clone stamp question

[Guest nazcaLine]

there's something i never understood about the clone stamp tool in photoshop. how do you define the exactly the area to clone??? i define a brush size, press alt and pick the area i want to clone. BUT, when i apply it, it always clones a much larger area than i want, so it stamps something i don't want. AND it appears a little cross beside. what does it mean? what is it for?

please help me, it annoys me every time i try to use it.

 

i use photoshop 7.

 

Eduardo

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

when you hold down alt, the cursor changes to a cross hair so you can set the center of where you want to clone. then you let off of alt, and move the mouse to the are where you want the clone to start at. this defines an offset. when you are cloning, the cross comes up, showing you the offset that you defined on the second click. this way, you can follow the edge of something with the cross, and have it appear in the spot where you are cloning.

 

i am going to guess on your brush size problem. the circle defining brush size is represented differently depending on the hardness of the edge of your stroke.

 

make your edge completely hard on your brush, and see if the clone is the same size. now make the edge of your brush soft, without changing the size, and notice how it seems like it cones larger than the area of the circle.

 

what is happening.. if i understand it right, the area of the circle representing your brush size on screen when you have a soft edge brush is at the point where the gradient to fade off of the edge of the brush is at 50%.

 

what, if any, advantage this has, i don't know.

[Guest nazcaLine]

thans trvis

cheers

 

Edu