Repairing an Image

Use the Repair tool to remove flaws, such as:

• Skin blemishes
• Telephone wires and other unwanted objects
• Flash flares from snowflakes or windows
• Lens scratches and water drops
• Shadows cast on the sensor by dust

There are three options available for the Repair tool: the Heal brush, the Blended Cloning tool, and the Clone brush.

When selecting the Heal brush, it copies pixels from one area of a photo to another, but analyzes the pixels in the source area before copying them. The Heal brush also analyzes the pixels in the target area, and then blends the pixels of both source and target, to match the surrounding area. This ensures that the lighting and color of the replacement pixels integrate with the surrounding area. The Heal brush works particularly well with photos that involve complicated textures like skin or fur.

When selecting the Clone brush, the tool copies the exact pixels from one area of a photo to another, creating an identical image area. The Clone brush is more effective for photos that have strong, simple textures or uniform colors, as it is more difficult to identify the copied pixels in the finished photo.

When selecting the Blended Clone tool, the Repair tool copies the exact pixels from one area of a photo to another, but analyzes the pixels in the target area and blends them with the copied pixels.

Settings can be set as a preset for future use.

To achieve the best results, perform any geometric operations on the image before using the Heal brush.

To remove flaws from a photo:

1. In the Develop Tools pane, in the Repair tab's Repair group, select one of the following:
   
   • Heal: Copies the pixels from the source area to the target area, and blends pixels into the surrounding image area.
     
   • Clone: Copies the pixels from the source area to the target area.
   • Blended Clone: Copies the pixels from the source area to the target area, then analyzes the pixels in the target area and blends them with the copied pixels.
2. Drag the Nib Width and Feathering sliders as described in the table below.
3. Right-click the image to set a source location. Pixels will be copied from this location and used in the target location.
   
4. Click and drag over the area to cover. If selecting the Heal brush, Gemstone analyzes and replaces the pixels when releasing the mouse button. If selecting the Blended Clone tool, Gemstone analyzes, replaces, and blends the pixels when releasing the mouse button.
5. Do one of the following:
   • Click Done to apply your changes and close the tool.
   • Click Cancel to discard all changes and close the tool.

Scroll to adjust the brush size, or press the Shift key while scrolling to adjust feathering.

For the most accurate preview, zoom the image to 100% while healing or cloning.

Red Eye Reduction and selective adjustments, such as the Develop Brush and gradients, are the only adjustments that cannot be healed or cloned.

Repair Tool Options

Nib Width

Sets the width of the brush. The maximum brush width is relative to the size of your image.

Feathering

Sets the amount to feather on the edge of the brush to prevent sharp transitions between the original and healed part of the photo. Feathering is set as a percentage of the nib width, not as a specific number of pixels. This means that you do not have to adjust the feathering when you reset the Nib Width, as it automatically adjusts to a percentage of the new nib width. This option is not available with the Blended Clone tool.

Right-click a slider to reset to the default value.