Remove tourists from your photos with the Remove tool

Removing extra people from your vacation photos has never been easier.

Published January 12, 2026

00:01

Introduction

Ever wish you could snap a perfect travel photo minus all the tourists?

Now you can.

My name is Jesús Ramirez.

In the next few minutes, I will show you how to use the Remove Tool in Photoshop to clear unwanted strangers from your photos.

The background of this image is cluttered with tourists.

Removing them will help the main subject stand out and make the photo less distracting.

Fortunately, in Photoshop, this will take just a few clicks.

To start, click the New layer icon to create a new layer

00:26

Setting up non-destructive editing for removals

to work non-destructively.

This new layer will contain all your adjustments and keep your source image intact, giving you complete freedom to modify or undo your edits at any time.

00:41

Configuring the Remove Tool and generative AI options

Next, select the Remove Tool from the Toolbar.

You'll find it under the Spot Healing Brush Tool.

Now go up to the Options Bar to adjust some crucial settings.

Make sure you enable Sample all layers, so the Remove Tool can work on the new blank layer you just created.

Then under the Mode dropdown, you can choose whether or not to use generative AI in the removal process.

Using generative AI produces better results, making it especially effective for larger areas or those with complex details.

However, it is not always necessary.

For quicker edits, you can turn off generative AI to eliminate the need to process the changes via the cloud.

In this case, we'll set the mode to Auto (May use generative AI) to allow Photoshop to determine the best method.

01:28

Automatically finding and selecting people

All you have to do now is simply go into the Find distractions dropdown and choose People.

Photoshop will then automatically detect the distracting people in your photo.

The overlay indicates the selected people.

Notice that it did not select the main person in this photo.

You can then refine the overlay further if needed.

01:47

Refining selections and removing tourists

For example, Photoshop missed the feet found under the camera and her hand, so you can paint those in.

For more control when painting, make your brush smaller.

Tap on the left bracket key on the keyboard.

You'll find the bracket keys to the right of the letter P in North American keyboards.

Then brush over the areas that Photoshop missed.

Also, there's a man's leg between her hand and the camera strap.

For this area, you can make the brush tip even smaller to fit that tight space.

If you make a mistake, hold Alt on Windows or Option on the Mac to temporarily enable the Subtract mode and paint away the imperfections.

In this case, it's not necessary.

Now you can either press Enter on Windows, Return on the Mac, or click on the Checkmark icon to apply the removal process to the selected areas and Photoshop will do a fantastic job removing the tourists.

You can then click the Eye icon to disable the edits

02:39

Comparing results and final review

and compare the results to the original image.

Now that you know how to remove unwanted tourists using the Remove Tool in Photoshop, try it with your photos.

Again, my name is Jesús Ramirez, thank you for watching.

Note: Stock assets provided are for practice purposes only. See terms.

What you’ll learn

Identify extra people to remove from a photo

The Remove tool automatically identifies and highlights people other than the main subject. You can subtract from or add to the highlighted people; then remove them from the photo without affecting your subject. It’s a simple, effective way to make your vacation photos pristine.

Instruction by: Jesus Ramirez
Adobe Stock Contributor: Moofushi

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