Current mood:	productive
Current music:	Undone; by Rowland S. Howard
Entry tags:	quality repair, tutorial, watermark removal

Tutorial: Watermark Removal
» Photoshop Tutorial (Required)
» Watermark Removal
» Steps are precise. Created with image.

»

Choose your image and bring it in to Photoshop. Make sure you have your layer tab out, and start out by duplicating the image twice so that you have three layers as shown.



Select your bottom original base layer. Go to Filter > Noise > Median. Here I've used a radius of 2, but depending on your picture you may want to go a little higher.



Set your upper two layers to Darken and Lighten. It doesn't matter to which order they are arranged, so long as the Median layer is on bottom.



Now here you will need to make the upper darken/lighten two layers invisible so that only the base is visible. Click on the eye icons to the left of them in the Layers window to do so.
Exact execution will vary greatly depending on the image you use, but here I've zoomed in to the chin area and selected a skin color from Blixa's chin with the dropper tool. I used a low opacity, medium-sized brush with very low hardness to go over similar-colored areas of the chin where the watermark is covering, but the type you should use will vary depending on the quality of your picture.

Color over the areas covered only so lightly, and then select another shade with the dropper tool and begin again. Repeat steps until you have managed a convincing enough complexion and palette. Finish by taking the smudge tool at a low opacity and blending together with numerous, short strokes.



Now take the burn tool and set it to a low opacity with a relatively high-hardness setting. Begin to cover out black areas where the watermark overlaps. Change sizes frequently according to the area's needs with the [ and ] key shortcuts. You may come in to contact with some areas where the watermark overlaps quite inconveniently against the light and dark areas, as seen in the area where the “a” and “g” are. For this, you'll need to use a back and forth method of applying the burn tool and using the dropper plus the brush tool to recolor the area appropriately. Be careful not to distort the original shape of the area by much. If you have one, a drawing tablet will help guide the tools with more accuracy than your mouse, so I suggest using it.



Next I'll set to work on the neck area, applying the same dropper plus brush method used on the chin, with the smudging finish. I've gone over the area where the tail of the “y” extends outward with both the brush and the burn tool. I'll repeat this method various times on the leftover areas of the image now, being careful to have a constantly changing and varied color palette.



I've now blotted out the lettering completely. Here I will now take the layer set to “darken” and make it visible. Start erasing the shadows of the lettering on this layer. Be sure to use a relatively small size eraser, changing with the same [ and ] keyboard shortcuts, and be as careful as you possibly can not to get rid of any shadows vital to the image itself.



It is undoubted that you'll have erased some vital shadow, so now take out the brush tool, set the color to black, and make it a soft, low-opacity brush. Restore some of the original shadow in short, frequent strokes. Go over these with the eraser tool set to a low opacity, refining them until they suit the image. You may also try using various colors with the brush tool, as well as the burn tool, if you aren't satisfied with the results.



Once you are finished, set the darken layer back to invisible. Now go on to your lighten layer and make it visible again. Here, employ the same method of erasing, going over the wording, being careful not to rid the picture of any vital highlights. If you feel you have erased too much along with the lettering, do the inverse operation of the last step and choose a white brush, as well as various other colors, and the dodge tool to restore light.



Set all your layers to visible again and flatten the image. You have now successfully removed the watermark.