Learn how to clone yourself, your friends and family or even your pet using PIXLR free
image editing software.

All you need is a camera, a computer and some imagination.

 

 

 

Decide who or what you would like to clone and choose a suitable space to take your pictures. You
can clone as many times as you like but make sure you have room to fit them all in (2-3 clones
is a good starting point).

Here are some examples to get you started.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2. Take your photos

The key to taking good photos for cloning is consistency. As you will be combining separate
images together in editing software, you need the lighting to be the same in each photo.
This means taking a series of pictures quite quickly to avoid any changes.

You will also need the camera to remain perfectly still the entire time you take the photos. If you
don’t have a tripod for your camera, put it on a flat surface and use the self timer so you don’t move
it when you take the pictures. Most phone cameras will also have a self timer.
I used my dog Loki to create a simple clone image, taking 3 separate photos. Try and leave a
space between each pose so there is no overlap, this makes it easier when combining them later.

 

Once you have taken your  photos, load them into a new folder on your computer.

 

Go to www.pixlr.com. PIXLR is a free online image editing tool with a basic but similar layout to Photoshop, and is a great way to get started with image editing. You don’t need to log-in or sign up.

There are two options in PIXLR:
PIXLR X (express) allows you to apply instant filters similar to Instagram.
PIXLR E (editor) this is more of a complete image editing software and you need to select this one
for your cloning project.

Next you need to open your images by selecting open image and choose the folder you saved your images in. Select the first image and click open.

 

(Image for each stage is below this paragraph of text) 
Once your first photo is open go to File - Open image and open the second photo. Repeat the process for any remaining photos.

 

When all of your photos are open you can switch between them  by selecting them on the bar at the top. Select the second photo.

 

Select the Lasso tool from the tool bar on the left. This will allow you to select a small part of the photo by drawing around it with your mouse.

Draw a rough line just around the clone subject as this is the only part of the photo you need. Go to Edit - Copy then switch to the first photo and click Edit - Paste.

 

 

You should now have two clones of your subject in one image.

The new clone is in a separate layer on top of the first image and can be seen in the layers panel on the right. Before going any further, make sure you click on the new layer so any adjustments will only affect the new layer. 

 

 

Now select the Move tool from the tool bar on the left and drag the new clone into position. You can also use the arrow keys on your keyboard to nudge it into place. 

 

 

Once your clone is in position, select the Eraser tool from the tool bar on the left. This will allow you to remove the edges of the second clone that are visible or overlap.

 

 

Repeat the process for any further clone photos. Once you have finished, go to File - Save and re-name you image before saving it.