The Smudge Tool in Photoshop CS6

The Smudge Tool in Photoshop CS6: Video

This video lesson, titled “The Smudge Tool,” shows you how to use the Smudge Tool in Photoshop CS6. Need more Photoshop training? Click here for the complete tutorial.

The Smudge Tool in Photoshop CS6: Overview

The Smudge Tool in Photoshop CS6 lets you create an effect similar to dragging your finger through wet paint. The tool picks up the color of the place at which you click and then pushes that color through the rest of the stroke as you drag the mouse.

To use the Smudge Tool in Photoshop CS6, first select the “Smudge Tool” from the Toolbox. In the Options Bar, set the brush stoke and other brush options, as desired. You can then select a blending mode and strength from the drop-down and slider available. You can check the “Sample All Layers” (called “All Layers” in CS and previous versions) checkbox to select using the combined color value from all layers. If unchecked it will only smudge the color from the currently visible layer. You can check the “Finger Painting” checkbox to smudge using the selected foreground color at the beginning of each stroke. If this is deselected, the tool will instead use the color under the pointer at the beginning of the stroke. After setting your options, all you must do is then click and drag in the image to smudge the paint where you click and drag.