Gimme Some Oven

2 Easy Ways To Edit Out Crumbs (Or Other Small Imperfections) In Photoshop

2 Easy Ways To Edit Out Crumbs In Photoshop | gimmesomeoven.com

I’m not opposed to crumbs or small imperfections in photos at all…when they’re intentional. But when they show up after I have already gone through the entire process of shooting a recipe and I totally didn’t want them there, well then it’s me vs. the crumbs.

And with two quick options to get rid of them in Photoshop, I always win. ;)

Here’s how to fight crumbs. (Or stains. Or spills. Or random drops of your coffee that somehow accidentally splotch onto your background while you’re trying to press on to get that perfect shot.)

 

2 Easy Ways To Edit Out Crumbs In Photoshop | gimmesomeoven.com

Spot Healing Brush

The first crumb-fighting tool is the Spot Healing Brush. This thing should be called “magic”, because that’s pretty much what it is.

2 Easy Ways To Edit Out Crumbs In Photoshop | gimmesomeoven.com

To use the Spot Healing Brush, just click the little band-aid in the left-hand toolbar. And be sure that your “Background” layer (or whatever layer you’re editing) is selected in the Layers menu.

2 Easy Ways To Edit Out Crumbs In Photoshop | gimmesomeoven.com

Then a nice little circle will pop up. Simply hover that circle over your crumb and click.

2 Easy Ways To Edit Out Crumbs In Photoshop | gimmesomeoven.com

And voila! It will disappear! Feel free to push the + sign to increase the size of your circle, or the – sign to decrease it. And if clicking the crumb once doesn’t make it disappear, you can click it a few more times and hopefully it will.

The Spot Healing Brush bases the “healing” on the colors and graphics that are around the area you’re clicking. So if it’s a really busy image, this might not work as well. But for a white surface like this, it’s quick and easy and works almost every time.

2 Easy Ways To Edit Out Crumbs In Photoshop | gimmesomeoven.com

Clone Stamp Tool

This is the tool that I used for many years before discovering the Spot Healing Brush. And it is technically much more accurate and gives you more control than the Spot Healing Brush, but takes a smidgen of extra effort.

2 Easy Ways To Edit Out Crumbs In Photoshop | gimmesomeoven.com

To use the Clone Stamp Tool, just click the little stamp in the left-hand toolbar. And be sure that your “Background” layer (or whatever layer you’re editing) is selected in the Layers menu. You can also adjust the opacity of the Clone Stamp above, but I almost always keep mine on 100% to fully stamp out the crumb.

Use the + or – buttons to create a circle that is just slightly larger than the crumb you want to stamp out. Then hold down the Alt/Option key (on a Mac) and click on an area right next to the crumb, but not touching the crumb. This basically saves whatever area you clicked into the stamp’s memory. So then move the circle on top of the crumb, lift up on the Alt/Option key, and click on the crumb. Then, the area that you copied will essentially be pasted on top of the crumb.

Sounds complicated, but it’s really easy to do. And the visual looks exactly like the Spot Healing Brush, so I won’t include repeat images of the before/after again.

Both of these tools also allow you to click-and-drag along the image. But most of the time, I just use each of them in small clicks.

So in summary, if you feel like taking your chances and the crumb is sitting on a relatively even surface, go with the Spot Healing Brush. If the background is much more varied or if you’re worried about accuracy, or if you want the option of adjusting the opacity of the fix, use the Clone Stamp Tool.

Note: The delicious soup pictured in this tutorial is none other than my favorite Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup. You should make some, even if crumbs are involved.

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