Sometimes you think you snap a perfect picture – only to find out later that there’s dust on your camera’s sensor, or a fly buzzing on your model’s face! In this installment of F.I.R.S.T. Quick Tips, Brandon covers how to quickly remove imperfections with the Healing Brush tool.
The Healing Brush Tool
The first thing you want to do is create a new layer by going to the “Layers” tab and clicking the “Add” button (looks like a plus). Name this new layer “Adjustments” – we will be making changes to this layer instead of the original, so the changes are non-destructive.
Select the Spot Healing Brush from the toolbar, and make sure “Sample All Layers” is selected at the top of the screen. Now you can “paint” over the areas you want to clean up with your cursor. Photoshop will automatically use the surrounding areas of the image to fix any imperfections. This method does have its limits, but for small smudges and marks, you can make your changes virtually unnoticeable!
If you turn off the Adjustments layer, the changes you made will disappear. If you turn off the original layer below, you can see all the areas you painted. Neat!
