Photoshop’s new magic wand: The Remove tool

Remember the days of painstakingly cloning out unwanted objects in Photoshop? Well, those days might be numbered thanks to the new Remove Tool. It’s like having a magic eraser that can whisk away distractions with a few strokes. Have you tried the new Remove tool in Photoshop?

You will find the remove tool in the Healing brush dropdown menu

How does it work?

Think of it as a supercharged Content-Aware Fill on steroids. You simply paint over the area you want to remove, and the tool’s AI smarts seamlessly fill in the gap with surrounding pixels. It’s almost like Photoshop is reading your mind, understanding the context of the image and filling in the blanks.

Select your distracting object and highlight it, remember to select any reflections of shadows and a little bit of surrounding area for PS to work with. I also check the Remove after each stroke box as well. If you are doing multiple small areas (like sensor spots) you may find it easier (and quicker) to leave this unchecked, select all spots, and then click the tick to apply.

Who Can Benefit From This?

Photographers

• Landscape Photographers: Remove pesky power lines, tourists, or unwanted objects from your pristine landscapes.
• Portrait Photographers: Eliminate blemishes, stray hairs, or even entire background elements to focus on your subject.
• Product Photographers: Quickly remove distracting reflections or unwanted items from your product shots.

Retouchers

• Fashion Retouchers: Smooth out skin, remove wrinkles, and refine body shapes with precision.
• Commercial Retouchers: Clean up product images, remove dust spots, and enhance details.

Tips and tricks

• Start small: Begin with smaller areas to get a feel for the tool’s capabilities.
• Refine your strokes: Use precise brush strokes to avoid removing unintended areas.
• Experiment with settings: Tweak the settings like brush size, hardness, and sampling mode to achieve the desired results.
• Layer it up: Create a new layer for each removal to maintain non-destructive editing.
• Combine with other tools: Use the Clone Stamp Tool or Patch Tool for more detailed corrections.

While the Remove Tool is incredibly powerful, it’s not a magic bullet. It’s best used in conjunction with other retouching techniques to achieve the best results. So, the next time you’re dealing with a pesky distraction in your image, give the Remove Tool a try. You might be amazed at what it can do.

Remember: Practice makes perfect! The more you experiment with the Remove Tool, the better you’ll become at harnessing its power.

Bug notification: Occasionally, if I am doing a larger area I have found that Photoshop will often crash. Restart Photoshop and try again with a smaller area.

• Posted on November 5, 2024