Almost every photographer has a shot that is nearly perfect, apart from a stray bin, a power line, a passer by or a spot of dust on the lens. Photoshop offers several ways to remove these distractions, and each one suits a different job. Knowing which tool to reach for saves time and gives cleaner, more believable results. In this tutorial we look at the three tools you will use most.
Before You Start: Work on a Separate Layer
Create a new empty layer above your photo and do your retouching there. Most retouching tools have a Sample All Layers or similar option in the options bar, which lets them read pixels from the layers below while painting onto the empty layer. This keeps your original image intact, so you can lower the opacity of a correction or delete it completely if it does not look right. It is the same non-destructive idea behind layer masks.
The Spot Healing Brush: Small Blemishes
The Spot Healing Brush is the quickest option for small, isolated problems such as dust spots, specks on a wall or a small mark on a clean background.
- Select the Spot Healing Brush from the toolbar.
- Set the brush slightly larger than the object you want to remove.
- Make sure Content-Aware is selected as the type in the options bar.
- Click once on the spot, or paint a short stroke over a thin line.
Photoshop samples the surrounding area and blends the result in. It works best when the area around the object is fairly even. On busy backgrounds or near strong edges, the result can look smudged, which is where the next tool comes in.
The Clone Stamp: Full Control
The Clone Stamp copies pixels exactly from one part of the image to another. It takes longer, but it gives you complete control, which makes it ideal for repeating patterns, edges and textures such as brickwork or fences.
- Hold Alt (Option on a Mac) and click to set a source point.
- Paint over the object you want to cover.
- Resample often from different places so you do not create obvious repeating patches.
- Use a softer brush and lower opacity for natural transitions.
Many retouchers combine both tools: Clone Stamp along edges and lines first, then Spot Healing Brush to smooth the remaining area.
Content-Aware Fill: Larger Objects
For bigger objects, such as a person in the background of a landscape, Content-Aware Fill can do much of the work for you.
- Draw a loose selection around the object with the Lasso tool, leaving a little space around it.
- Choose Edit, then Content-Aware Fill.
- In the workspace, check the sampling area, which is shown as an overlay. Remove parts of the image you do not want Photoshop to copy from.
- Preview the result and output it to a new layer.
The fill is rarely perfect on the first try, but it gives you a strong base. Finish with a few passes of the Clone Stamp or Spot Healing Brush to tidy up details.
Tips for Believable Results
Zoom in to work and zoom out regularly to judge the overall effect. Pay attention to shadows and reflections: removing an object but leaving its shadow is a common giveaway. Match the grain or noise of the original photo, as retouched areas can look too smooth. Finally, take a break and look again later. Fresh eyes spot repeated patterns very quickly.
If you would like a structured introduction to these and other core tools, browse our Photoshop tutorials or read our guide on how to remove backgrounds.