Using the smudge tool

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 .
2. Do the following in the options bar:
• Choose a brush and set brush options. (See Working with brushes.)
• Specify a blending mode and strength. (See Setting options for painting and editing tools.)
• Select Use All Layers to smudge using color data from all visible layers. If this is deselected, the smudge tool uses colors from only the active layer.
• Select Finger Painting 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.
3. Drag in the image to smudge color.

In Photoshop, press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you drag with the smudge tool to use the Finger Painting option.