Before you move or clone a part of an image in Photoshop, you have to select it. Otherwise, your entire image is up for grabs. The top image in Figure 1 shows the Washington Monument selected.
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Figure 1: No, aliens are not absconding with the Washington Monument;
it's just Photoshop's Move tool in action. |
Moving part of an image is pretty self-explanatory; cloning part of an image is a bit more complicated, although it's no great mystery. Here's the lowdown on each:
- To move a selection, grab the Move tool, the four-headed arrow, (press V to select the tool from the keyboard), and drag the selection. A little pair of scissors appears by your cursor to show that you're about to remove the selection from its current home. When you move the selection, the area where the selection used to be is filled with the background color, as illustrated in Figure 1.
 | - You can temporarily access the Move tool by pressing Ctrl (Command on a Mac) when any tool but the following is selected: Hand tool, pen tools, slice tools, Path Component Selection tool, Direct Selection tool, and shape tools.
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- To nudge a selection 1 pixel, press one of the arrow keys while the Move tool is selected. Or press Ctrl (Command on a Mac) and an arrow key when any tool but the ones mentioned above is selected. The up arrow nudges the selection 1 pixel up; the right pixel nudges it to the right, and so on, just like you'd think. To nudge a selection 10 pixels, press Shift along with an arrow key while the Move tool is selected.
- To clone and move a selection, Alt+drag (Option+drag on a Mac) with the Move tool or Ctrl+Alt+drag (Command+Option+drag on a Mac) with any other tool than the tools listed above. Your cursor changes into two arrowheads — your reminder that you're creating a clone of your selection.
- To clone and nudge, select the Move tool and then press Alt (Option on a Mac) and one of the arrow keys. Or, when any tool other than the tools mentioned above is selected, press Ctrl and Alt (Command and Option on a Mac) as you press the arrow keys. Press Shift and Alt (Shift and Option on a Mac) with an arrow key to clone the selection and move it 10 pixels.
- To move a selection outline without moving the image inside it, select a lasso, marquee, or Magic Wand tool. Then just drag the selection outline or nudge it with the arrow keys. This is a great way to reposition a selection outline without disturbing so much as a single pixel in the image.
- To move and clone selections and selection outlines between images just as you would within a single image. Just drag the selection or selection outline from its current window into the other image window.
| - To hide the animated outline of your selection, choose View-->Extra or press Ctrl+H (command+H on a Mac).
When you're moving or cloning a selection, those animated dots that parade around the outline — called marching ants in some quarters — can be downright distracting. Sure, the ants permit you to see the boundaries of your selection, but sometimes you need to see how the edges of the selection blend in with their new surroundings. To do this, choose View-->Hide Extras or press Ctrl+H (Command+H on a Mac).
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- To bring back the marching ants, press Ctrl+H (Command+H on a Mac).
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