In this guide, I’ll show you how to use the Erase tool in Luminar to remove unwanted people and objects from your photos.

Removing a person or an object from a photo is one of the most common edits in everyday photography.

It’s not something that only professionals need. Anyone might want to remove a photo bomber from a vacation snap or distracting power lines from an otherwise beautiful scene.

You don’t need to turn to online AI removers. Many of these services require a subscription or charge per edit, and uploading your photos to a third-party service means you have to consider how your images are stored and handled.

If you can do the job directly on your computer, why send your photos somewhere else?

That’s why Erase is one of my favorite tools in Luminar. It doesn’t require any photo-editing experience, and you don’t have to purchase anything extra. It also doesn’t rely on generative AI, which is best used only when necessary.

So, let me tell you all about the Erase tool: what it is, how to use it, best practices, and more.

I’ll also compare Erase with GenErase and the Clone tool so you can choose the best tool for each task.

Are you ready? Let’s get started.

The Erase tool in Luminar removes unwanted elements from your photos, whether that’s people, electric cables, litter, or any distracting object.

This feature also helps users of all skill levels because it doesn’t require any prior photo-editing training.

You can, however, achieve professional-looking results easily with a few best practices, which we’ll discuss later.

The Erase tool is available to all Luminar users, provided you got your license after 2018. Of course, it has improved with later upgrades.

One of the biggest updates came in 2022, when Skylum introduced dedicated features for dust and power lines. You’ll find the Erase tool under the Essentials panel.

Let’s take a look at how it works.

While the Erase tool is intuitive, here’s a step-by-step tutorial to help you make the most of it.

First, import your photo into your Luminar Catalog. This is because Luminar uses non-destructive editing, which means you don’t overwrite your original file when you make adjustments.

Once your image is in the Luminar Catalog, you can double-click it to open the editing tools. Alternatively, click on the Tools button on the right side of the screen.

In the Tools panel, find the Essentials section where you’ll find the Erase tool. Click it to open the tool and access its settings.

The Erase tool is extremely easy to use. Simply paint over the element you want to remove – there’s no need to make a precise selection.

However, it’s important to use an appropriate brush size. If the brush is too big, you’ll paint over more of the image than necessary. On the other hand, a brush that’s too small will take longer without providing any benefit.

So, use the slider to adjust the brush size. Remember that you can always switch to Deselect if you accidentally painted over something you didn’t want to remove.

Having said this, it is useful to include some of the context around the object you’re removing.

Once you’ve covered everything you want to erase, simply click Erase and let Luminar take over. The process is extremely fast – don’t worry.

Make sure you check the results both by zooming in to inspect the details and zooming out to see the overall picture. Pay special attention to edges, textures, straight lines, faces, architecture, shadows, and reflections.

I find it useful to toggle the tool on and off to see the before-and-after. You can do this by clicking the eye icon. This makes it easier to spot imperfections you might otherwise miss when looking only at the final image.

You’ll notice in this example that it left a large portion of one of the objects. This is because I wanted to remove too much in one go. It’s best to remove one object at a time. You can find more tips to get better results further on in the article.

In this case, all I had to do was brush over the area and click Erase again. However, you can also use the Restore button if something got deleted by mistake.

Keep in mind that you can also refine the result by changing to more complex tools like Clone or even GenErase.

• More: How to Replace Objects Using Luminar GenSwap

Here are just a few ways to use the Erase tool on your photos.

To remove power lines and dust spots, Luminar Erase has a dedicated feature. Simply click on it without having to paint over the desired area.

• More: How to Use the Portrait Tools in Luminar

These quick tips can help you get the best results when using the Erase tool in Luminar.

• Remove one object at a time.
• Don’t make the selection unnecessarily huge.
• Slightly overlap the edges.
• Zoom in.
• Check for repeated patterns.
• Check the lines.
• Try several passes.
• Try other tools or combine more than one.

Erase isn’t the only tool Luminar offers for removing unwanted elements. You can also use the Clone tool and GenErase.

Let’s break down the differences so you can decide which tool is best for each situation, or whether to combine more than one. This way you’ll get better results in less time.

Use the Erase tool for a quick, straightforward cleanup. It’s the simplest solution when you want to remove a relatively small distraction, especially when the background isn’t very complex.

Erase uses information from the pixels surrounding the object you want to remove. So, use it when there’s enough similar texture and detail to reconstruct the area convincingly.

The Luminar Clone tool is the best choice if you want more control over which pixels you use to replace the ones you’re removing.

Instead of giving Luminar the freedom to choose the pixels, you manually sample them. This will ultimately give you more control over the final look.

Remember the example I showed you earlier with the Erase tool? In the bottom-left corner, you can see it successfully removed the people. However, it left a flat sand angle that I feel distracts the eye toward this spot.

So, I can use the Clone tool to sample pixels from further back. This allows me to add water and sea foam where I’m removing the people.

The tradeoff is that cloning usually takes longer and requires more skill to blend the patch naturally with the rest of the scene.

GenErase helps you achieve the same thing as the others, but it works completely differently. GenErase uses generative AI to create completely new pixels instead of sampling from existing ones.

This makes it particularly useful for larger objects, or when the background has too many details for the Erase and Clone tool to handle.

Look at the example above. I wanted to remove the car and I tried both the Erase and the GenErase tools. Below you can use the slider to see the difference between both results.

On the downside, it may sometimes generate unexpected results. It’s also tougher on the environment, like all AI tools, and you only have access to it for the first year after you purchase a lifetime license or an upgrade.

Can you remove people in Luminar?

Yes, you can easily remove people in Luminar using the Erase tool. Simply paint over the people and click Erase. If the background is too complex, try using GenErase. However, if you prefer control over speed, you can use the Clone tool.

Can Luminar remove objects?

Yes, whatever the object is, you can use the Erase tool to remove it from your photo. Use the brush to select it and click Erase for immediate results. If you prefer pixel-level control, you can remove objects with the Clone tool. Don’t forget you can use GenErase for more difficult tasks.

How do I remove powerlines in Luminar?

To remove power lines from your photos, open the Erase tool and expand the Object Removal section. Then, click Remove Powerlines and let Luminar do the work.

Please note that this will remove only the power lines, not the poles they’re attached to. So, you might need to retouch the final result with the Erase brush.

How do I remove dust spots in Luminar?

Luminar has a dedicated feature to remove dust inside the Erase tool. Simply open the panel and click the down arrow next to Object Removal to expand the bottom part of the panel.

Here, click on Remove Dust Spots, and that’s it. If any spots remain, refine the result with the regular Erase tool.

Is Luminar Erase better than Clone?

The Erase tool isn’t better than the Clone tool – it’s just different. Erase automatically removes objects by sampling the pixels around the area you select.

Instead, the Clone tool lets you choose which pixels it uses when removing something. So, Erase is faster, but you have no control over the result, while Clone gives you full control, but it may take longer as you’re doing it manually.

Is Luminar Erase generative AI?

No, Luminar’s Erase tool doesn’t use generative AI. However, you can use generative AI to remove objects in Luminar with the GenErase feature. You’ll find this in the ‘Extra’ section if it’s available. If you can’t see it, you may need to purchase an upgrade to activate it.

Can I undo an Erase in Luminar?

Yes, the Erase tool in Luminar is non-destructive. Use the Restore button to paint over the area you want. To undo the entire Erase, click the back arrow at the top of the panel.

If you want to undo it after other adjustments, go to the Edits section and find the Erase step. Here, you can click the back arrow to undo it and the trash can icon to remove it completely.