How to White-Out a Photo

By Heather Laurent

Updated September 22, 2017

Items you will need

  • Image file

  • Computer

  • Photo editing software

i Ciaran Griffin/Lifesize/Getty Images

Perhaps you would like to isolate a particular object from a photo and portray it over a white background for an advertisement. Or, perhaps you are creating a party invitation and need to white out an area to add the information. With photo editing software such as Photoshop CS3, selecting parts of your image and filling them with a solid, opaque color requires only a few simple steps.

Open your photo in Photoshop CS3. Select "Open" from the File menu and choose the file that you would like to edit.

Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to select the area you would like to fill with white color. If the area is a nonrectangular shape, use the Lasso Tool found in the tool panel on the left side of the window.

Choose "Edit > Fill." When prompted to specify the fill color, select “White” under “Use” from the drop-down menu. Select “OK.”

Alternatively, use the Eraser Tool in the tool panel to whiten specific areas of your photo. Modify the brush size and opacity to suit your preferences.

Use the Dodge Tool in the tool panel, if you would simply like to lighten areas of your image rather than whitening them entirely, to lighten highlights, midtones or shadows of a particular area.

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