Healing Brush Tool
 

The healing brush is a photo-correction tool that is purpose-built for removing (or "healing") blemishes in photos (including natural ones like pimples or stray hairs) without losing the harmony and flow of the original. Unlike the Cloning Tool, which simply copies pixels from another area of the image to the area being modified, the Healing Brush attempts to match the copied pixels to the coloring and the lighting of the destination area to produce a more realistic result. Holding down the left mouse button heals; right-clicking with the mouse (or left-clicking while holding the Shift key) sets the healing offset (source point).

The example above shows the Healing Brush being used for pimple removal. Because of the way in matches the copied pixels with the destination, source area selection with this tool is not as critical/difficult as it is with the Cloning Brush.

You can set the size of this tool’s tip by setting the width entry on the toolbox. The level entry changes the image matching quality; higher values will make the matching algorithm try harder. This tool is pressure sensitive when using a graphics tablet; the pressure varies the width of the tool tip.

You can select a brush-tip mode for this tool.

It is recommended that you use a soft-tip while healing.

The healing brush is a very powerful photo-correction tool, and as such the mastery of its usage is a skill every image editing practitioner, professional or otherwise, should have. Take time to practice with this tool on several photos. It'll be worth the effort. Try it out!