How can I combine multiple shots to remove passers-by from a scene?
Asked 3/6/2012
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I want to photograph a person in front of a landmark, but there may be random people moving through the background. Rather than cloning them out, I’d like to take several photos of the same scene and combine them so moving people disappear. Is this possible in Photoshop or similar software, and do I need a tripod? Are there techniques that work automatically as well as manual methods?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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To do this in Photoshop (Available in Photoshop Extended and later CC versions only):
- File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack
- Select all layers and use Edit > Auto Align to align them (if necessary)
- Layer > Smart Objects > Convert to Smart Object
- Layer > Smart Objects > Stack Mode and choose Median
This will compare pixels between all your images that you've stacked, and use the median value, which means if a person was in a spot in one or two frames, but that spot was empty in 6-8 frames, Photoshop will use the most common value (which is were there was no person there).
This would remove most "ghosts" from the image. You could then manually mask out anything left with Mark J P's method. If there is still someone there (because they were sitting in one spot in all your frames, THEN you will have to resort to the clone tool.
It looks like this feature has been around since CS3. PhotoshopNews has a description and tutorial with example images here
Originally by user4191. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4191
14y ago
0
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Yes. The usual approach is to shoot several frames of the same scene, keeping the camera as still as possible. A tripod is best, but a stable surface can work. Lock exposure and white balance so the frames match.
In Photoshop, one effective method is:
- Load the shots into a stack as layers.
- Auto-align the layers if needed.
- Convert the layers to a Smart Object.
- Use Stack Mode: Median.
Median stack mode keeps the most common pixel value at each spot, so if people are moving through the frame, they tend to disappear as long as the background is visible in most of the shots.
If anything remains, you can manually mask in clean areas from another frame. This works best when unwanted people are moving; if someone stays in the same place in every shot, the software has no clean background to recover.
Another option for busy scenes is a long exposure on a tripod, often with an ND filter in daylight. Moving people may blur away or become much less visible, though this is not the same as true multi-image removal.
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