ChobialRemove dust, blemishes and wires on iPhone with Heal and Clone
Sensor dust, a spot on someone's chin, a power line across a clean sky, a crisp packet on the grass. Small things like these pull the eye away from the photo. The Heal tool takes them out by filling them from another part of the frame.
1 · Take out a spot
- Open the photo, tap edit, and choose Heal (between Masks and Crop).
- Pinch with two fingers to zoom in on the spot. While Heal is open, one finger works on the photo and two fingers zoom and move around.
- Set Size a little bigger than the spot.
- Tap the spot.
A solid circle marks the spot. A dashed circle marks where Chobial is taking from, with a line between the two. Chobial picks a source nearby that looks like what surrounds the spot, so most of the time there's nothing more to do.
2 · Paint out a wire or a line
- Zoom in and set Size a little wider than the wire.
- Drag along it with one finger. A drag lays a stroke instead of a spot.
- The stroke is filled from a stroke of the same shape next to it. Check the result along its whole length.
A long wire is easier in two or three shorter strokes. Where it crosses something (a roof edge, a branch), stop the stroke there and start a new one on the other side, so each stroke only has to match one kind of background.
3 · Fix a heal that looks wrong
A heal that shows usually took from the wrong place, like a patch of darker sky or the edge of a cloud. Tap the heal to pick it, then:
- Drag the dashed circle to a better source: somewhere with the same texture and, for Clone, the same brightness.
- Drag the heal itself to move it. Its source stays where it is.
- Raise Feather if you can see its edge. Lower it for a clone that has to keep a sharp line.
- Lower Opacity to soften a blemish instead of removing it. That can look more natural on skin.
- Remove Heal deletes it. Remove All clears every heal and clone on the photo.
Starting points
| Job | Mode | Feather | Opacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensor dust in a sky | Heal | 50% | 100% |
| A spot on skin | Heal | 60–80% | 70–100% |
| Wire across a sky | Heal | 50% | 100% |
| Something on a brick or tiled wall | Clone | 20–30% | 100% |
4 · When to use Clone
Heal keeps the source's texture but takes its light and colour from around the spot. That's what makes it blend into skin, sky and walls. Near a hard edge, though, the light changes suddenly across the spot, and Heal smears the edge.
Clone copies the source as it is. Use it where a line or a pattern has to carry on through the spot: a mortar line, the edge of a roof, a railing. Line the dashed circle up so the pattern in the source continues the pattern around the spot. Tapping Heal or Clone while a spot is picked switches that spot over, so you can try both.
Good to know
- Heals go on before the film's grain, so a healed patch has the same grain as the rest of the photo.
- They're kept against the whole photo, so cropping, straightening or changing the film leaves them where they are.
- Every heal is one step in Undo, bottom left of the photo.
- Hold Compare to see the photo without its edits, or hold the Heal tab to see it without the heals.
Questions
What's the difference between Heal and Clone?
Heal takes the texture from the source but matches the light and colour to what's around the spot, so the patch blends in. Clone copies the source exactly as it is. Heal suits skin, sky and walls. Clone suits edges and repeating patterns, where Heal would smear the line.
Will a healed spot show through the grain?
No. Heals go on straight after the photo is developed, before the film's grain, so the grain runs over the patch the same as everywhere else.
If I crop or change the film, do the heals move?
No. Heals are kept against the whole, uncropped photo, like masks. They stay on the dust you put them on through a crop, a straighten or a new film.
Does it generate new pixels?
No. Every heal and clone is filled from pixels already in your photo, chosen by Chobial or by you. Nothing is generated, and it all happens on your iPhone.
Can I take out something big, like a person?
Heal and Clone are made for small things: dust, spots, a wire, a stray hair, a sign in the corner. A large object can be done with several strokes and careful sources, but it's slow work, and a crop is often the better answer.