How to Remove An Object In Photoshop

Scattered toys, withering plants, and dirty equipment are just some of the out-of-place elements you probably don’t want in your photos. The good thing is that you can easily remove these in Adobe Photoshop using tools like Content-Aware Fill, Spot Healing Brush, Patch tool, and Clone Stamp.

For this quick tutorial, I’m going to walk through how to remove an object in Photoshop using various tools to improve your images.

Use Content-Aware Fill

Using Content-Aware Fill feature is one of the fastest ways to remove undesirable elements in an image and fine-tune the output. This is particularly helpful when you need to eliminate large objects on both simple and complex backgrounds.

1. With the Object Selection tool, drag a loose rectangle around the object you want to remove. The Object Selection tool typically creates a tight selection at the edges of an object.

2. Click on Select > Modify > Expand and enter at least 8 pixels. This will create a thin buffer zone between the selection and the object’s edges.
3. Click on Edit > Content-Aware > Fill. Once you click OK, the tool will look at the selection’s surrounding pixels to produce a blended fill.

Overall, the Content-aware tool works pretty well. If it didn’t fully remove an object, you can use the clone stamp tool to make any micro adjustments to the image.

Use the Spot Healing Brush Tool

Before you optimize images for SEO, it’s best to edit and remove imperfections first. Another way to delete objects is to use the Spot Healing Brush tool.

1. Go to the Layers panel and select the layer that has the object you need to remove.
2. Click on the Spot Healing Brush tool.
3. In the options bar, modify the brush’s hardness and size to fit the item you wish to remove. 
4. Click on the unwanted object and paint over it until it’s fully covered.

5. The brush will automatically fill the area with similar content it found around the object.
6. You may need to go over the object a few times in order to have it blend it with its surroundings. 

Remove Objects with the Patch Tool

The next option to remove an object in Photoshop is using the Patch tool. This is only ideal if the thing you want to cut out doesn’t have an overly complicated background around it. The tool uses a completely different area of an image for the removal.

1. Create a Background Copy layer for the patching.
2. Choose the Patch tool from the Healing toolset.
3. Click and drag the cursor to form a loose selection around the object.

4. Click inside the selection and drag it to the part you want to use for the patch.

5. Release the mouse button to apply the patch.
6. Specify on the Structure field how much detail blending you want. Afterward, input in the Color field how much color blending you prefer.

Cover Objects Using the Clone Stamp Tool

If Healing Brush, Fill, and Patch tools don’t produce the realistic edit you desire, you can use the Clone Stamp tool for optimum control. This tool copies the pixels from one area onto another.

1. Click on the Clone Stamp tool.
2. Go to the area of the object you want to eliminate. 
3. Hold the Alt key and wait for the cursor to turn into a crosshair.
4. Click on the part you want to sample, then brush over the area where you want to add the sampled detail. This should copy the pixels of the sample area you selected and then cover the unnecessary object.

5. When a small plus sign appears, this means that the sample area is copying over the item you wish to take out of the image.
6. Continuing sampling various parts of the image until your object is removed and you’ve replaced the area with the proper background information.

Recap

Whether you prefer to use the Content-Aware Fill, Spot Healing Brush tool, Patch tool, or Clone Stamp tool, you can easily remove blemishes to polish up your images. Regardless of the tool you choose, be sure that as you remove the object, you are replacing that section of the image with something that looks realistic and not overly edited.