InPaint and Webinpaint software review

I was a bit skeptical about the before and after results I saw on the theinpaint.com website. It claimed to remove unwanted photos easily. Before downloading software that I may not eventually use, I tried a few photos for myself using the online software called webinpaint.com; the second reason was that I was trying this software from a laptop with Linux installed.

I downloaded a recent photo I took of model Jenny with fall foliage and decided what if I wanted to show the photo with just fall foliage. This was a good first test of the software and see if the claim could be proved.

The site could not be simpler to use. The first step was to LOAD IMAGE. Clicking on it allows you the option of uploading an image file (JPG) up to the site. I had no issues loading a 1.6MB file and no issues loading a 100K file. The next step was the highlight or "paint" over the area you want to remove and replace on the photograph. If you make a mistake, clicking on the "X" will clear the selection and you can select the object(s) again. To the right of the "X" is a number (clicking on the number reveals a slider that let's you adjust the brush size up to a maximum size of 50. I would recommend this for larger pixel photos as it lets you select a larger area (and decrease the time for you to select the unwanted object(s)). The easy step was to click INPAINT. The back end software and servers crunched away at the processing while I clicked on another tab to check email.

After checking email, I clicked back on the WebInpaint Beta tab. Here are the results:

Click here to see the original photo posted online

BEFORE

AFTER

To recap here are the steps using WebInPaint Beta in list format:
1. LOAD IMAGE
2. SELECT the object(s) from the image you want to remove by outlining.
3. (Optional) Click on the number to the right of the "X" to increase or decrease the size of the selector
4. (Optional) Click on the "X" if you need to clear the selection
5. Click INPAINT and wait until the image is transformed to the image you had in your mind
6. Click the disk SAVE icon to save the after photo. Remember to choose an alternate name or location as you may overwrite the original image

TOOL NOTES:
* Clicking on the "X" clears the entire selection

NOTE: The software itself is quite powerful but please respect photographers' and artist's copyright. Please also be aware of the law regarding copyrights where you live.

The Webinpaint Beta page states, "Typically the defect is repaired on the first try. However, you can experiment until you get the results you want." In my case the "defects" were repaired on the first try.

I tried again just to be sure. These are the results from a more complicated photo, where I removed the model on the right. It took a few tries because the empty space was filled with awkward elements until the fourth try where I thought the results are acceptable:

Click here to see the original photo posted on my website.

ORIGINAL

STEP 1

STEP 4

This software has revolutionized the practice of using scissors to "cut out" unwanted objects in photographs. Since it is software whether online or on your computer; it is cleaner, and takes a lot less time and really does remove unwanted objects. In certain scenarios, it is possible that using this software and additional cropping may do the job.

Photographs are copyrighted by Richard M. Reyes.