CHAPTER 10 HOW DIGITAL RETOUCHING RESCUES FAMILY HEIRLOOMS^165
However, two other tools found in photo editing soft-
ware produce different results: the Cloning and Healing
brushes. These tools don’t simply cover the photograph
wherever they paste. Instead, they use different method-
ologies to mix the new material with the old, so that the
new retains elements of the area it is covering up. More
advanced photo editing software lets you clone specific
qualities from one part of a photo, such as the colors,
without including other elements, such as the patterns.
Both tools also use feathering, a common feature in
photo editing software that smoothes the boundary of
the patch so there is a gradual transition between new
and old materials.4
Even when you look very
closely, it’s tough to see where
the new material has been
pasted. But these are relatively
minor repairs. In the next illus-
tration, you see how these and
other tools can restore an
almost hopeless photographic
heirloom.5