GAH!!!!!!!! Content-aware fill??

Ok, so I thought the Content-aware Fill feature in CS5 was supposed to be some sort of smart feature that could get rid of crap in your image; but whenever I try to use it it "fills" in using a source area in the image that looks terrible!

Is there some way to specify an area in the image for it to use instead of the crap it's doing on its own?

It works great but it has its limitations. Can you post the pic?

Sometimes helps to select and copy part of the image to a new layer (Ctrl-J) and then work on that layer in order to keep CAF from sampling pixels from an adjacent area that you don't want it to sample pixels from.

squashed wrote in post #12024347
It works great but it has its limitations. Can you post the pic?

I will; but it may be later today, depending on how things go through the day.

Rimmer wrote in post #12024457
Sometimes helps to select and copy part of the image to a new layer (Ctrl-J) and then work on that layer in order to keep CAF from sampling pixels from an adjacent area that you don't want it to sample pixels from.

Please tell me you'e not a Hologram I was wondering if something like that might work; but I'm about as NOOB-ish as you can get with PS, and while I know the terms and understand the concepts...the execution of this stuff feels well beyond me.

Rimmer wrote in post #12024457
Sometimes helps to select and copy part of the image to a new layer (Ctrl-J) and then work on that layer in order to keep CAF from sampling pixels from an adjacent area that you don't want it to sample pixels from.

Thank you for that,I would never have thought of it,life has suddenly become a lot easier

Sometimes CAF is really awesome and is indispensable, other times it just plain sucks. That's why you also have Clone, Heal, Patch, and a host of other methods to cover something up. If you start forcing a method, chances are you're taking the wrong approach.

Kolor-Pikker wrote in post #12024530
Sometimes CAF is really awesome and is indispensable, other times it just plain sucks. That's why you also have Clone, Heal, Patch, and a host of other methods to cover something up. If you start forcing a method, chances are you're taking the wrong approach.

Probably true; I'll get a picture up later today so that folks may be able to suggest a better tool or method for getting rid of what I want out.

Other things about Content-aware fill is that it depends greatly on the selection (you have to enlarge your selection a bit around the element you want to remove) and if you repeat it you will get different results. On many case, it's a good starting point but it's not perfect.

I use content aware fill (CAF) frequently to remove telephone wires and other unwanted bits from images. When using CAF with a selection, it will use the surrounding area to produce the fill. So it works very well in removing the image of an isolated person from a street scene and filling the area with the background building and sidewalk, etc. The same is true in using it with spot healing brush, where it is great for removing blemishes from portraits, etc. I always try it first to remove unwanted visual details. If I like it, I'm ready to move on, but if it doesn't work, I just undo the step and use another tool like clone stamp.

Can you PS experts post some CAF successes, where you used it on somewhat complicated photos? It seems kind of useless to me, except for simple stuff like telephone lines. Now that is not really useless, but when I consider how this feature was/is being marketed I was expecting a helluva lot more.

I'm sure I'm part of the issue. I am far from a PS wiz, so I'm curious to see what others have done with it.

Thanks.

Ok, thanks for waiting folks; here's the picture I'm trying to work with. I want to get that head out of her shoulder, and kill the green sleeve, too. If CAF isn't the right tool/technique for this, I'd love to hear other suggestions. These are all family and will be thrilled with the photo "as is"; but this seems like a good photo for me to learn at least SOME PS tricks in

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/snydremark/5530​356853/

new layer, use the clone tool.

Content Aware Fill isn't going to work on that...As Bobster says...Use the Clone tool

I would use a combination of clone stamps and masked layers. Cut some of the pixels around the womans head, carrying it down to the side. Transform the selection wide and tall on a new layer, and mask away till you hit just the shoulder.

Its technically the right way to do it as it is non-destructive.

Take the one off his back while you are at it.