The Rubber Stamp tool clones an area of a bitmap image so that you can stamp it elsewhere in the image. Cloning pixels is useful when you want to fix a scratched photograph or remove dust from an image; you can copy a pixel area of a photo and replace the scratch or dust spot with the cloned area.

To clone portions of a bitmap image:

  1. Select the Rubber Stamp tool.
  2. Click an area to designate it as the source, or the area you want to clone.

    The sampling pointer becomes a cross-hair pointer.

    NOTE

    To designate a different area of pixels to clone, you can Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macintosh) another area of pixels to designate it as the source.

  3. Move to a different part of the image and drag the pointer.

    You will see two pointers. The first one, the source of the cloning, is in the shape of a cross hair. For more information, see Editing preferences.

    Depending upon the brush preferences you've selected, the second pointer is a rubber stamp, a cross hair, or a blue circle. As you drag the second pointer, pixels beneath the first pointer are copied and applied to the area beneath the second.

To set Rubber Stamp tool options:

  1. Select the Rubber Stamp tool.
  2. Select from among the following options in the Property inspector:

    Size determines the size of the stamp.

    Edge determines the softness of the stroke (100% is hard; 0% is soft).

    Source Aligned affects the sampling operation. When Source Aligned is selected, the sampling pointer moves vertically and horizontally in alignment with the second. When Source Aligned is deselected, the sample area is fixed, regardless of where you move and click the second pointer.

    Use Entire Document samples from all objects on all layers. When this option is deselected, the Rubber Stamp tool samples from the active object only.

    Opacity determines how much of the background can be seen through the stroke.

    Blend Mode affects how the cloned image affects the background.

To duplicate a pixel selection, do one of the following: