Don’t feel as if only new users have this problem. It happens to me all the time and I have to kick myself every time it happens.
Most likely the layer you have selected at the time you use the Clone stamp tool is not the one with the pixels on that you are trying to alter.
All too often I alt click on an adjustment layer instead of a layer with picture information.
Each time the clone stamp tool fails for you, the first place you should check is the layer pallette!! Make sure the layer with the picture details you are changing is highlighted.
If you still can’t figure out what’s what, turn off all the ‘eyeballs’ next to the layers except the one you ‘think’ is the one you are looking at – it may not be.
Another trick is to right click the picture where you are editing and select ‘layer properties’ it should give you the name of the layer that has the pixels you are clicking on.
JP
Thanks for your quick response. I only have the picture itself open..no other layers.
If you’ve used it before and feel that you’re using it properly, you may need to delete the Elements Preference folder. The keyboard shortcut is:
With Elements closed, click on the start up icon and make a quick grab for (Win) the Control, Alt, and Shift keys (Mac) Command, Option, and Shift. Hold all three down until you get a screen asking if you want to delete Settings. Say Yes. You really need to be fast on getting to those keys, some people already have them down when they hit the start up icon.
There was another thread here not long ago in which it was suggested that after you get a clean Preference folder set up with everything the way you want it, make a duplicate of the folder. As long as the folder name includes the word "copy", Elements won’t try to access it. The next time you need to delete Preferences, instead of wiping out all of your settings, you can just delete the bad folder and substitute the "fresh" one – after making another copy of it for use next time.
mj
A few suggestions. Check to see what is you Opacity set for, what Mode are you in and what Size brush you using. Yes and open the layers window just to make doubly sure you are not in a new layer. If all else fails Reset your preferences … on page 33 of the manual. In Windows it is press and hold Alt+Control+Shift immediately after launching Photoshop Elements.
Grant
Something else to try….
If your using a Pen Tablet, it’s possible in the Brush Options that you have it checked so that it’s expecting some Pen Pressure to determine the brush (clone) size. Too light a pressure only draws (clones) one or two pixels which are virtually impossible to see unless your zoomed right in.
Instead of working with a photgraph (if you are) try creating a new image and paint some lines on it. If they’re a suitable width you can see, fine. Then try cloning them…it may be easier to see a result than on a picture.
Colin
I am sure everyone here knows more about this program than I do, so I would heed their advice first.
But if all that fails, (as it has done for me in the past with the same problem,) then I would check for a driver problem. Either corrupted or conflicting drivers is the problem I have when this happens to me. And it happens to me A LOT.
It could be a conflict with a scanner driver, or some other USB device you are running on your computer. Start by COLD STARTING..(or crashing) your computer, by simply hitting the power button, and holding it until the computer goes off. Do not turn it off in the usual manner by using the start button in the bottom corner, or by using the restart steps you would normally do.
If you crash it, you will freeze the problem in the memory of the computer, and the computer will reset the problem device, thinking it was caused by the "crash", rather than saving the settings it is currently at, before it logged off normally.
It is also best if you pull the power cord in the back of the computer, when it is turned off, and hit the "power on button" one time as well. This will clear the mother board, and all of the rest of your computer from any retained ele charge, eliminating the chance of any thing being saved in the memory, even by accident.
Then just plug it back in, and start by unplugging all your USB devices, (except for your mouse and keyboard of course..if they are USB anyway)…then fire it back up.
Start Photoshop, and try the tool again, if it now works, you know you have a USB driver device problem, or conflict. IF SO, then just plug back in the USB devices you have unplugged, and test the tool after each one. IF it stops working again when you plug one of the devices back in to the USB port, you know then which specific device is causing the problem for you.
IN my case it was my Wacom Tablet. (Which I use ALL the time, and normally never had any problems with before.) Once I found what the cause was, I deleted the old drivers for the device, and uninstalled the software for the tablet. Then reinstalled it, THEN everything worked fine again.
I dont know WHY the drivers for the tablet corrupts from time to time, but it still does so, and when it happens, I have to repeat the above steps again. But at least I dont have to find out which one is causing the problems now. It is always the tablet, for ME anyway. But each computer is different, and yours could be caused by a scanner, a external hard drive, or who knows what. It becomes a matter of elimination is all.
Good luck with it..I know it drove me nuts for MONTHS. I tried all of the above fixes, and even a few others recommended to me. All with no luck, I am sorry to say. Hopefully one of their solutions will work out for you, and save you the trouble that I went though.
Gary~~*
Well I guess with all the hardware and software out there some strange things can happen but….
Switching of a PC by holding the Power Switch in is dangerous. Files that are open at the time can become corrupt and unless you know what you’r doing they may be lost forever.
‘Crashing’ the PC wont freeze the problem in memory. Once the PC is off everything in memory is lost anyway.
If you suspect you have a driver problem with a device, then it’s safer if you go into the Hardware Manager and uninstall the device and then force a scan for new devices. Depends on the OS your using how you acheive this.
Problems with hardware and software in PCs give rise to the Plug and Play concept. You play around plugging stuff in and out and eventually it works. Can you be sure what really fixed it? Not Usually. If it works for you, fine, but I’d strongly advised against switching of a PC without shutting it down cleanly.
Colin
Hi, You said
I only have the picture itself open..no other layers.
That may be your problem. If it is a background layer only, many times the clone won’t work. Have you made a duplicate layer and tried working on that? Also, what format is the picture in? I never could get the clone stamp to work on a .bmp file.
You could try SAVE AS – and get your picture in PSD format, then duplicate the background layer, turn the eye off in the main layer, then try the clone stamp.
Good luck,
Lorace
… If it is a background layer only, many times the clone won’t work.
???
Under what circumstances will clone NOT work on background layer?
Mac
