i tried using the clone pattern tool recently. the thing is, is it makes tiles all over the page when i try to paint with it. i don't want seams. how can i avoid this?

you have to make the pattern into a seamless tile. My favorite way is using this filter:
http://www.btinternet.com/~cateran/simple/#qt

To use it, save the plugin filter anywhere on your hard drive. In PSE go to Edit>Prefs>Scratch Disks and Plug-ins and at the top of the dialog set that folder to the one where you save your plug-ins. Reopen PSE and it'll be at the bottom of the Filter menu, called Simple.
Select one "tile" of your pattern and crop the image (Image>Crop) and run the filter. Edit>Define Pattern and it'll be at the bottom of your pattern menu. You'll have to save the pattern as a pat file with the Edit>Preset Manager>Patterns and select the pattern and click Save

hth! There's a tutorial for doing this manually witht he Offset filter at www.myjanee.com too

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Emma the Pal
GALLERY Web Page

perfect!!! thank you so much!