How to remove watermark from an image? [Photoshop Tutorial]

In my previous post I had written a tutorial on how to add a watermark to an image. Now in this tutorial we are going to see how to remove watermark on an image. For this tutorial I have taken a cat's photograph. We can see the watermark on it and to the right you can see the image after I removed the watermark.

In an earlier post I had written a tutorial on how to add a watermark to an image. Now in this tutorial we are going to see how to remove watermark on an image.

For this tutorial I have taken a cat’s photograph. We can see the watermark on it and to the right you can see the image after I removed the watermark.

First make a selection around the Watermark text. You can use Pen tool or Magic Wand tool for this. But here I have used both.

Now I create a selection around the watermarked text image as shown in the image below.

Now lets make some changes to the selected area.

  • Go to Edit>Fill (Shift+F5).
  • You can see Fill Pallet box display on your screen.
  • Here I have used Use – Content-Aware, Mode-Normal, Opacity-100% as you can see in the image below.

Now Deselect the selection. Just Press Ctrl+D for de-selecting the selection. You can see watermarked area filled with the background color. Now I have to remove the outline of the watermarked text image.

For this we using the Clone Stamp Tool (S)

Then with the help the Clone Stamp Tool remove the Watermark text outline. Just pick the similar color of the outline near part by pressing Alt key and fill it on the outline (seem image below).

After removing the whole outline where of the remains of the watermarks outline we have the image ready.

Sometimes removing watermark is necessary when we need to use a particular image in a certain way. Watermarked images usually are copy-righted. In this case do give credit or take permission from the original copyright holder of the image specially if you are reproducing that image in any form commercially.

Do drop in your comments with your views.

41 Comments

Jaswanth October 27, 2010

Am using photoshope cs2, i am unable to fine content aware in Fill,
What version of photoshope you are using..!!

umesh October 29, 2010

Oh! it’s in Photoshop CS5. this is newly add in CS5…i think you people always use latest version of any software….thanks…!

Jacob February 6, 2013

It’s a new feature available in CS6

Micky February 10, 2013

No, CS5

FAQ Support Rep October 28, 2010

Very simple and direct tutorial. I usually get wallpapers from deviantart but some of them have watermarks. I am really looking forward to make use of this from now on. 🙂

umesh October 29, 2010

thanks!

mukesh verma June 27, 2012

this is really working. thanx

huzaifa October 28, 2010

nice post, im gonna try this for sure.

umesh October 28, 2010

thanks………..!

Huzaifa Darbar October 28, 2010

I wud really appreciate if u Can write a post on how to use font of different languages in photoshop.

iPhone Development October 28, 2010

Cool detailed tutorial. Bookmarked it.

umesh October 29, 2010

thanks for the comment…!

surya October 28, 2010

pls can u write about image redy cs2……me nd my frnds require it!

Rajeel October 30, 2010

Coolest Article….It’s really very useful. Thanks Umesh

bhavana July 20, 2011

is there a tutorial to batch remove watermark,by putting another on top of watermark in the same pixel area

Muhilan December 12, 2011

Removing watermarks is not illegal?
Can we remove the watermarks and use those images for other purposes?

Aditya Kane December 13, 2011

@Muhilan: It is not illegal to remove watermarks. But it is illegal to use copyright content without proper permissions.

Muhilan December 12, 2011

Im not getting a content aware option in fill pallet box either im using Photoshop cs3.

vijayaragavan January 26, 2012

this is too tough for images downloaded from shutterstock .
can U help me out ?

Nirmal Kumar Gali February 20, 2012

Thanx for the tutorial. It really helped me a lot.

Rita Roy February 29, 2012

thanks alot for ur wonderful help………works great for late night project work 🙂
keep rocking

Arjun April 11, 2012

Really helpful. Very simple too. Thanks a lot:)

Spearweilder April 12, 2012

Could you post a video on this
I’m new to photoshop stuff so yeah… Thanks in advance 😀

Sam April 20, 2012

This is great for those big watermarks across an image. There is an online tool http://imgcrop.com that lets you crop out simpler watermarks, like 9gag, theChive etc.

Vanessa April 24, 2012

Hello Do Anybody Know How To Remove Ebay Watermarks Off The Pictures That I Download Off The Site Like Remove The EBay Sign Off The Picture?

DEBASISH April 27, 2012

THANKS, THANKS, THANKS A LOT !!

Pauline July 31, 2012

Thanks so much! So easy to understand and do! One word-Amazing. 😀

emile September 21, 2012

I works great. thanks for making it easy to understand. great tutorial.

Musaddif October 17, 2012

Excellent ! very useful for my new job 🙂 thanks a lot.

Wurstbro October 19, 2012

for the easier watermarks you can use http://watermark-remover.com which works superfast 🙂

Mozilla976 December 12, 2012

not getting the fill option once I select with magic wand

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Raghavendra February 6, 2013

Hi! that was easy! thank you! And i happen to have CS5 Photoshop with my yey!! 🙂

Antaroop Chakraborty February 12, 2013

Thanks for the very easy tutorial.
Thanks a lot.

Reg February 25, 2013

You don’t know how much time you have saved me with this very handy tutorial. You are a star!!!

Jarmo pikkarainen March 20, 2013

People use watermarks to signature their work. Stock image companies use watermarks to secure their submitters work. If not illegal, removing watermarks is unethical. They are there for reason. Buy the images you need and you get those without watermarks.

Chris May 21, 2013

for me, the picture and watermark are the same layer. Using the clone stamp moved the picture and showed the “black and white pattern” background. I don’t know, did I do it right?

Jennifer June 26, 2013

If you got the black and white pattern background then you were probably using the eraser tool not the clone tool……………… by the way……. great tutorial

ThisShitIsIllegalPeople August 5, 2013

“Watermarked images usually are copy-righted.”
Usually? How about ALL images are ALWAYS copyrighted?

Hate to be the buzz-killer here, but removing watermarks from images that aren’t yours is illegal, as you’re tampering with someone’s copyrights.

LJ Kearny January 21, 2016

Where did you get your GED in Law from?