[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":304},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guide-remove-objects":3,"related-remove-objects":109},{"slug":4,"section":5,"title":6,"seoTitle":7,"description":8,"intro":9,"level":10,"minutes":11,"updated":12,"icon":13,"keywords":14,"photo":20,"steps":21,"faq":80,"related":87,"order":90,"downloads":91,"images":92},"remove-objects","app","Remove people and objects from a photo","How to remove objects, people and dust spots from photos in LightBites","Paint over a distraction and LightBites fills it in. Remove, Heal and Clone, Generative AI for big objects, and dust spots.","A sign, a stranger, a power line. Paint over it and it's gone, filled in from what was around it.","Beginner",3,"2026-10-21","i-lucide-eraser",[15,16,17,18,19],"remove objects from photo","remove people from photo","heal brush","clone tool","dust spots","surf-sunset.jpg",[22,35,70,74],{"id":23,"title":24,"text":25,"do":28,"shot":31},"open","Open Remove",{"ios":26,"mac":27},"Open a photo and tap **Remove** (the eraser) in the bar at the bottom.","Open a photo and click **Remove** in the tool strip, or press `H`.",[29,30],"**Remove** fills in what you paint over from what's around it.","**Heal** and **Clone** copy from another part of the photo, for spots and blemishes; Heal blends in, Clone copies exactly.",{"alt":32,"ui":33},"A surfer on a wave at sunset, open in Remove",{"screen":34,"removeMode":34},"remove",{"id":36,"title":37,"do":38,"edit":41,"tip":65,"shot":66},"paint","Paint over it",[39,40],"Paint over the distraction, a little beyond its edges.","Let go: it's filled in. Paint again over anything left.",[42],[43,44],"spot.add",{"mode":34,"points":45,"size":64},[46,49,52,55,57,60,62],[47,48],0.495,0.6,[50,51],0.53,0.59,[53,54],0.57,0.58,[48,56],0.575,[58,59],0.604,0.545,[58,61],0.515,[63,47],0.603,0.04,"**Select with: Tap** takes away a whole object with one tap, edges and all.",{"alt":67,"ui":68,"wait":69},"The same wave with the surfer removed, the water filled in",{"screen":34,"removeMode":34},5,{"id":71,"title":72,"text":73},"ai","Bigger things: Generative AI","For something large, a person or a car, switch on **Generative AI**. It's a one-time download, then runs on your device. **High quality** takes longer and does better with complex backgrounds.",{"id":75,"title":76,"text":77},"dust","Clean up dust spots",{"ios":78,"mac":79},"Dust on the sensor shows as soft dark spots in a clear sky. **…** ▸ **Visualize Spots** makes them easy to see, and **Find Dust Spots** finds them for you. Switch to **Heal** and tap each one.","Dust on the sensor shows as soft dark spots in a clear sky. Press `A` to visualize spots, or let **Find Dust Spots** find them. Switch to **Heal** and click each one.",[81,84],{"q":82,"a":83},"Is the original photo changed?","No. Each removal is an edit you can undo or delete later: Delete All Spots in the … menu takes them all away.",{"q":85,"a":86},"Does Generative AI upload my photo?","No. Its model is downloaded once and runs on your device.",[88,89],"masks","editing-basics",6,{},{"remove-objects-open-ios-dark-400":93,"remove-objects-open-ios-dark-800":94,"remove-objects-open-ios-light-400":95,"remove-objects-open-ios-light-800":96,"remove-objects-open-mac-dark-1600":97,"remove-objects-open-mac-dark-800":98,"remove-objects-open-mac-light-1600":99,"remove-objects-open-mac-light-800":100,"remove-objects-paint-ios-dark-400":101,"remove-objects-paint-ios-dark-800":102,"remove-objects-paint-ios-light-400":103,"remove-objects-paint-ios-light-800":104,"remove-objects-paint-mac-dark-1600":105,"remove-objects-paint-mac-dark-800":106,"remove-objects-paint-mac-light-1600":107,"remove-objects-paint-mac-light-800":108},"https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F65f47352-8e4a-4325-8d0a-b6dd7945a981.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F5889564e-02f1-4685-ae9c-1dfd94add413.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F7a282d35-52af-4b83-9217-6ddb61ae727e.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F06eb5c09-4e1c-4341-824f-6b5292047dc6.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F41cb205b-f277-4e25-8a5a-c88f53963416.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F1ceea66f-3d38-4d16-b716-e7973c016d78.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F47d16c5e-0d14-4c94-aeec-f3d5e650864c.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F88f05bde-55e9-49f4-bbcf-9739c6669a44.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F4d1953df-3250-40a7-82ff-4c7aa17f0827.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002Fc3acb629-63b9-41df-aee5-e82c0f03fae8.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F118f778d-a19f-412a-9e52-1208e745a7e6.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F4c855f1c-87aa-4e3f-9733-9dc6282eb730.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F7532c4b0-3ae4-44cf-a7c4-179f455d244e.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F8f74c812-e569-499c-803f-e033c2b4a1b4.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F6c93c8ec-3aaf-4237-be16-fa7f3b62e03e.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F785267bb-cdf0-42b9-9458-e34f863e8598.webp",[110,216],{"slug":88,"section":5,"title":111,"seoTitle":112,"description":113,"intro":114,"level":115,"minutes":69,"updated":12,"icon":116,"keywords":117,"photo":123,"steps":124,"faq":200,"related":207,"order":69,"downloads":210,"images":211},"Edit part of a photo with masks","How to use masks: select sky, select subject and gradients in LightBites","Brighten just the subject, darken just the sky, or fade an edit across the frame with a gradient. Masks in LightBites, step by step.","A mask lets an edit touch only part of the photo: the sky, the person, the bottom third. It's how a good photo becomes a great one.","Intermediate","i-lucide-circle-dashed",[118,119,120,121,122],"photo masks","select sky","select subject","linear gradient","local adjustments","matterhorn-sunset.jpg",[125,137,157,178,195],{"id":23,"title":126,"text":127,"do":130,"shot":133},"Open Masking",{"ios":128,"mac":129},"Open a photo and tap **Masking** in the bar at the bottom, then **+** (Create New Mask).","Open a photo and click **Masking** in the tool strip, or press `M`.",[131,132],"Choose what to select: **Select Subject**, **Select Sky**, **Select Background** or **Select Object**, or draw it with a **Linear Gradient**, a **Radial Gradient** or a **Brush**.","**Color Range**, **Luminance Range** and **Depth Range** select by colour, brightness or distance.",{"alt":134,"ui":135},"Masking on a photo of the Matterhorn at sunset, before any mask",{"screen":136},"masking",{"id":138,"title":139,"text":140,"edit":141,"tip":153,"shot":154},"sky","Select the sky","Choose **Select Sky**. LightBites finds the sky and shows it tinted. Now the groups under it, **Light**, **Color**, **Effects** and the rest, change only the sky.",[142,145],[143,144],"mask.add",{"kind":138},[146,147],"mask.adjust",{"values":148},{"exposure":149,"highlights":150,"saturation":151,"dehaze":152},-0.35,-30,15,10,"Darken a bright sky a little and add a touch of **Dehaze**: the clouds get their shape back without a halo.",{"alt":155,"ui":156},"The sky selected and darkened, the mountain left as it was",{"screen":136},{"id":158,"title":159,"text":160,"edit":161,"shot":175},"gradient","Fade an edit with a gradient","A **Linear Gradient** fades from full strength to nothing between two lines: drag from where you want the most to where it should stop. It's the classic way to calm the top of a landscape. A **Radial Gradient** does the same in a circle: a soft spotlight, or with **Invert**, a vignette.",[162,170],[143,163],{"kind":164,"start":165,"end":168},"linear",[166,167],0.5,1,[166,169],0.72,[146,171],{"values":172},{"exposure":173,"shadows":174},0.25,20,{"alt":176,"ui":177},"A linear gradient over the bottom of the photo, brightening the foreground",{"screen":136},{"id":179,"title":180,"text":181,"edit":182,"shot":191},"subject","Select the subject","**Select Subject** finds the main subject, a person, an animal, a thing, with the model built into your device. Brighten it a little and it stands out from the background.",[183,187],[184,185],"ui.set",{"screen":136,"selectSubject":186},true,[146,188],{"values":189},{"exposure":190,"clarity":152},0.3,{"alt":192,"photo":193,"ui":194,"wait":69},"A cat's portrait with only the cat selected and brightened","green-eyes.jpg",{"screen":136},{"id":196,"title":197,"text":198,"tip":199},"refine","Add, subtract, fine-tune","**±** (Add or Subtract) adds to a mask, takes part of it away, or keeps only where it overlaps another selection: the subject minus a brush stroke, say. In the **Mask** group, **Amount** fades the whole mask's edit and **Invert** turns it inside out.","Name your masks (**Rename…** in each mask's menu) once a photo has a few.",[201,204],{"q":202,"a":203},"Do masks need an internet connection or a download?","No. Select Subject and Select Object use the model built into your iPhone, iPad or Mac, and Select Sky works on the device too.",{"q":205,"a":206},"Can I copy masks to other photos?","Yes: Copy Settings… (in the photo's … menu) lets you tick Masking, which is left out unless you ask for it.",[208,209],"edit-sunset","edit-portrait",{},{"masks-open-mac-dark-1600":212,"masks-open-mac-dark-800":213,"masks-open-mac-light-1600":214,"masks-open-mac-light-800":215},"https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F0d9dabb1-4de0-45fd-a6f4-2aaf56784950.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F813b39ad-1cfc-4537-a41f-f5ad65d43130.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F39df4704-06f9-4961-9b8b-4fcbf5b8f775.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002Fb41e3613-616e-4c96-8b34-d5f0dfee6d7a.webp",{"slug":89,"section":5,"title":217,"seoTitle":218,"description":219,"intro":220,"level":10,"minutes":69,"updated":12,"icon":221,"keywords":222,"photo":227,"steps":228,"faq":288,"related":295,"order":11,"downloads":298,"images":299},"Edit a photo: the basics","How to edit photos on iPhone and Mac: the LightBites editor in five minutes","The editor in five minutes: the edit groups, Auto, the Light and Color sliders, comparing before and after, undo, and dials or sliders.","Every edit in LightBites can be undone and none of them touches the original. Here is the editor, and the few sliders that do most of the work.","i-lucide-sliders-horizontal",[223,224,225,226],"photo editor iPhone","edit photos Mac","exposure contrast highlights shadows","Lightroom alternative","lake-louise.jpg",[229,243,257,267,280],{"id":230,"title":231,"text":232,"tip":235,"shot":238},"open-edit","Open the editor",{"ios":233,"mac":234},"Open a photo and tap **Edit** (the sliders) in the bar at the bottom. The groups run along the panel: **Auto**, **Light**, **Color**, **Effects**, **Detail**, **Optics**, **Lens Blur**, **Calibration** and **Profile**.","Open a photo and click **Edit** in the tool strip. The panel has **Auto**, **B&W** and **HDR** at the top, the profile, then the groups one under another: **Light**, **Color**, **Effects**, **Detail**, **Optics**, **Lens Blur** and **Calibration**. Click a title to open or close it; `⌥`-click opens only that one.",{"ios":236,"mac":237},"**Auto** gives a balanced starting point to adjust from. Tap it again, before you change anything else, to take it away.","**Auto** (`⇧A`) gives a balanced starting point to adjust from.",{"alt":239,"ui":240},"The editor open on a photo of kayaks on a mountain lake, with the Light group's sliders",{"screen":241,"group":242},"edit","light",{"id":242,"title":244,"text":245,"set":246,"tip":251,"shot":254},"Set the light","Work down the **Light** group. **Exposure** sets the overall brightness. **Highlights** down brings back a bright sky; **Shadows** up opens the dark parts. **Whites** and **Blacks** set the brightest and darkest points, and **Contrast** comes last.",{"light.exposure":247,"light.highlights":248,"light.shadows":249,"light.whites":152,"light.blacks":250,"light.contrast":152},0.15,-45,30,-8,{"ios":252,"mac":253},"Double-tap a slider to put it back to zero.","Double-click a slider to put it back to zero.",{"alt":255,"ui":256},"The Light group: Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites and Blacks moved",{"screen":241,"group":242},{"id":258,"title":259,"text":260,"set":261,"shot":264},"color","Fix the colour","In **Color**, the **White Balance** menu (**As Shot**, **Auto**, **Daylight**, **Cloudy**…) and the eyedropper take a colour cast away; **Temp** and **Tint** fine-tune it. Then add **Vibrance**, which boosts the dull colours more than the bright ones, before you reach for **Saturation**.",{"color.vibrance":262,"color.saturation":263},22,4,{"alt":265,"ui":266},"The Color group: white balance, Temp, Tint, Vibrance and Saturation",{"screen":241,"group":258},{"id":268,"title":269,"do":270,"shot":277},"compare","Compare, undo, start again",[271,274],{"ios":272,"mac":273},"Press and hold the photo to see it as it was; let go to come back.","Hold `\\` to see the photo as it was; tap it to keep the original on screen.",{"ios":275,"mac":276},"**Undo** at the top left takes back the last change. Hold it for **Redo**, **Reset**, **Versions** and **History**.","`⌘Z` undoes and `⇧⌘Z` redoes. **Photo ▸ Reset Edits** (`⇧⌘R`) starts over.",{"alt":278,"ui":279},"Before and after: the original photo beside the edited one",{"screen":241,"group":242,"beforeAfter":186},{"id":281,"title":282,"text":283,"shot":284},"dials","Dials or sliders","On iPhone and iPad, choose how you adjust in **Settings ▸ Interface ▸ Adjustments**: **Dials**, a row of dials like the Photos app's, **Sliders**, like Lightroom's, or **Automatic**: dials under the photo, sliders beside it on a wide screen. Both edit the same way.",{"alt":285,"only":286,"ui":287},"The Light group as a row of dials under the photo","ios",{"screen":241,"group":242,"editStyle":281},[289,292],{"q":290,"a":291},"Can I undo an edit later?","Yes, at any time. Edits are saved as instructions, not baked into the photo: reset a slider, step back through History, or reset the whole photo, even weeks later.",{"q":293,"a":294},"Is LightBites a Lightroom alternative?","It works the way Lightroom does, with the same kind of sliders, masks, presets and raw processing, but it runs entirely on your device, with no account and no subscription.",[296,297],"raw-workflow","crop-and-straighten",{},{"editing-basics-open-edit-mac-dark-1600":300,"editing-basics-open-edit-mac-dark-800":301,"editing-basics-open-edit-mac-light-1600":302,"editing-basics-open-edit-mac-light-800":303},"https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F341898eb-bd18-4717-b9e5-cbd256278dda.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F1e09ac99-4d2f-4846-b5ab-a5ffb7077513.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F7c5fd437-fc3c-4ad0-b5c0-f00e1ca71d3e.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F6e60365b-0d73-4f78-8924-797822605df9.webp",1792693337598]