I just installed Krita, I want to use clone brushes [or whatever it's called in this package] to alter existing images. Understand that I have a bit of a prejudice against Open Source applications. I find them comprehensive and protean but at the same time completely non-intuitive, almost deliberately obscure. This package seems no different.

I've been dealing with graphics software since there's been graphics software, I just need to figure out this one. I would have used Corel Painter 2020 but that package has an issue with the machine I want to use. Rather than completely reset Windows, which is much like losing your wallet or iPhone only orders of magnitude worse, I find myself exploring this package.

Regardless, I ran Krita [who thought up that name?], I imported a photo and looked around for any clue as to where I might find anything to do with cloning. Failing that, I did a search in the provided documentation for 'cloning' which dutifully brought up a page dealing with a 'clone brush engine'. A listing featuring some text that says absolutely nothing about just how one might assess this engine. I reviewed the material listed under 'brush engines', nothing there. So could someone be kind enough to explain to me in simple English just what is a 'brush engine' and more specifically, how does one invoke and control the clone brush engine?

Simple English... Maybe it would be better to ask your question in simple English?This is the first time in the forty years I've been reading English that I've encountered the word "protean" in a context where it might actually be used according to its dictionary meaning, but I'm pretty sure you should have used "access" instead of "assess" elsewhere.

If you meant "how one might access this engine", that's answered easily enough, of course. Since cloning is implemented as a brush type, you select a brush preset that uses the clone brush engine. A good start would be to type "clone" in the brush presets docker. By default, we only ship one brush preset that uses the clone engine, and it's called "clone tool"