Until recently I was unaware of these shortcut keys that can be used with the Clone Stamp tool so I thought it would be worth highlighting them in a short article.
When using the Clone Stamp tool there are various settings you can change via the Clone Source panel (see Figure 1). These include Offset (the position of the resultant cloning), Size and Angle.
Fig 1 - Clone Source panel
Changing these via the following shortcut keys is much easier than flipping back and forth between the image and the Clone Source panel. It can really help with the precision of your cloning because the preview image you see within the Clone Stamp mouse pointer will move, resize or change rotation on the fly.
Hold [Alt/Option]+[Shift] and press the Arrow keys (left, right, up or down) to nudge the position of the clone result. You will see the Offset numbers change if the Clone Source panel is open.
Hold [Alt/Option]+[Shift] and press the Less Than or Greater Than keys ( < or > ) to rotate the position of the clone result. You will see the Angle number change if the Clone Source panel is open.
Hold [Alt/Option]+[Shift] and press the Left Square Bracket or Right Square Bracket keys ( [ or ] ) to scale or resize the clone result. You will see the Width and Height numbers change if the Clone Source panel is open.
To reset all of the above settings to zero, press the Reset icon in the Clone Source panel.
This article was first published in the May 2019 issue of Artists Down Under magazine.