CS2: removing bits from a pic

MB
Posted By
Mrs BeebleBrock
Feb 14, 2006
Views
266
Replies
6
Status
Closed
I have several photos with items in them that need removing. That bit is easy – the tricky bit is making the replacement pixels look natural.

If I just delete the unwanted portion, the healing and patch tools don’t have any impact on the transparent gap that has been left. Flattening the image to leave a white gap doesn’t seem to help either. So what I’ve been doing is this:

1) Unlock background layer
2) Select and delete the offending item
3) Sample colour from adjacent pixels and paint in the empty area
4) Use patch or heal tool to get the replacement pixels looking more
like their surrounding ares
5) Use the blur tool to smooth out the differences between sections.

The result is fine for web use, but these pics may be needed for print.

Being Photoshop, of course there are numerous ways to achieve anything. I’d be really interested to know what methods others employ in this situation.

Thanks in advance for your comments.
Jo

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CJ
C J Southern
Feb 14, 2006
When you’re using the healing and patch tools you don’t "delete" anything first – using the tool will overwrite the areas selected with the new information and use the adjacent pixels to blend in the new pixels automatically, depending on what options you set.
T
Tacit
Feb 14, 2006
In article <XkcIf.146273$>,
Mrs BeebleBrock wrote:

The result is fine for web use, but these pics may be needed for print.

Ouch. Doing this well for professional print work requires considerable skill.

When I do this, I don’t use the healing or patch tools; nothing can replace a human eye and a human brain. I use the clone tool, and remove the offending item by hand, painting in the background as appropriate.


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MB
Mrs BeebleBrock
Feb 14, 2006
Thanks guys.
Jo
N
noone
Feb 15, 2006
In article <XkcIf.146273$
co.nz says…
I have several photos with items in them that need removing. That bit is easy – the tricky bit is making the replacement pixels look natural.
If I just delete the unwanted portion, the healing and patch tools don’t have any impact on the transparent gap that has been left. Flattening the image to leave a white gap doesn’t seem to help either. So what I’ve been doing is this:

1) Unlock background layer
2) Select and delete the offending item
3) Sample colour from adjacent pixels and paint in the empty area
4) Use patch or heal tool to get the replacement pixels looking more
like their surrounding ares
5) Use the blur tool to smooth out the differences between sections.
The result is fine for web use, but these pics may be needed for print.
Being Photoshop, of course there are numerous ways to achieve anything. I’d be really interested to know what methods others employ in this situation.

Thanks in advance for your comments.
Jo

Tacit has given the first steps that I would look into to "remove," an unwanted object in PS. If you find that the Clone and Patch/Heal are not quite getting it done for you, you might want to look at areas of the image to try and find something that you would like to have "replace" the offending object, say a protion of near-by tablecloth to replace a fork in a dining room photograph. I’d use the Marquee, or Lasso tool to get the size of area that I need, making sure to extend beyond the fork, in this example. Move that Selection to an area of tablecloth, that is similar to what you would have had, if the fork were not there. Ctrl-c (Copy), then Ctrl-v (Paste) that area of tablecloth onto its own, new Layer. Click the Layer Mask icon, bottom left of the Layers Palette, and then position the new Layer (tablecloth) over the fork. If it doesn’t match/blend quite right, make the Layer Mask active (extra black border around the Layer Mask icon in Layers Paletter – and check Channels, just to make sure that the LayerX Mask is active), get a soft-edged brush and paint in the Layer Mask, at its edges. If you paint too much, just hit X and un-paint. You still may have to do some additional work, such as an Adjustment Layer for your new tablecloth, to match up where the fork was, but it might be easier, and more pleasing to your eye, than working with the Clone Tool in tiny areas. Just another way of doing it.

Hunt
MB
Mrs BeebleBrock
Feb 16, 2006
Hunt wrote:
In article <XkcIf.146273$
co.nz says…

I have several photos with items in them that need removing. That bit is easy – the tricky bit is making the replacement pixels look natural.
If I just delete the unwanted portion, the healing and patch tools don’t have any impact on the transparent gap that has been left. Flattening the image to leave a white gap doesn’t seem to help either. So what I’ve been doing is this:

1) Unlock background layer
2) Select and delete the offending item
3) Sample colour from adjacent pixels and paint in the empty area
4) Use patch or heal tool to get the replacement pixels looking more
like their surrounding ares
5) Use the blur tool to smooth out the differences between sections.
The result is fine for web use, but these pics may be needed for print.
Being Photoshop, of course there are numerous ways to achieve anything. I’d be really interested to know what methods others employ in this situation.

Thanks in advance for your comments.
Jo

Tacit has given the first steps that I would look into to "remove," an unwanted object in PS. If you find that the Clone and Patch/Heal are not quite getting it done for you, you might want to look at areas of the image to try and find something that you would like to have "replace" the offending object, say a protion of near-by tablecloth to replace a fork in a dining room photograph. I’d use the Marquee, or Lasso tool to get the size of area that I need, making sure to extend beyond the fork, in this example. Move that Selection to an area of tablecloth, that is similar to what you would have had, if the fork were not there. Ctrl-c (Copy), then Ctrl-v (Paste) that area of tablecloth onto its own, new Layer. Click the Layer Mask icon, bottom left of the Layers Palette, and then position the new Layer (tablecloth) over the fork. If it doesn’t match/blend quite right, make the Layer Mask active (extra black border around the Layer Mask icon in Layers Paletter – and check Channels, just to make sure that the LayerX Mask is active), get a soft-edged brush and paint in the Layer Mask, at its edges. If you paint too much, just hit X and un-paint. You still may have to do some additional work, such as an Adjustment Layer for your new tablecloth, to match up where the fork was, but it might be easier, and more pleasing to your eye, than working with the Clone Tool in tiny areas. Just another way of doing it.

Hunt
Hi Hunt, thanks for your suggestion. That’s a great idea. Unfortunately in these cases, the objects I was removing left several different items so it wasn’t possible to do it this time.

Cheers,
Jo
N
noone
Feb 16, 2006
In article <h2QIf.148987$
co.nz says…
Hunt wrote:

[SNIP]
Hi Hunt, thanks for your suggestion. That’s a great idea. Unfortunately in these cases, the objects I was removing left several different items so it wasn’t possible to do it this time.
Cheers,
Jo

And, just as you said in an earlier post to this thread – there are many ways to do things in Photoshop.

Hope you were able to get the Clone Tool, and Patch/Heal Tool, to work in your case.

Hunt

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