Unreleased Photoshop features remove anything in a picture

Colin Smith

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How to use Multi Image Content Aware Fill in Photoshop Beta

This Photoshop tutorial shows you how to use an experimental feature that uses additional images to automatically patch and fill areas of a photo to remove objects and distractions. Currently you won’t find this feature in the regular version of Photoshop it’s in the public beta. I show you how to access the beta at the end of this tutorial. (Note: I can’t provide any support on the beta).

Let’s see how it works on a basic example. Then we will use another example, where we dig deeper with additional features to fix another image.

Ferry boat passing wooden pilings and a ferry terminal on a gray day, open in Photoshop Beta

Why Content Aware Fill doesn’t always work

Just to test the traditional Content aware fill, lets see how it does on this image. (how to use Content Aware Fill)

Make a selection with the rectangular marquee tool.

Rectangular marquee selections drawn around two wooden pilings in front of the ferry

Press Shift+Delete (mac) Shift+Backspace (Windows) to open the fill dialog box.

Choose Content Aware Fill.

As you can see the front doesn’t work very well. The reason it doesn’t work, is the detail can’t be created out of thin air (yet.. mid journey Dall-E style ai will change this in the future).

Content-Aware Fill result smearing the ferry where the pilings were, a poor removal

New Multi Image Content Aware Fill

In order for this new feature to work, we need another image that has the pixels we need.

(you will need to take multiple pictures to use this feature. You may be able to find a stock photo to use.)

Second photo of the ferry from the same spot, taken after it moved past the pilings

Choose the object selection tool

Object Selection tool highlighted in the Photoshop toolbar

Drag around the first area to select.

To add additional selections, hold down the Shift key and make additional selections.

Both wooden pilings in front of the ferry selected with marching ants

Choose Select>Modify>Expand Selection

Enter 5

Click ok

Expand Selection dialog set to 5 pixels around the selected pilings

This will add a nice buffer so there won’t be edges on the selections

Choose Edit>Content-Aware Fill

Photoshop Edit menu with Content-Aware Fill highlighted for the pilings

You can see the result isn’t great. Let’s use the new feature.

Content-Aware Fill workspace with the ferry sampled in green and a messy preview marked Result

Click on Add additional Document

Additional Document menu in Content-Aware Fill with Import and a second ferry photo listed

Grab this other image

Second ferry photo from the same spot, with the pilings standing clear of the ferry

And you can see the result is much better.

Content-Aware Fill using the additional ferry image, with a clean preview of the ferry

The after image

Ferry passing the terminal with the wooden pilings removed by multi-image Content-Aware Fill

Let’s look at a more difficult example.

White ibis wading behind blurry leaves, titled Additional Features (Pins)

We went to remove the blurred foreground elements.

Grab the lasso tool and make a selection around the area we want to fix.

Lasso selection around the blurred foreground leaves covering the bottom of the ibis

Choose Edit>Content-Aware Fill

You can see the tail and bottom part of the bird is missing.

Content-Aware Fill preview with the ibis tail and lower body missing

Add additional image

Additional Document menu in Content-Aware Fill listing a second ibis photo

Here is a clean bird to use.

Clean photo of a white ibis standing in rippled water, used as the additional image

You can see the additional in the Content Aware Fill dialog.

Unlike the boat, the bird isn’t looking better. Le’s fix it.

Content-Aware Fill showing the working image above and the additional ibis image below

Choose the Pin tool

Pin tool highlighted in the Content-Aware Fill toolbar in Photoshop Beta

We will add pins to the working image.

Working image of the ibis behind leaves boxed in red above the additional image

Add a pin on important areas of the photo by clicking.

You can add 4 pins.

Four colored numbered pins placed around the ibis selection on the working image

On the additional image, drag the numbered pins

You want to match the locations on the pins between the 2 images.

Matching pin 4 circled on the ibis in both the working image and the additional image

As you can see the result has been updated and looks much better.

There are some settings to fix the color, but at the moment they don’t work very well. (Its still in Beta, so its not finished)

Click ok.

Content-Aware Fill preview with the ibis body rebuilt from the additional image

Let’s fix the color and then I’ll show you how to get the beta.

Create a new layer and put it on top.

Change the blending mode to color.

Photoshop Layers panel with Layer 1 set to Color blend mode above the background copy

Choose the brush tool.

Hold down Alt/Option and click on the image to sample color.

Grab the neutral color.

Eyedropper sampling a neutral white from the ibis feathers to fix the green tint

Paint over the tail to fix the color.

Finished ibis with its body and tail restored and the color fixed, with ferns around it

Get the Photoshop Beta

You have to be a Creative Cloud Subscriber to access the beta. Find the Creative Cloud app on your desktop (Its usually in the toolbar)

On the Left column you will see Beta Apps

Creative Cloud app Beta apps page with Photoshop (Beta) installed

Click on Beta Apps and you will see the available apps

Click on Photoshop one to install it.

Creative Cloud Beta apps list with Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere Pro betas

When you launch Photoshop, make sure it’s the beta version, as both versions will be installed at the same time.

When you use this, provide feedback to Adobe, they listen!

Click the beaker icon in the beta.

Beaker icon next to the Share button in Photoshop Beta

It will take you to the beta Feedback  where you can visit th Beta Community and add your thoughts.

Photoshop Beta overview panel with Report a bug, Submit an idea and community links

 

I hope you found this tutorial useful, don’t forget to check out the video at the top.

Thanks for joining me here at the CAFE

Colin


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5 comments

  1. Thanks for the heads up – give us a chance to think in advance about chances to use it.

  2. Mark Smith

    That tip about Color Blend was tip-top, and it solved a problem I was working on last night! Thank you!

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