Removing People From Photos Using AI

If you have a Samsung or Pixel phone, you get a native way to remove people and objects from images. We also have 3rd-party apps that work on other smartphones and even desktops. Let’s start with Pixel’s Magic Eraser.

1. Google Pixel’s Magic Eraser

Magic Eraser is a feature of the Google Photos editor and as of now, it’s only available on Google Pixel phones.

  1. Open any photo that you want to remove people from on your Google Photos app. Then tap on the Edit option to edit that photo with the native editor.
  2. Now open the Tools tab and select the Magic eraser option.
  3. Google Photos will suggest people, objects, and distractions in the background that you might want to remove. But, you can also select them manually by drawing a circle around them.
  4. Google Photos will then automatically select the object and remove it. It also recreates the background automatically. If you think the selection or background isn’t perfect, you can undo and retry by selecting the object again.
  5. If you are happy with the results, tap on the Done button at the bottom right. Then tap on the Save copy button to save this edited photo as a new file. Pro Tip: Here is everything you need to know about Magic Eraser in Google Photos.

2. Samsung Galaxy’s Object Eraser

Like Pixel, Samsung Galaxy phones have an object eraser feature baked into the Samsung Gallery app.

  1. Open the photo that you want to remove people from on the Gallary app on your Samsung phone. Then tap on the edit icon at the bottom of the screen.
  2. Now on the edit page, tap on the kebab menu (three-dot menu) at the bottom right corner and then select the Object eraser option.
  3. Now draw a circle around the person or object that you want to remove from the background. Then tap on the Erase option at the bottom to remove.
  4. If the selection or the background creation isn’t perfect, use the undo button at the bottom of the screen.
  5. Apart from that, you can remove shadows by tapping on Erase shadows option. It will not remove the shadow completely if the object is still visible. But it will make the shadow less dark than before.
  6. There is also the Erase reflections option to remove flares and other reflections on TV, etc.
  7. Finally, tap on the Done button at the bottom and then tap on the Save option at the top to replace the original.
  8. To save it as a new file, tap the kebab menu (three-dot menu) and then tap on the Save as copy option.

3. MagicEraser.io

Another way to remove objects and people from photos but for desktop users. Magic Eraser is a website that helps remove people and objects from images. It is free and easy to use too.

  1. Open the Magic Eraser website and click on the click to upload option to upload the photo from your computer or your mobile.
  2. Once uploaded, select the brush option, adjust the brush size and draw on the people or objects that you want to remove. Unlike previous object removal services, you can’t just circle the object. Instead, you need to draw over the object as if you are erasing it manually. However, there is no need to be precise. You can make a rough selection of all the objects that you want to delete.
  3. Once done, click on the Erase option to erase your selection and recreate the background.
  4. Selecting the zoom option in the bottom bar allows you to zoom in and out of the image and selecting the Original option will give you a preview of the Original image, so you can compare it with your result.
  5. To download, click on the Download button above. To download in full resolution, you need a monthly subscription that costs $7.99/month.

4. DALL-E 2

DALL-E 2 is basically an AI Image generating tool, but it also has the option to upload images and edit them. It is a paid service, but you get 50 free credits for the first month and 15 credits each month later. So you can make around 15 edits every month.

  1. Open the DALL-E website and log in to the service. Now on the home page, click on the upload an image option.
  2. DALL-E cannot edit any image but only square photos. However, you can crop your photos on DALL-E.
  3. Once cropped, you will be on the DALLE-2 edit page. Now select the eraser icon at the bottom and erase people or objects that you want to remove from the image.
  4. Once removed, enter the description of your entire image in the top search bar and click on the Generate option.
  5. DALL-E 2 takes a couple of seconds and generates 4 images without the people you just removed. While DALL-E 2 is a paid service and it’s a bit harder to use comparatively, the results are much better than other object removal tools we covered above. While the previous services are just copy-pasting the background to hide the object, DALL-E 2 creates the background on its own. So you will get a clean output more often on DALL-E and also can work on hard images that other services cannot handle.

Removing People From Images With AI

Magic Eraser and Object Eraser are native features of Pixel and Samsung smartphones. They come in handy and are easy to use. The Magic Eraser website can be accessed on any device and works like a charm. DALL-E 2 can take a small learning time but will give you the best result comparatively. If you are uploading a pic of a celebrity, DALL-E 2 might not work sometimes due to copyright issues. As DALL-E 2 is not only object-removing software, it can manipulate the image or even can be used to add objects to an image.