The Spot Healing Brush is Photoshop’s answer to a lot of photo touch-ups. In this quick tip tutorial, you’ll learn the basics of the Spot Healing Brush Tool and how you can use it to repair, smooth, and remove unwanted portions of an image. This versatile tool is surprisingly easy to use and effective when it comes to touching up your images.
Fan of video tutorials? Then you can’t miss this new video by Abbey Esparza from the Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel. Learn everything you need to know about the Photoshop spot healing brush:
What You’ll Learn
- How to fix blemishes and cracks with the Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop
- How to remove objects with the spot healing brush
- How to remove tattoos in Photoshop
What You’ll Need
For the purposes of this tutorial, I’ll be using this Hand with tattoos photo from Envato Elements to demonstrate how to use the Photoshop spot healing brush. We’ll be removing tattoos from skin, and it will look as if they were never there.
If you’re looking for photos to work with, try out Envato Elements. It has tons of photos in high quality, making them perfect for practicing photo retouching.
The results are great, and the process is actually quite simple. Follow this Photoshop healing brush tutorial and try it out for yourself.
1. How to Use the Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop
Step 1
There are tons of ways to use the Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop. Today, let’s use it to remove some of the smaller tattoos on this arm.
Step 2
Let’s set up our space before we get ready. First, you’ll want to ensure you have the Spot Healing Brush tool available in your toolbar. You can find the Spot Healing Bush in the left toolbar next to the Eyedropper tool.
Tip: If you don’t see a toolbar, then go to Windows > Tools.
Click and hold on the Healing Brush icon and specifically make sure to select the Spot Healing Brush Tool icon. Notice how the spot healing brush icon looks like a bandaid with a circle behind it.
Step 3
At the top of your canvas, you’ll notice there are a handful of settings associated with the Spot Healing Brush. Make sure that the Mode is Normal. Type should be Content-Aware.
Step 4
We will be doing our spot healing on a new layer, so make sure Sample All Layers is checked.
This will allow us to keep our changes on a separate layer from the image while still using the tool.
Step 5
Create a new layer above the background.
Step 6
Now, with the Spot Healing Brush Tool selected, select a Size for your brush at the top left or use the [ and ] keys to quickly adjust the brush Size.
There is no exact science to how big your brush should be, but I would suggest making it a little wider than the size of the cracks.
Click and then drag the Spot Healing Brush over a part of the tattoo near the elbow.
Step 7
Once you let go, the changes will process, and boom! That section of tattoo is gone.
If your results don’t look quite as nice, undo your action by using Control-Z. Then try it out again. There are a lot of factors that come into play. Try changing your brush size and the shape you create. Sometimes, you will find you need a little trial and error.
When dealing with larger pieces, it’s a good idea to work in chunks.
Step 8
Continue repeating the above step until all the smaller tattoos are gone.
2. What Else Can I Use the Spot Cleaning For?
Now that you’ve gotten your feet wet with the Spot Healing Brush Tool, you can start thinking about ways to make practical use of it. Of course, as we discovered, we can clean up small details from photos. It can also be used to touch up faces and other blemishes of any kind.
You can try removing some graffiti from a wall, for example. Apply the brush to the bricks and door, treating each part like its own individual segment.
Phew, that takes care of some of it. This door’s going to need a lot of scrubbing, though!
Perhaps we should take care of the problem at its source. Try your hands at removing an object. We can just apply the Spot Healing Brush Tool to the spray paint can, as we did with the rocks.
Poof, and no more paint!
Notice on that last image you can see some odd shapes hanging off the collar. Using the Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop does have its limitations. When there is not a lot of visual noise or rough texture around the area, it can have some odd results, especially on the edges where different contrasts and colors meet.
The Spot Healing Brush also has trouble when working with clean, symmetrical shapes which are facing you head on. For these things, we would have to make use of selections and other photo manipulation techniques in conjunction with the Spot Healing Brush.
How to Take This to the Next Level
Interested in a crash course in Photoshop? Then check out this awesome YouTube tutorial, which covers how to use the Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop, as well as everything else you need to get started. Once you’re done, you’ll be so accustomed to using Photoshop that you’ll never ask “Where is my spot healing brush in Photoshop?” again!
We hope you found this quick tip on using the Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop useful and that you’ve been inspired to try out these techniques on your next project. Also, take your photo manipulation skills further with these amazing tutorials from Envato Tuts+.