TUTORIAL ARTICLE

Beginner

7 min

Remove unwanted objects from your photos

Use the retouching tools in Photoshop on the Web to retouch spots and remove unwanted distractions from a photo.

What you’ll need
Practice in the app

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What you learned: Retouch and remove unwanted objects from your photos

The retouching tools in Photoshop on the web let you touch up small spots and flaws—as well as larger items—in an image, while Content-Aware Fill is ideal for removing larger objects.

Create a separate retouching layer

Using a separate layer for retouching prevents permanently changing the photo and allows more flexibility in case you need to edit or modify your changes.

  • Click the Add new layer icon at the top left of the Layers panel.

Retouch small spots with the Spot Healing Brush tool

The Spot Healing Brush tool automatically copies nearby detail to cover a spot, blending that detail with the surrounding area.

  • Choose Spot Healing brush from the Clone tools menu in the toolbar.

  • Turn on Sample all layers in the options bar so that the retouching is placed on the new layer.

  • Adjust the size of the brush in the options bar (or tap the left or right bracket key on the keyboard) until it is slightly larger than the spot you want to remove.

  • Click once on the spot, or drag if it’s irregularly shaped, to remove it.

Remove larger flaws with the Healing Brush tool

With the Healing Brush tool, you decide which detail to copy, and the tool then blends that detail with the color and brightness of the area you are retouching. Larger flaws may require multiple brush strokes.

  • Choose Healing brush from the Clone tools menu in the toolbar.

  • In the Sample menu in the options bar, select either Current and below or All layers.

  • Option-click (macOS) or Alt-click (Windows) on the detail you want to copy.

  • Brush over the area you want to retouch.

Copy detail with the Clone Stamp tool

The Clone Stamp tool copies detail exactly and does not blend it with the area you are retouching. This technique can be useful for some retouching tasks that require more control or even an exact copy of certain image details.

  • Choose Clone stamp from the Clone tools menu in the toolbar.

  • In the Sample menu in the options bar, select either Current and below or All layers.

  • Choose an area to copy, an area with detail that matches the area you are retouching.

  • Option-click (macOS) or Alt-click (Windows) on the area you want to copy.

  • Brush over the area you want to retouch.

Remove objects with Content-Aware Fill

Content-Aware Fill works best to remove an object when there is plenty of simple detail surrounding the object. For additional flexibility, create a duplicate layer of the main image so that the change does not permanently affect the original photo.

  • Make sure the layer that contains the object you want to remove is active in the Layers panel.

  • In the Layer actions menu at the top right of the Layers panel, choose Duplicate layer.

  • Select the Lasso tool in the toolbar, and drag a selection around the object you want to remove, keeping the edge close to the object but including some of the surrounding detail.

  • In the control bar below the selection, click the Content-aware fill icon.

  • Click the Deselect icon when the fill is complete.


Instruction by

Dani Beaumont

Page copy by

Seán Duggan

Designer

Gabriela Iancu

Adobe Stock Contributors

Allasimacheva

Tatiana

Alex Photo

22 September 2022

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