In this video, I'm going to show you how to remove unwanted elements from photos using
the Patch Tool with Content-Aware.
Hey everyone.
Welcome to the Photoshop Training Channel.
My name is Jesus Ramirez and you can find me on Instagram @JRfromPTC.
In this tutorial, I'm going to show you how to use the Patch Tool with Content-Aware.
With the Content-Aware option, the Patch Tool becomes more powerful because it allows you
to synthesize nearby content for seamless blending with the surrounding content.
The results are very similar to using the Content-Aware Fill, but by using this tool,
you have the option to choose the source area and also, work non-destructively.
I'm going to show you how this tool works in two examples.
We're going to use a portrait to remove wrinkles and we're going to use this photo of Venice
to remove distracting elements.
So let's start with the portrait first.
I'm going to zoom in and if we wanted to remove one of these wrinkles, for example, the one
here on his forehead, we could of course make a selection and fill with Content-Aware, so
Edit, Fill, Content-Aware and it sort of removes the wrinkle.
You can sort of see that the Content-Aware sample from this area here bringing in another
wrinkle.
I'm going to press Ctrl Alt Z, Command Option Z on the Mac to undo.
What we're going to do, instead, is select the Patch Tool, which is nested under the
Spot Healing Brush Tool.
Make sure that Content-Aware is selected and we can click and drag and decide what area
to sample from.
So, the Content-Aware Fill automatically sampled from that area which introduced that other
wrinkle.
We're just going to go up a bit higher and sample from this area so that no other wrinkles
are introduced.
I'm going to zoom in and you can see that it did a much better job.
However, much like the Content-Aware Fill, we are working destructively and we don't
want to do that.
So, I'm going to press Ctrl Alt Z, Command Option Z on the Mac, to undo.
I want to create a new layer.
I want to make sure that Sample All Layers is selected and I'm going to redo that last
step, so I'm going to click and drag and sample from this area.
The advantage of using the Patch Tool is that you also have access to the structure in color
so you can adjust how those pixels were generated.
I'm going to press Ctrl H, Command H on the Mac, to hide the selection.
The selection is still there; it's just hidden.
If I come under Structure and adjust the slider back to number 1, you'll see how those pixels
change as I make those adjustments.
Structure specifies how closely the patch should reflect existing image patterns.
If you enter 7, the patch adheres very strongly to the existing image patterns.
If you enter 1, the patch adheres very loosely to existing image patterns, and obviously,
there's different levels in between.
You also have Color.
Color specifies the extent to which you want Photoshop to apply algorithmic color blending
to the patch.
Zero disables color blending and a color value of 10 applies maximum color blending.
So, you can keep making adjustments to the sliders to change how the pixels blend, obviously
making it more powerful than the simple Content-Aware Fill.
Also, in a situation like this when we're working with skin and we have skin texture,
you'll notice that texture is brighter than the area that we brought in.
By working non-destructively in a new layer, we can take advantage of blending modes, so
we can select a blending mode such as Lighter Color, which always reveals the lightest color--either
the layer that you're currently on or the layers below.
If I select it, you'll see that we're going to bring back some of that texture.
The only things that we're concealing are the darker areas that make up that wrinkle.
So, we can also adjust the opacity.
I don't want to remove the wrinkle.
I just want it to be less distracting so I'm just going to bring down the opacity, so it's
still there.
It's just not as noticeable.
I'm going to double-click on the Hand Tool to fit the image to the screen.
That's the before and the after.
Maybe I can increase the opacity even further, maybe 75%, and that's the advantage of using
the Patch Tool with Content-Aware.
You can, of course, zoom in and remove other distractions on the face.
Maybe I can remove that blemish here by using the same technique.
I'm going to press Ctrl D, Command D, to deselect.
In this case, I don't think I need to make any adjustments with Blending Modes or Opacity
so I'll leave it as is, and you can keep making any other adjustments that you want.
The Patch Tool is also really good at removing distracting elements from other kinds of photos
like this photo of Venice here.
I'm going to zoom in to this area where these people are sitting and I can make a selection
with the Patch Tool, then I can click and drag a sample from this area here, and that
removes the people sitting in that area.
I'm going to press Ctrl D, Command D, to deselect.
I'm going to zoom out just so you can see what it looks like.
Obviously, that was a destructive effect because I didn't create a new layer.
So, always remember to work non-destructively by creating a new layer and making sure that
"Sample All Layers" is selected.
So once again, I'll make that same adjustment and you can press Ctrl H, Command H on the
Mac, to hide the selection and you can adjust the structure to change how the pixels blend.
I'm going to press Ctrl H, Command H on the Mac, again, to bring back the selection.
So you can see the selection is still there, then I can press Ctrl D, Command D, to deselect.
At this point, you can refine some of the shadows that we brought in.
I'm not going to do it in this video just for the sake of time, but whenever you make
an adjustment like this, you sometimes may need to refine the pixels that were generated.
Also, I want to point out that this video is one of the videos in my Content-Aware series.
If you haven't watched the other Content-Aware videos, check out that playlist on my YouTube
channel.
There's a link for it right below in the description of this video.
And that's it for this tutorial.
Let me know in the comments down below if you knew about this tool and how it works.
Also, let me know if you have any comments or questions.
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Thanks so much for watching and I'll talk to you again soon.