Quick Guide to Using the Clone Tool in GIMP

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A complete step-by-step guide to cloning in GIMP for beginners

Co-authored by Megaera Lorenz, PhD

Last Updated: August 23, 2024 Fact Checked

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Cloning from an Image

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Cloning from a Pattern

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Q&A

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Tips

GIMP is a free image editing program which can be downloaded at https://www.gimp.org/. Among the many tools included, the clone tool is quite useful for removing blemishes in certain situations. You can also use it to replicate patterns. In this article, we’ll go over the basics of using the clone tool.

Quick Steps

Open the image you want to edit with the clone tool.
Select the clone tool in your toolbox.
Ctrl-click the area you want to clone.
Click or click and drag on the spot where you want to deposit the cloned pixels.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Cloning from an Image

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Launch the GIMP app, then go to File > Open. Select the image you’re planning to edit, then click Open in the file browser window.
It looks like a stamp. You can either activate it by clicking the icon in the toolbox (a menu of editing tools represented by icons), or by going to Tools > Paint Tools > Clone. You can also just press the letter C on your keyboard.^{[1]
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Adjust the clone tool settings in the toolbar. Once you’ve selected the clone tool, you’ll see a menu of tool options underneath the toolbox. From there, you can adjust the clone tool settings to get the kind of effect you want. For instance:
- Use the Brush menu to adjust the hardness and shape of your clone brush.
- Lower the opacity of the brush for a more subtle and natural effect.
- Change the size of the brush to clone a larger or smaller area.
- Check Sample Merged if you want to sample from all the layers of your image instead of just the active one (if your image has multiple layers).
- If you want multiple clone brush strokes to mesh smoothly together, turn on Aligned mode in the Tool Options menu. Otherwise, they will clash with each other where they overlap.
  - You can also experiment with other alignment settings, such as Registered or Fixed, to achieve different cloning effects.
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-click the part of the image you want to clone. Hold down the CTRL key on the keyboard while using your mouse to click on the area you would like to duplicate. This will select the source of the pixels you want to clone.
- If you skip this step, the clone brush won’t work! You must select an area to clone before you can continue.
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Release Ctrl and click the area you want to cover. After selecting the area you'd like to clone, let go of the CTRL key and click the spot on the image where you want to deposit your cloned pixels. You can click on as many areas as you like and the same cloned image will appear there.
- You can also click and drag to create a long brush stroke using the cloned pixels.
- By default, the brush stroke will start with the selected pixels and then copy more pixels from the area around the pixels you copied.
  - So, for example, if you make a horizontal stroke from left to right, the stroke will contain pixels copied from the area to the right of the original spot that you selected.
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Repeat the process as necessary. You can sample pixels from as many parts of the image as you like.
- To get the best match between your cloned pixels and the area you want to cover, take the sample from as close to the area you’re covering as possible.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Cloning from a Pattern

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1
Open the image where you’d like to clone a pattern. In GIMP, click the File menu and select Open. Select your image and click Open in the file browser.
- You can also start from a new, blank page by going to File > New.
Press C on your keyboard, click the clone tool in your toolbox (it looks like a rubber stamp), or go to Tools > Paint Tools > Clone.
In the Tool Options menu pane, click the dropdown next to Source and select Pattern.
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Choose the pattern you want to clone. Click the pattern tile below the Source header to expand a menu of different patterns. Click the tile with the pattern you want to clone.
- You can also use the tool options menu to change things like the shape, size, and opacity of your clone brush.
- GIMP comes with several pre-supplied patterns, but you can also make your own. Open or create the image you want to use in GIMP, save it with a “.pat” file extension, and put it in either your system’s or GIMP’s Patterns folder.^{[2]
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Paint the pattern onto your image. Unlike when you’re using the clone brush to copy and paste pixels from one part of an image to another, you don’t need to hold down the Ctrl key to select anything when cloning a pattern. Just click and drag your brush to paint!
- The clone brush will automatically “tile” the pattern so it repeats smoothly from one end of the canvas to the other.

Community Q&A

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Question

Have a 'barred' symbol blocking the use of the clone stamp. Why, and how do I remove it?

Community Answer

You probably haven't used Ctrl + click to choose the portion of the original image that you want to clone.

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How do I reduce brush size?

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On the far left panel, under 'tool options' there should be a box that says "Size." Use the arrows or put in a size yourself to change the size.

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Having used the clone tool, how do I deactivate it, or any tool?

Isa Wren

Community Answer

In Gimp, you can't actually "deactivate" tools. Instead, as you first go into Gimp you will notice it is already automatically on the zoom tool (represented by a magnifying glass). That is the default tool on Gimp. To return to the zoom tool, simply click on it, or hold Ctrl and scroll up and down to view your image closer or further away. You can do this while you are using any tool and it will automatically return to the zoom tool.

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Tips

You can clone pixels from any layer, layer mask, or channel to any other.

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Probably, as you move away from the original source image, you will find that the color of the source area no longer matches the part you are trying to clone over. Try to select the source image as close to possible to the part you want to clone to avoid color mismatches.

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