Remove unwanted spots with the Spot Healing Brush

Use the Spot Healing Brush to remove blemishes, dust spots, and other distractions, even on patterned surfaces.

Published July 22, 2026

00:01

Introduction

[Jan Kabili]: One of the most magical things you can do in Photoshop is to delete unwanted spots and even objects from an image.

In this video, we'll see how quick it is to do that using the Spot Healing Brush Tool.

If you're following along, download the practice files for this tutorial and open this image.

We're going to try to clean up the model's shirt, removing these spots and dabs of paint.

You'll be amazed at how well that works, even on a pattern like this striped shirt.

00:29

Navigating the image and selecting the spot healing brush

Start by zooming in for a closer view.

Select the Zoom Tool in the Tools panel and then click a couple of times on the image to zoom in.

If you don't see the area of the shirt that you want to work on, get the Hand Tool in the Tools panel and click and drag in the image.

Now let's select the Spot Healing Brush Tool, which is over in the Tools panel right here.

Don't confuse this tool with a related tool, the Healing Brush Tool.

We want the Spot Healing Brush Tool.

Let's start by removing a spot, like this brown spot here.

01:01

Removing small spots with single clicks

When you're removing a spot, you want your brush tip to be just a little bigger than the spot.

Mine's a bit small.

So, I'll go up to the Options Bar for this tool and I'll click on the Brush Picker and I'll drag the Size slider over to the right.

And then click in a blank area to close the Brush Picker.

Back in the image, to remove that brown spot, I'll just click on it - and poof it's gone.

What's happened is that Photoshop copied a nearby part of the shirt without a spot and used that to cover up the spot, blending the copied content with the area around the spot.

Now let's try a smaller spot.

Rather than go to the Options Bar and try to change the brush size you can change brush size while you're working on an image.

To do that I'll hover over a spot that I want to delete, this tiny blue spot, and then press the left bracket key on the keyboard.

The left bracket key is located just to the right of the P key on most keyboards.

Each time you press and release the left bracket key, the brush tip gets smaller.

And if you were to press the right bracket key, the brush tip would get bigger.

So now I'll click on that spot - and it's gone.

Try removing a few other spots, changing the brush tip on the fly, using the left bracket key and the right bracket key each time.

Now spots aren't the only thing you can remove with this tool.

02:28

Removing irregular areas by brushing and dragging

You can remove irregular areas like this paint splash, too.

To do that just click and drag over the thing you want to remove - and it's gone.

Practice those techniques, clicking on spots and dragging over irregular areas, to continue removing the paint from this shirt.

If you get a result you don't like, try again with a different size brush.

And if you need to move to another area, select the Hand Tool again and drag.

Here you can see how my example looks after just a few minutes working on the shirt with the Spot Healing Brush Tool.

When you're done, select the Zoom Tool again in the Tools panel and go up to the Options Bar and click the Fit Screen option to see the whole photo on the screen again.

If you're happy with the result, choose File,

03:12

Reviewing the cleanup and saving the image

Save As... and in the Save As dialog box, set the Format to Photoshop or PSD, which is the best format for a working copy of an image, as you learned in an earlier tutorial in this series.

And then click Save.

Now that you know how simple it is to work with the Spot Healing Brush Tool, try using it on your own images to remove everything from dust spots to small objects.

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

What you’ll learn

Get oriented in the image before you start

Before making a single edit, zooming in gives you the control and visibility you need to work precisely. Use the Zoom tool to get close to the area you want to fix, then use the Hand tool to reposition the view. Starting zoomed in means fewer mistakes and less cleanup later.

Size your brush to be just slightly bigger than what you're removing

A brush tip that's too large or too small will affect more than you intend, or miss the mark entirely. Open the Brush Picker in the Options bar and drag the Size slider until the tip is just slightly bigger than the spot you're targeting. Getting this right before you click is what makes the result blend in.

Click spots and drag over larger areas to remove them

The Spot Healing Brush handles both precise spots and irregular shapes. Click directly on a small spot and Photoshop samples the surrounding area to fill it in, no masking required. For larger marks like paint smears, click and drag over the area and Photoshop reconstructs the texture underneath.

Tip: If the result isn't quite right, try a different brush size. A slightly larger or smaller tip can change how Photoshop samples the surrounding area.

Instruction by: Jan Kabili
Photography by: Martin Hoang

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