Extending a Background in Photoshop in 3 Simple Steps

How to Extend a Background in Photoshop

Have you ever taken a photo, and then later, when you pull it up in Photoshop, you wished you had framed just a little bit more of the sky, grass, or background in your image?

In this tutorial, I will teach you a very simple, 3 step process to help you quickly and easily extend the background in Photoshop.

In this example, I am going to extend the right side of my original portrait image in Photoshop so that my subject is framed a little more to the left of the photo's center than she is currently. 

Moving her over just a bit in the frame and closer to a rule of thirds vertical line hotspot will give the photo better composition and create a more well-balanced and engaging photo.

Step 1: Add Canvas

In Photoshop, select Image>Canvas Size.

This will pull up a pop-up box where you can change the size in either direction you want, vertically or horizontally.  In my example, I want to extend the image to the right side, so I will boost my width from 75.25 to 80.  Then I will select the arrow pointing to the left to "pull the image over" and make more room on the right.  When this is done, click OK.

You should now have an open area on the right side of your image or whichever area you chose to extend your photo.

Step 2: Select the Newly Added Area

Select the Magic Wand Tool from the Photoshop toolbar on the left side of your screen.  Then, click on the newly added area of your image to select it.

Step 3: Fill the Added Area Using Content Aware

Go to Edit>Fill.  A "Fill" Dialogue box will pop up when you do this.  Make sure the "Use" option is set to Content-Aware, then click OK.

Keep in mind that the Photoshop Content Aware Tool will pull background from the closest areas you want to extend.  This easy technique works wonderfully when you want to extend parts of your image that have a consistent pattern or background.

You should also keep in mind that it may not work well in every situation.  For example, if I tried to extend the left side of this image, I would not have enough good background area to work with using this technique because my subject is already so close to the left edge.

Before and After Extending the Background in Photoshop

The below images show the before and after, with a little more background on the right side of the image.

Conclusion

Now going forward, if you ever feel like you could not capture enough background in your photo, you can use these three simple steps to easily extend the background in Photoshop and improve the composition of your image!

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