Quickly Remove Stray Hair In Photoshop 2022

Lots of stray hair in your portraits? Tired of taking it out bit by bit and then get put off and dont return back to your work? In this blog post I will show you how you can quickly edit you portraits. 

I am using Photoshop 2022 for this edit, however, it doesn’t matter which edition you are using because these tools haven’t changed much over the years. 

Finished Edit in Photoshop 2022

  1. Open your image in Photoshop, right click in Lightroom 

  2. In Photoshop create a ‘Background Copy’ of the image

  3. Select the Quick Mask Tool

  4. Flip to Black over White

  5. Select the ‘Paint Brush’ tool. Make sure the Soft Brush tool is selected

  6. Make the ‘Brush’ size as large as needed to cover the subject

  7. Turn the ‘Hardness’ of the Paint Brush to 85%

  8. Mask the desired area - it should colour pinkish red 

  9. When chosen area has been masked move on to next step

  10. Select the ‘Clone Stamp’ tool 

  11. Change the ‘Size’ to 300px and the ‘Hardness’ to 0. 

  12. Flip From White to Black

  13. Choose an area for cloning by holding down CMD or CTRL and then click on the desired area

  14. Now using the ‘Clone Stamp’ tool gently paint over the areas outside the dotted lines

  15. Keep adjusting the area being cloned closer to where the area is being painted over. This stops random cloning that disfigures your image!

  16. When finished, go to ‘Select’ and click ‘Deselect’ 

  17. Save your image! 

Well done, the whole process should take less than 4 minutes and with time your speed and efficiency will improve to reduce this time further. 

Here are some before and after shots. 

Before the edit, in Lightroom

After Editing in Photoshop 2022

I love how these images came out from the moment I saw them on the back of my camera. Take the time to keep reviewing and tinkering with different poses and looks. 

All these images were shot on a Nikon D800, 85mm f/1.4 lens. A blue gel was using from the left hand side of Elina. A red gel was using from the right! 

You can learn more about shooting fashion and portraits on my YouTube Channel. See you on there!