How to Remove Unwanted Objects from a Digital Photo

This article is aimed to explain how to remove unwanted objects from a photo. The examples given here are based on Photoshop, but the same features can be found in other image editors.

You should start by asking yourself if the color of the surrounding area is solid, gradient or textured. The first image is a photo of a rollercoaster with a blue sky background. Fortunately the sky is all blue with no clouds or shading, but with some ugly wires that need to be removed. The first step is to crop the photo in order to remove part of the background along with some wires. The fact that the sky is solid color allows for the use of of a 100 percent opacity brush (rubber stamp or clone tool) to pick color from the area around the wires. Zoom in and paint over the wires, but do zoom out from time to time to see how it turned out.

If there are patchy areas, use a lower opacity brush to stamp them out. Be patient - the results will be well worth it! To save some time, it helps if you have a blank area you can copy from and use it to cover the most part of the wires. You can use a rectangle tool to select it and a feather of about 6 to soften edges. Copy and paste it with CTRL+C and CTRL+V, then move it over the wire area. It helps to create an extra layer to be backed up in case you make a mistake. If the edges of the rectangle are still visible, use a lower opacity brush to stamp them out.

The next example is a dandelion seed photo which needs to have some branches removed to make for a great picture. This time the background is textured so the clone tool can only be used for some of the distant branches. This can be done with a brush of about 60% opacity. The upper leaves have some blotches which can be stamped out with an 80% opacity brush. There is also a large branch in front which can be stamped out with the clone tool, picking color from from the area around the flower seed. Now comes the most difficult part, that of removing the branch that overlaps the flower seed, but keeping the hairs of the flower seed. This can be don using a Layer Mask. This tool allows painting over an area to show the underneath layer, instead of just erasing.

You create two copy layers over the background layer. The layer mask is created on the first layer. Then you paint over the masked layer until you see the layer underneath. With a low opacity brush and feathered edge, you zoom in and start painting over the branch carefully not to paint over the hairs too. Then you look at the second layer and you can see the same spot you masked out with the first. You move the second layer to one side until you can see some green foliage, ensuring it goes well with the first layer. When you're satisfied, you merge all layers together and that's it. Keep in mind that if you want to print the photo you need to have the right pixel size before making all these changes, or your work is in vain.

The third example is a photo that needs to have a sign removed from the top left corner. The photo is of a peacock with spread plumage. A white sign peaks through its feathers on the top left side. It would be hard to clone without painting over the feathers. So how do you do it? First, use a rectangle tool to select the top right area, which looks better, and paste it to create a new layer. Then flip it horizontally and paste it over the top left area. Select to more areas and rotate them to fit right, considering the direction of the peacock's feathers. When you're happy with the results, merge the layers together. Use the clone tool to correct small imperfections, until the picture looks natural. Crop any unnecessary background such as grass and stray feathers and you have a great photo!

Finally, our last example is an old photo of two children. The photo was taken with a traditional camera and scanned, but it has lots of scratches and a stain over the boy's face and some of the background. You can use the clone to remove some of the damaged areas. The background is gradient so you need to use different opacity levels. When working with gradient backgrounds it is important to zoom out often to check for patchy areas before it's too late. The scratches over the boy's face and the girl's hair are easily removed with the clone tool, with a low opacity brush. If you zoom in a lot, you can work with a smaller brush size, which will give you more precision.

The stain over the boy's face and the background can be removed with a feathered brush in color mode. This allows painting the area in a different color but keeping the same texture. In order to choose the right color, you select color from another part of the face with the eyedropper tool. The same method is used for the background. Then you can remove the remaining flaws with the clone tool, checking gradients and zooming in and out. In the end, you can change the overall color of the photo as the original one has become to yellow. In the Hue and Saturation window, you desaturate yellow and then play with colors to give it a subtle sepia tone.

Hope this article gave you some ideas to experiment on your own photos. Good luck!

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