Using the Smudge tool (Photoshop)


    The Smudge tool simulates the actions of dragging a finger through wet paint. The tool picks up color where the stroke begins and pushes it in the direction you drag.

To use the Smudge tool:

  1. Select the Smudge tool Smudge tool .
  2. Choose a brush tip and options for the blending mode in the options bar (see Setting options for painting and editing tools).
  3. Select Use All Layers in the options bar to smudge using color data from all visible layers. If this is deselected, the Smudge tool uses colors from only the active layer.
  4. Select Finger Painting in the options bar to smudge using the foreground color at the beginning of each stroke. If this is deselected, the Smudge tool uses the color under the pointer at the beginning of each stroke.
  5. Drag in the image to smudge the pixels.
  6. Tip iconIn Photoshop, press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you drag with the Smudge tool to use the Finger Painting option.