How to Correct Image Imperfections in Photoshop

Ever wonder what makes the models in the fashion magazines look so great? Here's a hint: it isn't the clothes. Photoshop is an amazing piece of software, able to create everything from utterly fantastic and unique images to correcting even the tiniest of blotches and flaws on an existing image. Whether you're a professional photographer or just looking to put together that perfect photo album, these small-medium scale image correction techniques will let you create the most picture-perfect pictures you've ever seen.

Instructions

The clone stamp

1. 

   Select the clone stamp tool from the main tool bar. The clone stamp is a dynamic stamp that you can change on the fly. Instead of using a single image like a traditional stamp or stamp tool, you can copy a selection of the image you are working with and use that as a stamp for other areas of the photo.

2. Find areas on your image that would benefit from the stamp tool. These are essentially areas that should match a uniform surrounding look, but don't for some reason. Examples might be a blemish on someone's face, an unwanted spot of glare, or red eye. You can even remove entire clouds from the sky, boats from water, or similar large objects from uniform backdrops.

3. Hold the option key to bring up the "capture" setting of the clone stamp tool. This is how you change what the stamp actually puts on the image. Click on a spot that you want to use as a stamp.

4. Release the option key. You now have a stamp of whatever you just selected using the capture setting.

5. Use the stamp to even out flaws, imperfections and uneven spots. Each click of the mouse will apply one stamp.

The spot healing brush

1. Select the spot healing brush. This tool is like the clone stamp tool, but instead of letting you define the part of the image that will replace the flaw, Photoshop will attempt to read the patterns and colors of surrounding pixels to fill in the area you select with the spot healing brush. Essentially, when you make a selection with the spot healing brush, whatever is immediately next to and outside that selection will be used fill in the selection.

2. Find areas on your image that would benefit from the spot healing brush. The spot healing brush is like a less precise version of the clone stamp tool, but it is faster in some situations, like when you have an imperfection in a large uniform area. It's also good for use on lines, such as wrinkles around the eyes or mouth, as you can click and drag a selection with the spot healing tool. Essentially, you can trace the entire length of a line instead of stamping all along its length.

3. Click and drag your cursor across the area you would like to correct in a painting motion. Be careful not to get too far away from whatever you are correcting.

The eyedropper/brush tool combo

1. Learn these keyboard shortcuts for the eyedropper tool and the brush tool: press "I" for the eyedropper and "B" for the brush tool. You will be switching back and forth between these tools early and often, so knowing and using these shortcuts is essential. Using this combo is like using a more precise version of the clone stamp, as you will be painting with individual colors instead of a selection of the actual image.

2. Find areas on your image that would benefit from the eyedropper/brush tool combo. Many areas that seem like they would benefit from the clone stamp, but are too intricate to actually use the clone stamp, are good candidates. Examples include areas where you want an element out of your image but wish to preserve the look of lighting and shadows, or making small changes to the shapes of objects such as a building, car, plant or even facial features. Think of this combination being to Photoshop what a very small paintbrush is to a canvas.

3. Select the eyedropper tool by pressing "I" on the keyboard.

4. Identify a usable/prevalent color near the area you want to correct. Click on that color with the eyedropper tool.

5. Select the brush tool by pressing "B" on the keyboard.

6. Use the brush tool to reduce or expand the target area. Do this with a very small brush, and in a very short motion. Often a single click will be enough.

7. Switch back to the eyedropper. Select a new but similar color to continue painting with. It is important to paint with the same spectrum of colors that exist in the surrounding image to create a realistic feel.

8. Continue switching back and forth between tools, making small strokes with the brush and switching to a slightly different color often. This method will take awhile to get hold of and shouldn't be used on larger areas, but it can be a great tool when you get the hang of it.

The burn and dodge tools

1. Select the dodge tool if you would like to make an area of an image lighter. Use it like a paintbrush. The more you paint, the lighter the target area will become.

2. Select the burn tool if you would like to make an area of an image darker.

3. Be careful not to use these tools too much. One of the fastest ways to make an image feel fake is to mess with lighting and shadows.

Liquefy

1. Use the liquefy tool if you would like to change the shape of an object more than is advisable or practical using the eyedropper/brush tool combo.

2. Select the liquefy tool. It is located under the "filters" pull-down menu on the main menu bar at the top of the screen. You will be taken to a separate workspace where your image will be displayed for alteration. You can zoom in and out just like you can in the main work area. You will find a new tool bar on the left. These tools can be used to warp your image in different ways, or to reduce or remove warps you have already made.

3. Select the forward warp tool.

4. Click and drag areas of your image you would like to warp. Do this very slightly, then release and apply to adjacent areas of the same object to "catch up" the rest of the object to create a uniform warp on that object.

5. Select the reconstruct tool if you took a warp too far or want to take out a warp altogether. You can also click on cancel, which will quit out of the liquefy work area without applying any changes to your image, and start over.

Tips & Warnings

• As with many operations in Photoshop, the less you can actually change your image to gain your desired effect the better the end result will look. Always start with smaller tools and work your way up to bigger instead of the other way around.

• If you're having trouble finding a tool, roll your mouse over the different tools and wait for the name of the tool to pop up.

• When using the eyedropper/brush tool combo, you will often be selecting the color in a single pixel of an image.

• Each time you click with the clone stamp, spot healing brush or brush tool you are creating a unique action in the history palette. Do this enough times, and you will lose the ability to return to previous builds of the image you are working on.

• Each of the tools and methods listed above corrects an image by selectively destroying or degrading a part of it. Because of this, it's best not to try adding things to an image with these methods, but rather removing things or covering things up. There are ways to add to an image using the above tools, but there are many other, better ways to do so.