You stare through the viewfinder and as you press the shutter release a random passerby leaps into the frame.
The Easy Way: Content-Aware Fill
initiate the image you want to edit in Photoshop.
The Quick Select Tool selects all the similar, nearby pixels to the area you click.
Click and drag around the target until its selected.
This will subtract it from the selection.
This will expand the selection beyond the edges the Quick Select Tool picked up.
Next, go to Edit > Fill and select Content-Aware from the Contents dropdown.
Press OK and Photoshop will analyse the surrounding area and come up with a best-guess fill.
Theres an element of randomness to the Content-Aware Fill tool.
It might take three or four tries, but Photoshop will normally come up with a decent fill.
it’s possible for you to repeat this as many times as needed.
The image below, for example, took about 15 Content-Aware Fills to get to a point I liked.
Photoshops automatic removal tools have got a lot more accurate since they were first introduced.
They work best on organic and random backgrounds; complex repeating patterns and straight lines can present problems.
Even still, you’re able to get away with a lot for social media posts.
The Advanced Way: Clone Stamp
Related:What Are Layers and Masks in Photoshop?
bring up the image you want to edit in Photoshop.
It works like the Brush tool, but for copying pixels.
Find an area of your image that looks like it will cover up the photobomber.
Hold down Alt (or Option on a Mac) and select it.
This sets the Clone Stamps sample point.
Paint the sampled pixels on the new layer until you have a good sized patch to work with.
It doesnt matter how rough it looks at this point.
Add a black mask to the layer by holding down Alt and clicking on the Add Layer Mask button.
This will hide the patch.
Next, go for the Brush tool.
Choose a Soft Round brush, with a Flow of about 40%.
Resize the tooltip with [ and ] and paint white over the person or object youre trying to remove.
This will reveal the patch but only in the areas where you want it.
Tweak the mask using the Brush tool so that the original image and patch blend nicely.
To fully remove someone or something, youll normally need to use a couple of patches.
It took me four to remove the gnome photobomber.
you’re free to see a quick time lapse of how it developed below.
Below is a comparison of the two removal methods.
Image Credits:HarshLightandMatthew Hurst.
