Step 1: Getting startedStep 4: Remove unwanted people
Had a tiff with Uncle Bob? Maybe it's time to extricate him from some family photos; you can always save the original if you kiss and make up later. In our example, we used the Rectangular Marquee tool to select the woman in black. We included some of the area surrounding her, then hit copy (Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) to create a new layer containing just the selected area. Using the Move tool, we dragged the new layer to the left, using the distant shoreline as a guide while moving it into position.
For the moment, the lady in pink has lost her left arm, but that's easy to fix. In the Layers palette, we temporarily hid the new layer by clicking the eye at the left. Next, we highlighted the background layer, selected the Magic Wand tool, and clicked in the general vicinity of the woman's left arm. With Adobe's little "marching ants" parading around most of the area in pink and nowhere else, we turned the layer back on, selected it, and pressed Ctrl+X. This erases only the segment of the new layer that falls within that previously selected area on the background layer. In other words, we selected an area on one layer, then used it to erase an area on the other.
Next, we used the Eraser tool to remove any leftovers from the old layer, including Bob's hand on the lady in black's left shoulder. (For close work, zoom in on the image.) If parts of Uncle Bob's head were to reappear (remember, he's still there on that background layer), we could just use the clone tool on that layer to behead him. Finally, use the Crop tool to trim away the original lady in black on the right (unless you're going for a twin-sister effect).
Tip
When using the Marquee tool, if too much or not enough area is selected, adjust the Tolerance setting (about 50 percent should do it) and try again.
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