How to Remove Blemishes in Photoshop: 2 New Methods
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The new Blemishes option in Camera Raw lets you automatically remove blemishes in Photoshop. Photoshop scans the portrait, finds every spot, and clears them in a single click.
This tutorial is for anyone who retouches portraits and wants clean skin without hours of manual work. You do not need any retouching experience to follow along.
You will learn two methods. The first uses the new Blemishes option inside the Camera Raw Filter. The second uses Generative Fill with a partner model and produces a cleaner result in a single generation.
The Blemishes option is brand new (Camera Raw 18.5 August 2026 Release), so update Photoshop and Camera Raw to the latest version before you start.
By the end, you will know which method to reach for and how to fix the blotchy skin the automatic pass leaves behind.
Key Takeaways
- The new Blemishes option in Camera Raw scans the entire portrait and clears every spot with a single checkbox.
- Amount determines how many blemishes are removed; Fade separately controls how visible natural marks like moles and freckles remain.
- The automatic pass leaves blotchy patches on the forehead, cheeks, and chin; the Remove Tool with Generative AI cleans them up.
- Generative Fill with a partner model and a square selection often produces cleaner skin in a single generation.
- Convert the layer to a Smart Object first, so the entire retouch remains editable as a Smart Filter.
Table of contents
- What You’ll Learn
- Requirements
- Method 1: Remove Blemishes in Photoshop with Camera Raw
- Step 1: Convert the Layer to a Smart Object
- Step 2: Apply the Blemishes Removal
- Step 3: Refine with Restore and Remove
- Step 4: Set the Amount and Fade Sliders
- Step 5: Clean Up the Blotchiness
- Method 2: Remove Blemishes with Generative Fill
- Step 1: Make a Square Selection
- Step 2: Choose the Partner Model
- Step 3: Review the Generation
- Which Method Should You Use?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Final Thoughts
- Related Links
What You’ll Learn
- How the new Blemishes option in Camera Raw finds and clears every spot on its own
- How the Amount and Fade sliders let you keep moles and freckles
- How to fix the blotchy skin the automatic pass leaves behind
- How to get a cleaner result with Generative Fill and a partner model
- Why a square selection protects the resolution of your generation
- Which of the two methods to use on your own portraits
Requirements
- Photoshop and Camera Raw updated to the latest version
- A portrait photo with visible blemishes
- Access to Generative Fill partner models for the second method
Method 1: Remove Blemishes in Photoshop with Camera Raw
Camera Raw now does the whole pass for you. Check one box, and Photoshop handles the rest.
Step 1: Convert the Layer to a Smart Object
Right-click your layer in the Layers Panel and choose Convert to Smart Object.
This keeps your work editable. You can reopen the settings later and change anything you want.
Then go to Filter > Camera Raw Filter.
Note: Skip this step, and the retouching bakes into the pixels. You cannot adjust it afterward.
Step 2: Apply the Blemishes Removal
Select the Remove Tool. Scroll to the bottom of the panel and find the new Blemishes option.
Click the Apply checkbox. Photoshop analyzes the image and removes every blemish on its own.
Zoom in and click the preview icon to compare. Click it again to see the edited version. The skin looks much better, and you’ve done very little work.
Step 3: Refine with Restore and Remove
The Refine button gives you manual control over the automatic result.
With Restore enabled, brush over any area to bring back the original pixels. Click Remove and brush to take out blemishes the automatic pass missed.
If you do not want to keep those changes, click Cancel.
Step 4: Set the Amount and Fade Sliders
Two sliders control the result. They do very different things.
Amount sets how many blemishes are removed. At 0, you see the original image. As you raise it, the largest blemishes disappear first. Past 50, only the small ones remain. At 100, every blemish is gone.
Fade has nothing to do with the blemishes you removed. It controls the visibility of natural marks you want to keep, like moles and freckles.
In this portrait, the subject has a mole. At a Fade of 100, it disappears completely. At 0, it stays exactly as it was.
Tip: Set Fade somewhere in the middle. Freckles and moles that survive the retouch are what keep skin looking like skin.
Step 5: Clean Up the Blotchiness
Zoom into the forehead, cheeks, and chin. The automatic pass leaves blotchy patches behind.
Scroll back up and enable the Remove Tool. Make sure Use Generative AI is checked.
Paint over the blotchy area, then click the Remove button. Photoshop gives you three variations. Click the arrow to cycle through them and keep the one that works best.
Press OK when you are done. Because you started with a Smart Object, you get a Smart Filter you can double-click to edit at any time.
Method 2: Remove Blemishes with Generative Fill
The Camera Raw tool is good. But there is a faster way to remove blemishes in Photoshop, and the result is cleaner.
Step 1: Make a Square Selection
Turn off the Smart Filter to restore the original image.
Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool and drag a perfect square around the face.
Hold the Spacebar while you drag to move the selection into place.
The square shape matters more than it looks. The Gemini partner model tends to align more closely with the original content below when using a 1:1 aspect ratio. A perfect square.
Also, Firefly generates at a fixed resolution. A square around the face dedicates all that resolution to the skin, rather than wasting it on the background.
Step 2: Choose the Partner Model
Click Generative Fill. Open the dropdown, go to the Partner Model tab, and choose the latest Gemini model.
A square selection with this partner model usually yields a result that blends more smoothly with the background.
Now give it the prompt and generate.
Prompt: remove blemishes
Step 3: Review the Generation
Check what came back. If a good result doesn’t land on the first try, generate again. One or two more attempts usually gets you there.
The AI generation does a better job of removing every blemish with none of the blotchiness the Camera Raw Filter left behind.
Now you know the two new methods to remove blemishes in Photoshop!
Which Method Should You Use?
Turn the Camera Raw Filter back on and compare the two. The blotchiness on the forehead, cheeks, and chin is obvious next to the generative result.
| Camera Raw Blemishes | Generative Fill | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | One click for the whole face | One selection and one prompt |
| Control | Amount, Fade, Restore, and Remove give you fine control | You control the selection and the prompt, then pick a variation |
| Skin texture | Leaves blotchy patches you have to clean up | Clean texture with no blotchiness |
| Editability | Stays editable as a Smart Filter | Lives on its own generative layer |
| Best for | Keeping freckles and moles exactly where you want them | Fast, clean skin on a high-resolution portrait |
Reach for Camera Raw when you want control over which marks survive. Reach for Generative Fill when you want clean skin fast on a high-resolution portrait.
Frequently Asked Questions
It lives inside the Camera Raw Filter. Go to Filter > Camera Raw Filter, select the Remove Tool, and scroll to the bottom of the panel. The Blemishes option sits there with an Apply checkbox.
The automatic pass smooths the areas it clears, which flattens the skin texture around them. You see it most on the forehead, cheeks, and chin. Paint over those areas with the Remove Tool and use Generative AI to restore the texture.
Use the Fade slider. Fade controls the visibility of natural marks rather than blemishes. At 100, a mole disappears; at 0, it stays untouched; and somewhere in between, it keeps freckles looking natural.
Amount sets how many blemishes get removed, largest first. Fade sets how visible your natural marks stay. They are separate controls, and they do not affect each other.
No, but you should use one to work non-destructively. Converting the layer to a Smart Object first turns the Camera Raw edit into a Smart Filter. Double-click the label at any time to edit your adjustments.
The Google Gemini partner model’s output tends to align better with the original image when using a 1:1 aspect ratio. A perfect square.
Generative Fill with a partner model gives cleaner skin in fewer steps. Camera Raw gives you finer control over which blemishes and natural marks survive. Most portraits do well with Generative Fill first, but test both and see what works for your project.
Final Thoughts
You now have two ways to remove blemishes in Photoshop. The Camera Raw Blemishes option does the whole face in one click and gives you sliders to fine-tune what stays. Generative Fill with a partner model skips the cleanup step, producing cleaner skin in a single generation.
Neither one takes long to learn. Try both on the same portrait and see which result you prefer.
Watch the full tutorial for the whole workflow, including the zoomed-in comparison of both results.
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Complete course includes 2.5 hours of step-by-step lessons, 6 structured modules, downloadable practice files, and custom Photoshop brushes. Everything you need to master selections and masks in one place.
Keep going
To go further with the generative tools in Photoshop, my Photoshop AI Mastery course covers them in depth. And clean skin still depends on clean selections, which is exactly what Selections and Masking Mastery builds from the ground up.
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