User Guide Cancel

Remove objects from your photos with Content-Aware Fill

  1. Photoshop User Guide
  2. Introduction to Photoshop
    1. Dream it. Make it.
    2. What's new in Photoshop
    3. Edit your first photo
    4. Create documents
    5. Photoshop | Common Questions
    6. Photoshop system requirements
    7. Get to know Photoshop
    8. Keep Photoshop up to date
  3. Photoshop and other Adobe products and services
    1. Work with Illustrator artwork in Photoshop
    2. Work with Photoshop files in InDesign
    3. Substance 3D Materials for Photoshop
    4. Use the Capture in-app extension in Photoshop
  4. Photoshop on the iPad (not available in mainland China)
    1. Photoshop on the iPad | Common questions
    2. Get to know the workspace
    3. System requirements | Photoshop on the iPad
    4. Create, open, and export documents
    5. Add photos
    6. Work with layers
    7. Draw and paint with brushes
    8. Make selections and add masks
    9. Retouch your composites
    10. Work with adjustment layers
    11. Adjust the tonality of your composite with Curves
    12. Apply transform operations
    13. Crop and rotate your composites
    14. Rotate, pan, zoom, and reset the canvas
    15. Work with Type layers
    16. Work with Photoshop and Lightroom
    17. Get missing fonts in Photoshop on the iPad
    18. Japanese Text in Photoshop on the iPad
    19. Manage app settings
    20. Touch shortcuts and gestures
    21. Keyboard shortcuts
    22. Edit your image size
    23. Livestream as you create in Photoshop on the iPad
    24. Correct imperfections with the Healing Brush
    25. Create brushes in Capture and use them in Photoshop on the iPad
    26. Work with Camera Raw files
    27. Create and work with Smart Objects
    28. Adjust exposure in your images with Dodge and Burn
    29. Auto adjustment commands in Photoshop on the iPad
    30. Smudge areas in your images with Photoshop on the iPad
    31. Saturate or desaturate your images using Sponge tool
    32. Content aware fill for iPad
  5. Photoshop on the web (not available in mainland China)
    1. Common questions
    2. System requirements
    3. Keyboard shortcuts
    4. Supported file types
    5. Introduction to the workspace
    6. Open and work with cloud documents
    7. Generative AI features
    8. Basic concepts of editing
    9. Quick Actions
    10. Work with layers
    11. Retouch images and remove imperfections
    12. Make quick selections
    13. Image improvements with Adjustment Layers
    14. Add a fill layer
    15. Move, transform, and crop images
    16. Draw and paint
    17. Draw and edit Shapes
    18. Work with Type layers
    19. Work with anyone on the web
    20. Manage app settings
    21. Generate Image
    22. Generate Background
    23. Reference Image
  6. Photoshop (beta) (not available in mainland China)
    1. Get started with Creative Cloud Beta apps
    2. Photoshop (beta) on the desktop
    3. Reference Image
  7. Generative AI (not available in mainland China) 
    1. Common questions on generative AI in Photoshop
    2. Generative Fill in Photoshop on the desktop
    3. Generate Image with descriptive text prompts
    4. Generative Expand in Photoshop on the desktop
    5. Replace background with Generate background
    6. Get new variations with Generate Similar
    7. Generative Fill in Photoshop on the iPad
    8. Generative Expand in Photoshop on the iPad
    9. Generative AI features in Photoshop on the web
  8. Content authenticity (not available in mainland China)
    1. Content credentials in Photoshop
    2. Identity and provenance for NFTs
    3. Connect accounts for creative attribution
  9. Cloud documents (not available in mainland China)
    1. Photoshop cloud documents | Common questions
    2. Photoshop cloud documents | Workflow questions
    3. Manage and work with cloud documents in Photoshop
    4. Upgrade cloud storage for Photoshop
    5. Unable to create or save a cloud document
    6. Solve Photoshop cloud document errors
    7. Collect cloud document sync logs
    8. Invite others to edit your cloud documents
    9. Share files and comment in-app
  10. Workspace
    1. Workspace basics
    2. Preferences
    3. Learn faster with the Photoshop Discover Panel
    4. Create documents
    5. Place files
    6. Default keyboard shortcuts
    7. Customize keyboard shortcuts
    8. Tool galleries
    9. Performance preferences
    10. Use tools
    11. Presets
    12. Grid and guides
    13. Touch gestures
    14. Use the Touch Bar with Photoshop
    15. Touch capabilities and customizable workspaces
    16. Technology previews
    17. Metadata and notes
    18. Place Photoshop images in other applications
    19. Rulers
    20. Show or hide non-printing Extras
    21. Specify columns for an image
    22. Undo and history
    23. Panels and menus
    24. Position elements with snapping
    25. Position with the Ruler tool
  11. Web, screen, and app design
    1. Photoshop for design
    2. Artboards
    3. Device Preview
    4. Copy CSS from layers
    5. Slice web pages
    6. HTML options for slices
    7. Modify slice layout
    8. Work with web graphics
    9. Create web photo galleries
  12. Image and color basics
    1. How to resize images
    2. Work with raster and vector images
    3. Image size and resolution
    4. Acquire images from cameras and scanners
    5. Create, open, and import images
    6. View images
    7. Invalid JPEG Marker error | Opening images
    8. Viewing multiple images
    9. Customize color pickers and swatches
    10. High dynamic range images
    11. Match colors in your image
    12. Convert between color modes
    13. Color modes
    14. Erase parts of an image
    15. Blending modes
    16. Choose colors
    17. Customize indexed color tables
    18. Image information
    19. Distort filters are unavailable
    20. About color
    21. Color and monochrome adjustments using channels
    22. Choose colors in the Color and Swatches panels
    23. Sample
    24. Color mode or Image mode
    25. Color cast
    26. Add a conditional mode change to an action
    27. Add swatches from HTML CSS and SVG
    28. Bit depth and preferences
  13. Layers
    1. Layer basics
    2. Nondestructive editing
    3. Create and manage layers and groups
    4. Select, group, and link layers
    5. Place images into frames
    6. Layer opacity and blending
    7. Mask layers
    8. Apply Smart Filters
    9. Layer comps
    10. Move, stack, and lock layers
    11. Mask layers with vector masks
    12. Manage layers and groups
    13. Layer effects and styles
    14. Edit layer masks
    15. Extract assets
    16. Reveal layers with clipping masks
    17. Generate image assets from layers
    18. Work with Smart Objects
    19. Blending modes
    20. Combine multiple images into a group portrait
    21. Combine images with Auto-Blend Layers
    22. Align and distribute layers
    23. Copy CSS from layers
    24. Load selections from a layer or layer mask's boundaries
    25. Knockout to reveal content from other layers
  14. Selections
    1. Get started with selections
    2. Make selections in your composite
    3. Select and Mask workspace
    4. Select with the marquee tools
    5. Select with the lasso tools
    6. Adjust pixel selections
    7. Move, copy, and delete selected pixels
    8. Create a temporary quick mask
    9. Select a color range in an image
    10. Convert between paths and selection borders
    11. Channel basics
    12. Save selections and alpha channel masks
    13. Select the image areas in focus
    14. Duplicate, split, and merge channels
    15. Channel calculations
  15. Image adjustments
    1. Replace object colors
    2. Perspective warp
    3. Reduce camera shake blurring
    4. Healing brush examples
    5. Export color lookup tables
    6. Adjust image sharpness and blur
    7. Understand color adjustments
    8. Apply a Brightness/Contrast adjustment
    9. Adjust shadow and highlight detail
    10. Levels adjustment
    11. Adjust hue and saturation
    12. Adjust vibrance
    13. Adjust color saturation in image areas
    14. Make quick tonal adjustments
    15. Apply special color effects to images
    16. Enhance your image with color balance adjustments
    17. High dynamic range images
    18. View histograms and pixel values
    19. Match colors in your image
    20. Crop and straighten photos
    21. Convert a color image to black and white
    22. Adjustment and fill layers
    23. Curves adjustment
    24. Blending modes
    25. Target images for press
    26. Adjust color and tone with Levels and Curves eyedroppers
    27. Adjust HDR exposure and toning
    28. Dodge or burn image areas
    29. Make selective color adjustments
  16. Adobe Camera Raw
    1. Camera Raw system requirements
    2. What's new in Camera Raw
    3. Introduction to Camera Raw
    4. Create panoramas
    5. Supported lenses
    6. Vignette, grain, and dehaze effects in Camera Raw
    7. Default keyboard shortcuts
    8. Automatic perspective correction in Camera Raw
    9. Radial Filter in Camera Raw
    10. Manage Camera Raw settings
    11. Open, process, and save images in Camera Raw
    12. Repair images with the Enhanced Spot Removal tool in Camera Raw
    13. Rotate, crop, and adjust images
    14. Adjust color rendering in Camera Raw
    15. Process versions in Camera Raw
    16. Make local adjustments in Camera Raw
  17. Image repair and restoration
    1. Remove Tool
    2. Remove objects from your photos with Content-Aware Fill
    3. Content-Aware Patch and Move
    4. Retouch and repair photos
    5. Correct image distortion and noise
    6. Basic troubleshooting steps to fix most issues
  18. Image enhancement and transformation
    1. Replace sky in your images
    2. Transform objects
    3. Adjust crop, rotation, and canvas size
    4. How to crop and straighten photos
    5. Create and edit panoramic images
    6. Warp images, shapes, and paths
    7. Vanishing Point
    8. Content-aware scaling
    9. Transform images, shapes, and paths
  19. Drawing and painting
    1. Paint symmetrical patterns
    2. Draw rectangles and modify stroke options
    3. About drawing
    4. Draw and edit shapes
    5. Painting tools
    6. Create and modify brushes
    7. Blending modes
    8. Add color to paths
    9. Edit paths
    10. Paint with the Mixer Brush
    11. Brush presets
    12. Gradients
    13. Gradient interpolation
    14. Fill and stroke selections, layers, and paths
    15. Draw with the Pen tools
    16. Create patterns
    17. Generate a pattern using the Pattern Maker
    18. Manage paths
    19. Manage pattern libraries and presets
    20. Draw or paint with a graphics tablet
    21. Create textured brushes
    22. Add dynamic elements to brushes
    23. Gradient
    24. Paint stylized strokes with the Art History Brush
    25. Paint with a pattern
    26. Sync presets on multiple devices
    27. Migrate presets, actions, and settings
  20. Text
    1. Add and edit the text
    2. Unified Text Engine
    3. Work with OpenType SVG fonts
    4. Format characters
    5. Format paragraphs
    6. How to create type effects
    7. Edit text
    8. Line and character spacing
    9. Arabic and Hebrew type
    10. Fonts
    11. Troubleshoot fonts
    12. Asian type
    13. Create type
  21. Filters and effects
    1. Use the Blur Gallery
    2. Filter basics
    3. Filter effects reference
    4. Add Lighting Effects
    5. Use the Adaptive Wide Angle filter
    6. Use the Oil Paint filter
    7. Use the Liquify filter
    8. Layer effects and styles
    9. Apply specific filters
    10. Smudge image areas
  22. Saving and exporting
    1. Save your files in Photoshop
    2. Export your files in Photoshop
    3. Supported file formats
    4. Save files in graphics formats
    5. Move designs between Photoshop and Illustrator
    6. Save and export video and animations
    7. Save PDF files
    8. Digimarc copyright protection
  23. Color Management
    1. Understanding color management
    2. Keeping colors consistent
    3. Color settings
    4. Duotones
    5. Work with color profiles
    6. Color-managing documents for online viewing
    7. Color-managing documents when printing
    8. Color-managing imported images
    9. Proofing colors
  24. Web, screen, and app design
    1. Photoshop for design
    2. Artboards
    3. Device Preview
    4. Copy CSS from layers
    5. Slice web pages
    6. HTML options for slices
    7. Modify slice layout
    8. Work with web graphics
    9. Create web photo galleries
  25. Video and animation
    1. Video editing in Photoshop
    2. Edit video and animation layers
    3. Video and animation overview
    4. Preview video and animations
    5. Paint frames in video layers
    6. Import video files and image sequences
    7. Create frame animations
    8. Creative Cloud 3D Animation (Preview)
    9. Create timeline animations
    10. Create images for video
  26. Printing
    1. Print 3D objects
    2. Print from Photoshop
    3. Print with color management
    4. Contact Sheets and PDF Presentations
    5. Print photos in a picture package layout
    6. Print spot colors
    7. Print images to a commercial printing press
    8. Improve color prints from Photoshop
    9. Troubleshoot printing problems | Photoshop
  27. Automation
    1. Creating actions
    2. Create data-driven graphics
    3. Scripting
    4. Process a batch of files
    5. Play and manage actions
    6. Add conditional actions
    7. About actions and the Actions panel
    8. Record tools in actions
    9. Add a conditional mode change to an action
    10. Photoshop UI toolkit for plug-ins and scripts
  28. Troubleshooting
    1. Fixed issues 
    2. Known issues
    3. Optimize Photoshop performance
    4. Basic troubleshooting
    5. Troubleshoot crash or freeze
    6. Troubleshoot program errors
    7. Troubleshoot scratch disk full errors
    8. Troubleshoot GPU and graphics driver issues
    9. Find missing tools
    10. Photoshop 3D | Common questions around discontinued features

Learn to use the Content-Aware Fill workspace to seamlessly fill selected portions of an image with content sampled from other parts of the image

Adobe Photoshop deeplink

Try it in the app
Follow along with a sample file to learn how to use Content-Aware Fill.

Topics in the article:

The Content-Aware Fill workspace provides an interactive editing experience for ultimate image control. Use the live full-resolution preview as you refine the sampling area Content-Aware Fill uses and adjust the settings to achieve amazing results.

Content-Aware Fill workspace
Content-Aware Fill workspace

Watch the short video below to learn how to use Content-Aware Fill in Photoshop.

Read the full article to understand the step details. 

Quickly remove objects with Content-Aware Fill

Learn how to remove objects with the Content-Aware Fill workspace in four simple steps

  1. Select the object

    Make a quick selection of an object you want to remove using Select Subject, the Object Selection Tool, the Quick Selection Tool, or the Magic Wand Tool

    Select an object to remove
    Select an object to remove

  2. Open Content-Aware Fill

    • Right-click within the selection and choose Content-Aware Fill…
    • Choose Edit > Content-Aware Fill...
    Right-click and choose Content-Aware Fill...
    Right-click and choose Content-Aware Fill...

  3. Refine the selection

    Easily expand the selection edges around your object by selecting a Lasso tool from the left Toolbar and clicking the Expand button one or more times in the Options bar at the top. If you've expanded the selection too much, use the Contract button or Undo to reduce the selection edges.

  4. Click OK when you're happy with the fill results

    Click OK when done!
    Click OK when done!

Check out Julieanne Kost discussing the many Photoshop innovations in selection creation and enhancements to Content-Aware Fill: AI Improvements to Photoshop

Use tools to fine-tune sampling and fill areas

Sampling Brush Tool

Paint with the Sampling Brush Tool in the document window to add or remove sampled image areas used to fill the selection.

Sampling brush tool
Modify the sampling area using the Sampling Brush Tool.

  • To add to the default sampling area, choose the Add mode in the Tool Options bar and brush over the areas in the image you want to include in the sampling area overlay. 
  • To remove from the default sampling area, choose the Subtract mode in the Tool Options bar and brush over the areas in the image you want to exclude from the sampling area overlay. 
  • To toggle between Add and Subtract modes, hold down Alt (Windows) / Option (macOS) key while brushing with the Sampling Brush Tool.
  • To increase or decrease the Sampling Brush size, use the Size option in the Tool Options bar or use the left/right bracket keys.    

Selection refinement tools

Use either the Lasso Tool or Polygonal Lasso Tool to change or modify your original selection (fill area) in the document window.

To learn more, see Select with the lasso tools

Lasso tool
Modify your selection using the Lasso or Polygonal Lasso Tool.

  • Press 'E' to cycle through the Lasso Tool selection modes - New Selection, Add To Selection, Subtract From Selection, and Intersect With Selection
  • With the either Lasso Tool selected, use the Expand button to and Contract buttons to expand You can click these options in the Tool Options bar to expand or contract the selection by a specified number of pixels.     
  • To reset all changes made in this workspace to the original selection, click the reset () icon in the Tool Options bar. 
Note:

When you change the selection, the sampling area gets reset but the previous brush strokes are preserved. The selection also gets updated in the document when you exit the Content-Aware Fill workspace after committing the fill.

Hand Tool: Pan over different parts of the image in the document window and the Preview panel. You can quickly toggle to the Hand Tool by holding the 'Spacebar' key while using any other tool.

Zoom Tool: Magnify or reduce the view of the image in the document window or the Preview panel. To learn more, see Zoom in or out

To change magnification level in the Preview panel, drag the zoom slider at the bottom of the panel or manually type a zoom percentage value in the text box.

Adjust Content-Aware Fill settings

You can adjust the following settings in the Content-Aware Fill panel.

Sampling Area Overlay

Show Sampling Area

Select this option to show the sampling area or the excluded area as an overlay on the image in the document window.

  • To reset to default sampling area, click the reset () icon next to the Show Sampling Area option.

Opacity

Sets the opacity of the overlay displayed in the document window. To adjust the opacity, drag the slider or type a percentage value in the text box. 

Color

Assigns color to the overlay displayed in the document window. Click the color selection box and then choose a color from Adobe Color Picker

Indicates

Shows the overlay in the sampling or the excluded area. Choose an option from the drop-down list - Sampling Area or Excluded Area.

Sampling Area Options

Determine the sampling area in your image where you want Photoshop to look for source pixels to fill content.

Auto

Select this option to use content similar to surrounding fill area.

Rectangular

Select this option to use rectangular region around fill area. 

Custom

Select this option to manually define a sampling area. Use the Sampling Brush Tool to add to the sampling area.

Sample All Layers

Select this option to sample source pixels from all the visible layers in your document.

Fill Settings

Color Adaptation

Allows contrast and brightness to adapt for a better match. This setting is useful for filling content with gradual color or texture changes. Choose an appropriate option from the drop-down list - None, Default, High, or Very High.

Color Adaptation
Use the Color Adaptation setting to fill content with gradual color or texture changes.

Rotation Adaptation

Allows content rotation for a better match. This setting is useful for filling content with rotated or curved patterns. Choose an appropriate option from the drop-down list - None, Low, Medium, High, or Full.

Rotation Adaptation
Use the Rotation Adaptation setting to fill content with rotated or curved patterns.

Scale

Select this option to allow content resizing for a better match. It works well for filling content with repeating patterns of different sizes or under perspective.

Scale
Use the Scale option for filling content with repeating patterns of different sizes or under perspective.

Mirror

Select this option to allow content to be flipped horizontally for a better match. This is useful for images with horizontal symmetry.

Mirror
Use the Mirror option to fill images with horizontal symmetry.

To reset to default fill settings, click the reset () icon in the Fill Settings menu.

Output settings

Output To

Apply Content-Aware Fill to Current Layer, New Layer, or Duplicate Layer.

View full-resolution preview in the Preview panel

As you fine-tune sampling and fill areas and adjust fill settings, the Preview panel renders a full-resolution preview of the changes. 

Note:

Photoshop first renders an initial low-resolution preview of the changes in the Preview panel. Immediately after, it generates a full-resolution preview. While this full-resolution preview is being generated, you may notice that a warning icon appears next to the spinner in the lower-right corner of the Preview panel.

  • To change the magnification of the preview image, you can drag the zoom slider or type a value in the text box at the bottom of the panel. You can also select Zoom Tool in the Tools panel.
  • To pan over different parts of the preview image, you can switch to Hand Tool quickly by pressing 'H' while using any other tool.

Apply multiple fill changes

Introduced in Photoshop 21.1 (February 2020 release)

You can fill multiple portions of the image without leaving the Content-Aware Fill workspace. After you get the desired fill result for a selection in your image, do the following: 

  1. Click Apply at the bottom of the Content-Aware Fill panel to commit fill and keep the workspace open.
  2. Now, use Lasso Tool or Polygonal Lasso Tool within the Content-Aware Fill workspace to make a new selection to fill.

Commit or cancel fill changes

  • To commit fill and close the Content-Aware Fill workspace, click OK at the bottom of the Content-Aware Fill panel or press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) when you get the desired fill result in the image.
  • To cancel fill and close the Content-Aware Fill workspace, click Cancel at the bottom of the Content-Aware Fill panel or press Esc.   

Reset all fill settings

To reset all Content-Aware Fill settings, click the reset () icon in the lower-left corner of the Content-Aware Fill panel.      


Get help faster and easier

New user?