Photoshop Tutorial | Removing Watermarks

Removing Watermarks (Without Cropping)

Yes. Watermarks. About one of the most annoying little things that always happen to get in your way when you are editing a photo.

But removing them actually turns out to be a lot simpler than it sounds (luckily for us).

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Here is the photo i will be starting with:

Suzy Bae (from the korean girl group missA, or my dearest maknae bby) 

As you can see, there is a big nuisance of a watermark in the bottom right.

So to get rid of this watermark (without cropping!)  we first need to start with the "spot healing brush tool". Which is seven down on your tool panel at the far left and looks like a bandage.

You can adjust the size, hardness, and spacing to your liking. Or just do what i do, and go with the default settings.

Click on that.

Next, zoom in on your watermark. 

And make light clicks around the watermark. 

The principle of the "Spot Healing Brush" is simple. It replaces the mark/object/blemish you want to get rid of with the background behind it. 

Its one of my favorite tools, but definitely nowhere near perfect. Sometimes you may have to click a few times at the same spot to get the result you want.

Here are some tips to consider:

1) When working with a close-to solid color in the background (ex: skin, sky, ground) you may drag the brush around & it will work fine. Not so much on an uneven surface however.

2) If you are working with "delicate" areas in which you do not want to disturb the background. Try making your brush head smaller, zooming in, and clicking on the desired areas you want to change.  

3) The "Spot Healing Brush", similiarly to the clone tool, is one of the most frustrating yet useful tools of Photoshop. Something to keep in mind.

Here is my result:

Its a little blotchy but it works. And plus, when you add your coloring, it's harder to notice the imperfections.

I spent around 5 minutes on this, but if you dedicate more time & effort, you can achieve a more flawless looking watermark-removed-pictures.

Here is my final result + a quick coloring:

This is one i did previously in the past (& spent more time on)

As you can see, you wouldn't have guessed there was a watermark in the first place.

I hope this was helpful and thank you for reading! If there is any confusions, feel free to drop a question below.

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