Archivesfix background

Content Aware Scale

This is a great tool where Photoshop reads the surrounding photo (content aware) when we crop it, and attempts to stretch the background, without disfiguring or altering the subject of the photo.

This obviously has varying degrees of success, and the more you ask it to do, the harder its job will be, so smaller areas usually work best.

Similarly, it will have an easier time figuring out how to stretch areas that don’t have a lot of detail (eg., soft blurry backgrounds) compared to detailed natural things like tree branches/leaves or natural bokeh which will quickly look stretched and weird if you do it too much.

As always, it’s important to double check what Photoshop has done, to make sure there aren’t any weird lines and that your subject hasn’t accidentally become a bit distorted.

If they have, maybe consider scaling a less large section of image.

1. Get your image layer ready

Because we’re using a tool which reads and alters pixels, we will not be able to use our smart object for this tool, because it is prohibited from altering pixels.

Therefore, the first thing we need to do is create a layer that isn’t a smart object, where Photoshop can stretch the background when we extend the frame.

I highly recommend that if you have any adjustment layers already that you group them and click the eye icon to turn them off. 

Then, you have two options.

  1. Simply create a duplicate layer of your smart object. Right click and select “Rasterise Layer.” Or even just click anywhere on the image with your brush tool. A warning box will pop up, asking if you want to rasterise the layer. Click “ok”
  2. If you have already done some other work on the background, eg., copy/paste & flip or something where you have significantly altered the background, you may want to make a flat (or “smooshed”) layer. This layer will make a copy of all your currently visible layers, wherever you created it. Use the keyboard “shortcut”: Crtl/cmd + option/alt + shift + e

2. Crop

Click on the crop tool, or press C on your keyboard.

Move the crop/frame to wherever you want it. We will stretch the existing background into the transparent area.

3. Content Aware Scale

First, use your rectangular marquee tool to select a large portion of the image. It doesn’t matter if the dog is included. You could also theoretically do this from the entire image, but I tend to want it to stretch a smaller section, rather than the whole thing.

 

Go to Edit > Content Aware Scale

Use the handle at the side you want to stretch. 

Press & hold Shift, then click and drag the image to stretch it. The subject theoretically shouldn’t be affected but keep an eye on them and on the ground around them for it getting too stretched!

Content Aware Crop

This is a great tool where Photoshop reads the surrounding photo (content aware) when we crop it, and attempts to fill in the new empty space with what it thinks “should” be there.

This obviously has varying degrees of success, and the more you ask it to do, the harder its job will be, so smaller areas usually work best.

Similarly, it will have an easier time figuring out how to fill in areas that don’t have a lot of detail (eg., soft blurry backgrounds) compared to detailed natural things like tree branches/leaves or natural bokeh. 

It can also struggle with depth of field, not knowing what’s supposed to be blurry and what’s supposed to be in focus and where that is supposed to happen. 

So, with that being said, it’s very important to check what Photoshop has filled in the empty space where you cropped, checking especially for

  • repeating patterns
  • incorrect depth of field

And then fixing these with another tool, such as clone stamp.

1. Get your image layer ready

Because we’re using a tool which reads and creates new pixels, we will not be able to use our smart object for this tool, because it is prohibited from altering/adding pixels.

Therefore, the first thing we need to do is create a layer that isn’t a smart object, where Photoshop can fill in the empty space when we extend the frame.

I highly recommend that if you have any adjustment layers already that you group them and click the eye icon to turn them off. 

Then, you have two options.

  1. Simply create a duplicate layer of your smart object. Right click and select “Rasterise Layer.” Or even just click anywhere on the image with your brush tool. A warning box will pop up, asking if you want to rasterise the layer. Click “ok”
  2. If you have already done some other work on the background, eg., copy/paste & flip or something where you have significantly altered the background, you may want to make a flat (or “smooshed”) layer. This layer will make a copy of all your currently visible layers, wherever you created it. Use the keyboard “shortcut”: Crtl/cmd + option/alt + shift + e

2. Crop

Click on the crop tool, or press C on your keyboard.

Make sure “content aware crop” is ticked.

Move the crop/frame to wherever you want it. Whatever is transparent will be filled in by Photoshop.

3. Check the Result

Make sure that whatever Photoshop did makes sense. Are there repeating patterns in leaves? Is the depth of field correct? Are there any “weird” bits?

Possibly, the whole thing will be a bit weird!

Don’t despair, we can fix it using other tools.

Another option, if it really doesn’t want to work, would be to try and use the Copy/Flip method to take part of your existing scene and move it where you want it. 

Or, if it’s something like a tree trunk that’s causing all the problems (for example), consider covering it up with another part of the background first, then making a “smooshed layer”, then doing content aware crop.

If it really doesn’t want to work, there just might not be enough background margin for photoshop to read – for example if there are really busy/detailed areas, or the subject is really close to the edge where you want to crop. 

Possibly, a combination/mix of Content Aware Fill, Content Aware Scale, Copy/Flip or Clone Stamp might work better for you.

Copy/Paste & Flip

Using parts of your photo, or photos taken in the same area, is one of my favourite methods for changing, fixing or extending the background. 

Quite often, I’ll take additional photos of the surrounding area, or into the treetops for pretty bokeh, as I can then use these elements and add them to my photo, to change the scene however I want.

As soon as you really begin to understand how to move the parts of your scene around like the pieces of a changeable puzzle, the more flexibility you’ll have in how you construct your photo!

There are two methods we can use to take the background and use it elsewhere in the image.

  • duplicate the whole layer, flip it if we want, and mask it in.
    • If you’re working with smart objects, this keeps the layer linked to the original smart object so if you do changes in Camera Raw Filter later (eg., white balance adjustments, global adjustments etc) these will also be applied to your duplicated layer. 
    • this can result in larger file sizes as you now have at least 3 layers of your raw file as smart objects. That’s a lot of data!
  • copy only a part of the image and paste it in as a new layer. 
    • this means they won’t be linked any more so any adjustments you do in CRF will have to be applied separately to your layer (maybe through clipping masks, or opening CRF on that layer only – but since you’re working on a .jpeg now, you might struggle to get the exact same effect)
    • the size of your edited file shouldn’t be as huge, as you’re now only working with a .jpeg layer file.

Duplicate Layer

After you’ve duplicated your layer, you have two options, depending on what you want to achieve and what you’re working with in the background.

You can either simply move the layer to where you want the background elements to be and add a layer mask to the duplicate layer… or more often, you’ll want to flip the duplicate layer.

In that case we need to go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal

Move your layer to where you want it using the move tool (or you can move it later, it doesn’t matter!), add a layer mask by clicking the “add layer mask” button from the lower collection of buttons.

You might want to invert it to black by pressing cmd/ctrl + i on your keyboard.

Then use a white brush to mask in the areas you want to see.

Copy & Flip a Part of the Image

Using a selection tool (I usually use rectangular marquee tool with 0 feather. You could also use the lasso if you wanted) select the area you want to move somewhere else. Have a fairly wide margin (extra area) if you can. This will make masking it in much much easier. 

Use your normal Copy/Paste shortcuts, eg., ctrl/cmd + c then crtl/cmd + v to copy and paste it onto a new layer.

 

If you need to flip the part of the image, follow the same steps as above, with Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal

Move the selection/layer wherever you want it (or mask it in first, it doesn’t matter), add a layer mask as per the instructions in the section above, invert it with cmd/ctrl + i, then using a white brush, mask in the areas you wantt to see.