How to remove a person from a photo on iPhone

If you’ve ever looked at a photo and thought, “That would be a great pic except for that weirdo in the back,” this article is for you. 

You don’t need to be a professional photo editor to quickly and easily remove a person from a photo using your iPhone. There are easy and intuitive photo editing apps that allow you to remove people from a photo with just a few steps. 

Let’s take a look at a few photo editing apps that can get the job done without any fancy editing skills. Choose one of these easy-to-use apps and get started fixing up those photos that you thought were destined for the virtual trash can.

How to remove people from photos on iPhone

Once upon a time, when all photos were printed photos, you had to rely on a sharp pair of scissors to get rid of your ex-best friend from your photos, and while the photo never fully recovered, at least you could still look at it without cringing. 

Digital photos are much easier to manipulate, and with practice, you’ll find that removing unwanted people from your photos is easy and satisfying. 

You should be aware that the results will depend entirely on the composition you’re working with. A photo bomber in the background will be easier to remove than someone posing in the foreground.

How to remove a person from a photo using Snapseed

Snapseed is my go-to photo editing app on iPhone, especially for quick and easy edits that don’t require precision. Created by Google, Snapseed is completely free to use. Here’s how to use Snapseed to remove a person from a photo on iPhone:

1. Download Snapseed and open it on your iPhone. If this is your first time using it, you will have to allow access to your photos.
2. Tap on the + to add the photo that you want to work on.
3. Tap ‘Tools’ and then ‘Healing.’
4. Use your two fingers to pinch out across the photo and zoom in as close as you can to the person you want to remove.
5. Move your finger carefully across the person you want to remove, highlighting them in red.
6. The person will disappear, and Snapseed’s AI technology will try and recreate the background, which will give you mixed results. You can go over the spot with your finger as many times as you need to.
7. When you are happy with the results, tap the checkmark in the lower right corner.
8. Tap ‘Export’ and ‘Save a Copy’ to create a copy of your photo without the unwanted person. The original will also be saved.

Use CleanMy®Phone to delete unwanted photos from your iPhone

When you remove a person from a photo, you will usually save a new copy of the photo without deleting the original. While this is no big deal, if you do a lot of editing, you’ll end up with lots of photos that you don’t actually need. 

Use CleanMy®Phone and its Organize module to clean up similar photos from your iPhone. For your convenience, all your similar shots are neatly sorted into categories, like Portraits, Food, etc. Just select what you want to delete and tap Clean — these pics are now sent to the Recently Deleted album in your Photos app. Empty it to free up space immediately or restore anything that you may have removed by mistake.

Remove a person from a photo on iPhone using Object Removal AI Retouch Fix

Object Removal AI Retouch Fix is a nifty app that can be used solely for removing unwanted objects and people from your photos. The app offers a one-week free trial and then costs $0.99 per month. 

Here’s how to edit someone out of a picture on iPhone using Object Removal AI Retouch Fix:

1. Open Object Removal on your iPhone. If this is your first time using the app, you may need to give it permission to access your photos.
2. Tap ‘Magic Eraser’ and ‘Photo.’
3. Choose the photo that you want to edit.
4. Tap ‘Remove People.’
5. Choose a brush size that will work best with the person you want to remove.
6. Use your fingers to zoom in as close as you can to the person you want to remove.
7. Completely paint over the person you want to remove with your finger until they are covered in green.
8. Tap the checkmark if you are happy with the results. If you are unhappy with the background, continue to paint over that spot with your finger until it blends in.
9. Tap ‘Save’ to add your new photo to your library.

Remove a person from a photo using Adobe Photoshop Express

Adobe Photoshop Express is another free app with limited editing capabilities. The healing tool is great for removing simple objects and people from photos. Here’s how to crop people out of pictures using Photoshop Express:

1. Open Photoshop Express on your iPhone. If this is your first time using it, you will have to give the app permission to access your photos.
2. Tap ‘Photo Editor.’
3. Choose the photo that you want to edit.
4. Tap ‘Heal.’
5. Use the slider to increase or decrease the brush size.
6. With your finger, paint over the person you want to remove. Photoshop will use clues from the background to fill in the empty space, but it is not perfect.
7. If you are unhappy with the results, tap the back arrow and try again. Otherwise, tap the upload icon and then ‘Save.’

Don’t delete those beautiful photos just because of a breakup or a surprise visitor ruining your shot. Removing people from your iPhone photos is as easy as choosing the right photo editing app and using your finger to erase them from your picture for good.