka flying underneath the one I dragged across.

A screenshot of selecting parts of an image with Photoshop patch-tool

Step 3: Move the Shape

Seeing two identical Pīwakawaka flying in the same formation at the same time is not particularly natural. So I decided to plough one around.

Before I clear the marching ants (Ctrl+D or Cmd+D), I click Ctrl+T (Cmd+T) to use the Transform tool. Doing so enables me to motility around the shape and adjust the size.

What I just did is something you demand to consider with nature photography all the fourth dimension. Verbal copies of plants and animals look abnormal.

Then if you want a more natural expect, adjust the size and direction of your replica. If yous're after a artistic and conspicuously 'fake' repeated pattern, and so go for that replica!

A screenshot of moving shapes by using the Photoshop patch-tool

Footstep 4: Concluding Touches

Sometimes the original area directly around the shape I moved doesn't quite alloy with the surround.

The black tones directly effectually the Pīwakawaka hither are a bit too dense.

Usually, I use the Spot Healing tool to tidy up these areas. But the Healing Brush tin can be merely equally constructive.

A screenshot of moving shapes in Photoshop

Before and after moving part of an image with the patch tool in Photoshop

Determination

Like all mail service-production techniques, using the patch tool becomes more manageable (and faster) with practice.

Experiment with different photographs and scenes to come across what works best for yous—the more mistakes y'all make to learn from, the amend!

Similar all postal service-production techniques, less is more than. Sometimes imperfections in a photograph aid to tell the total story. Just because you can employ the Patch tool, doesn't always hateful you should. Stick to using it for small areas as a manner to heighten your photographs.

To larn the best editing techniques, check out our course – Effortless Editing with Lightroom!