All this combining-images-into-the-same-document business can cause your Layers panel to get long and unwieldy. And as you learned back in Chapter 3, loading a document with layers can increase its file size and even slow Photoshop down (especially if you've got an older computer or very little memory). Fortunately, if the images you want to combine use the same color mode (Choosing a Color Mode), there's a solution.

Sure the Clone Stamp tool is great for tricks like banishing blemishes (Zapping Shines and Shadows) or giving someone a third eye, but it has other uses, too. To prevent your Layers panel from becoming overcrowded, use this tool to copy bits and pieces of an image from one open document to another. Using the Clone Source panel—the clone source is the object you're copying—you can clone from up to five different sources whether or not they're in the same document.