How to Use the Smudge Tool in Photoshop

Where to Find the Smudge Tool

The Smudge tool is nested under the Blur tool in the toolbar, and its icon is a pointing finger – which is exactly the right way to think about it. Before you start, check Sample All Layers in the options bar and create a new empty layer to smudge on. That keeps your original image untouched and lets you throw the effect away at any point.

Smudge Tool Strength

Strength controls how much the Smudge Tool pulls the pixels along as you drag. Low values give you a gentle pull; high values smear the image dramatically. Combined with brush size, this is really the only setting you need for basic smudging.

Finger Painting

Turn on Finger Painting and the Smudge Tool starts each stroke with your foreground color instead of the pixels already under the brush. Pick a color, drag across the image, and it genuinely looks like finger painting – grab a few different colors and you can build up a surprisingly painterly effect on top of a photograph. Turn it off and the tool goes back to pushing around only the pixels that are already there.

When to Use Something Else

The Smudge tool is best on artistic work – stretching latte art into interesting shapes, adding painted texture, pulling wisps. It is not the right tool for reshaping a subject: if you want to warp or transform parts of an image cleanly, use Liquify instead. Some retouchers use Smudge to create strands of hair, though painting them in with a small brush set to the hair color usually gives a better result.

Smudge Tool Quick Reference

• Found under the Blur tool in the toolbar (the pointing finger icon)
• Check Sample All Layers and work on a new empty layer
• Strength – how far the pixels get dragged
• Finger Painting – smudge with the foreground color instead of existing pixels
• Use Liquify for reshaping; use Smudge for artistic smearing