taking out a stop sign

[pasknucklehead]

Hi everyone, I just took a cool photo of a single canoe tied to a dock. I took in b/w and I really like it. But as I looked at it on my computer, I noticed a stupid sign in the picture that I didn't notice before. How can I eliminate it without using either the clone tool or the healing brush tool?
Those are the only tools I use to kind of take out little details, and even at that, I guess I am not too good at it and my spot that I did always looks a little off and blurry. Is there a better way to just eliminate something and make it look a little better than what I am doing?
Thanks guys...
Darlene
Here is the photo...

[Tina_B]

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/11gujy7SGQWssy7nU435x10ALKzIa1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=11gujy7SGQWssy7nU435x10ALKzIa1)
I took the sign out by cloning . I just cloned some of the pole and then some of the bushes in front. I could not see a stop sign just a rectangle sign near the pole.
Tina B

[mljrbg]

I know you wanted anothed method besides the clone tool but for me the clone tool is what worked best with this. I cloned out both the "slow" sign and the was a small portion of a sign up higher on the pole.

I also went a little further and straightened it a little and used Kimi's (http://www.photoshopcreativeelements.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4428) "Black and White with a Punch" tut and then sharpened it a little.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1daXnjKSv5bxdy9dQpDMlpBjUQ5E_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1daXnjKSv5bxdy9dQpDMlpBjUQ5E)

[cats4jan]

I'd like to see the pole gone, too. ;)

[Diana]

Here's a method I use sometimes to remove an unwanted object from a photo. It doesn't work with all photos, it depends on what's around the object.

Duplicate the image twice by pressing Ctrl-J twice. Make the top later active. Get the Eraser tool and select a soft-edged brush not much bigger than the object. In this case, I sized the brush to the width of the pole.

Now erase over the object. If it helps to see where you're erasing, turn off the visibility of the two bottom layers before erasing, by clicking the eye beside the layers. After erasing, turn the visibility of the layers back on.

Now make the middle layer active (the layer directly beneath the layer you erased on). Press Ctrl-T for free transform. Drag on the image, which will move the active layer over so that a new section of the image fills the "hole" where you erased. In this case, I dragged horizontally to the right until the pole and sign disappeared.

Then I merged the top two layers and touch up a bit with the Clone tool.

Then I duplicated the top layer and changed the blend mode to Soft Light to give more contrast to the photo, lowering the opacity of that layer a bit. This is the result:

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/13wtLRV1Ac3DUXvpUSwmxqwltjg0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=13wtLRV1Ac3DUXvpUSwmxqwltjg0)

Diana

[mljrbg]

Diana, that works like a charm!! I'm adding it to my Diana tips and tuts!!

[Diana]

Hi Mary Lou... I can't take entire credit for this neat trick. I learned it from Janice and I've used it a lot (thanks, Janice):
http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showpost.php?p=329978&postcount=2

Diana

[pasknucklehead]

Thanks my friends, I will give all of your advices and recommendations a good honest try. Darlene

[pasknucklehead]

It's me again, I went to that site Kimi's black and white with a punch, and of course got stranded on the first line. It says to open you image, make any normal corrections, I would guess that means brightening or cropping or whatever, and then it says press D to set your colors to the default settings. How do I do that. I press D and it does nothing...Help....Darlene

[Tina_B]

Your default colors are black and white. If you look at the little square down on the left of the workspace there is a black square and a white square and the black is on top. When you change colors for type or anything the colors will change there. the defaults are just black and white.
Tina B