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Remove Tool

The Remove tool samples colours from your image and adds them to your Swatches. It also changes the Foreground and Background Colours.


Remove Tool Options

Tool Presets - Save the tool with different settings, as different presets.
Add or Remove - Add or remove from the brushed area.
Size - Brush size. You can also use the Alt key to switch to remove.
Graphics Tablet Pressure - Change size if you have a pressure sensitive pen.
Color Options - Select overlay color and opacity.
Sample all layers - Choose to select all layers, or just current layer.
Remove after each stroke - If turned off, you will need to click the tick to apply. If turned on, it will remove after each stroke.
Cancel - Cancel the current brush strokes. Or press the Esc key.
Apply - Apply the current brush strokes to remove object. Or press Enter.

Tool Presets

You can create and save a Tool Preset for any tool. This will remember settings that you choose.


Add or Remove

While you are brushing over an object, select whether you are adding to the brushed area, or removing from it.

If you have Remove after each stroke turned on, the change will be applied immediately to the brushed area.

If you have Remove after each stroke turned off, you can select either option for each brush stroke. However I recommend not using this at all. A quicker way to switch between Add and Remove is simply to use the Alt key to Remove. When the Alt key is not pressed, you will Add. This keyboard shortcut also applies to other selection tools, for example the Quick Selection tool.


Size

Adjust brush size. Click the dropdown and drag the slider. But I recommend you don't use this.

A much better and quicker way to adjust brush size with any brush based tools is to use the square bracket keys [ ].

Left square bracket [ to reduce size.

Right square bracket ] to increase size.


Graphics Tablet Pressure

If you have a pressure sensitive graphics tablet and pen, use this to control brush size with pressure.

This is not particularly useful and even though I have a pressure sensitive pen and tablet, I use a regular mouse and control brush size with the square bracket keys [ ].


Color Options

Select your preferred color for the overlay to highlight the brushed area and it's opacity.


Sample All Layers

Select whether the remove brush will sample from all layers, or just the selected layer.

To work non destructively I recommend working on a new empty layer, so you would need Sample All Layers turned on. In the future, if you wished to make changes, it would be easy to do so.


Remove After Each Stroke

You can either brush with multiple strokes and then apply that to remove an object. Or you can have the tool remove each time to finish a stroke.

My preference, when selecting a single object, is not to remove after each stroke. I like to complete my brush area, adding and removing by using the Alt key, then Apply, either by clicking the tick on the Options bar, or by pressing the Enter key (which is what I do).

However, if I'm removing a number of small objects, I will turn on the option to remove after each stroke.


Reset All Strokes

Reset all strokes. This is a cancel button.

A quicker method is to press the Esc key on a keyboard, if you're using a keyboard.


Apply Strokes

Apply the strokes and remove the object.

A quicker method is to press the Enter key on a keyboard, if you're using a keyboard.


How to Use the Remove Tool

Step 1

Select the Remove tool from the toolbar. Like most tools, it shares the button with other tools and the one that is visible will be the last tool used.


Step 2

There are different methods to using this tool, but for each of them, adjust the brush size, either from the Options bar, or by using the square brackets keys [ ].

If you Remove after each stroke, then you must ensure you brush over or around the whole of the object before releasing the mouse button. You don't have to brush over every part of the object. If you brush arount it, it will automatically be selected. The object will then be removed.


Step 3

With Remove after each stroke turned off, you can now use as many strokes as you wish to cover the object. Remember to use Add or Remove (or the keyboard shortcut of Alt to switch to Remove), to end up with your brushed area. Then press Enter, or click the tick on the Options bar to apply your removal. You can also brush right around the perimeter of the object, and the whole area willl be automatically selected.

Note that each method relies on you brushing around the whole object. if you didn't quite brush around every part of the object, the result may not be perfect. See steps 5-8 below for examples of this.


Step 4

With Remove after each stroke turned off, you can now use as many strokes as you wish to cover the object. Remember to use Add or Remove (or the keyboard shortcut of Alt to switch to Remove), to end up with your brushed area. Then press Enter, or click the tick on the Options bar to apply your removal. You can also brush right around the perimeter of the object, and the whole area willl be automatically selected.

Note that each method relies on you brushing around the whole object. if you didn't quite brush around every part of the object, the result may not be perfect. See below for examples of this.


Step 5

This is the selection, or brushed area, shown in the default magenta color. Notice that I've deliberately just missed off the very bottom of the reflection.


Step 6

This is the result of step 5.


Step 7

This time I've missed off a tiny area at the bottom of the reflection and small areas to the right of it.


Step 8

This is the result of step 7.


Summary of the remove Tool

The Remove tool is an excellent tool for removing objects.

Just make sure that you completely select, or brush over the object, before Applying.

If you miss even small areas, it can result in an imperfect result. If it doesn't go perfectly, undo and try again, or repeat the steps on whatever part of the object remains.


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