How many times have you taken a picture that you love, only to wish that someone or something wasn’t diminishing the shot by being in the background? While I love being creative, photo editing is not one of my specialties (though I wish that it was). So, I was happy to find out that Apple had added this Clean Up feature to the Photos app and made it extremely beginner friendly to use.
Check out this photo of my family in Paris last week, at the famous Arc du Triomphe. As expected, we were not the only people there - there were plenty of tourists behind us in the only photo that we got in which my daughter wasn’t flailing around!
My family - and other visitors - at the Arc du Triomphe in Paris
Enter: the Clean Up feature. It works on photos taken on your iPhone, and on other devices or cameras, as well! Let me show you how it works!
First, go into the photo you want to edit in your photo library. Click the three lines at the bottom to open the edit options.
Three lines at the bottom of the photo, bringing up the edit menu
After you click the three lines, you’ll see Clean Up in the bottom right corner.
Click the Clean Up button on the right!
From there, the iPhone will automatically detect things in the back of your photo that it thinks you may want to remove. You’ll see them flash. Simply tap with your finger, and the iPhone will do it’s best to remove them. You can also drag your finger over any items it may have missed, and it will try and remove those, too!
Things the iPhone can remove flashing in the background
If it removes something and you don’t like how it looks, hit the arrow in the upper corner to undo.
Then, hit “Done!” Look at the before and after. Only takes 1-2 minutes, and voila!
BEFORE USING THE CLEAN UP FEATURE
AFTER THE CLEAN UP FEATURE
Want to see this explanation in video form? Check out my reel on Instagram.
It’s not always perfect, but sometimes it makes a big difference! Happy editing!