When it comes to photo manipulation, Photoshop has been the undisputed leader of the pack for decades. Like Kleenex, Xerox and Velcro, by virtue of it’s name alone it is the de facto tool for almost all digital image alterations. It’s well earned exalted status however, does not mean it is the best option for every person or every job. Sometimes it helps to have alternatives in ones kit to complete smaller specific tasks in a pinch. From time to time we will highlight these tools that are readily available for those that don’t need the full firepower of the Adobe suite.
Today’s free option is Cleanup Pictures and it does what it says it does; fast, easy and, as mentioned, for free. Most of us have taken a picture that would be perfect “if only”. This family vacation shot would have been great if only that weirdo wasn’t acting out behind Granny. That dinner selfie would have been fantastic if only you didn’t have wine stains on your top. Sometimes pictures could use a quick touch up and Cleanup Pictures is nice to have around. All one needs do is load an image onto the site, select the area in question and let it do it’s thing. This web app was developed by ClipDrop which makes other digital tools for creating professional product visuals without a photo studio. The technology used is called LaMa which stands for large mask inpainting and is from Samsung’s AI Lab. It analyzes photos to recreate and fill in the area from the object that is being removed. It is not a Holy Grail when it comes to extremely complex scenes but can be a sufficient fix for shots with misplaced objects. Give it a go on one of your next projects and let us know how it works out for you.