Remove a Specific Color/Stain in Photoshop with Hue/Saturation
This method uses a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to isolate the stain’s hue, then neutralizes it to match surrounding tones. You’ll temporarily exaggerate the hue to define the range, refine it, and then reveal the correction precisely with masking. It’s fast, non-destructive, and highly controllable.
Step-by-step instructions
Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer
Go to Layer → New Adjustment Layer → Hue/Saturation and click OK.
In Properties, click the Hand (on-image) tool.
Target the stain’s color range
Click directly on the stain to sample its hue.
Temporarily drag Hue and Saturation all the way to the right to visualize the selected range.
Adjust the range sliders (the colored gradient bar) to include only the stain and exclude skin/background.
Reset Hue and Saturation to 0, then fine-tune Hue/Saturation until the stain blends with surrounding skin.
Mask the correction to the stained area
Select the adjustment’s mask and press Ctrl/Command+I to invert (hide the effect).
Choose the Brush Tool, set foreground to white, and paint over the stain to reveal the correction only where needed.
Fix remaining stains on other areas
Create another Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.
Reduce Saturation to the left if you need to neutralize grayish stains on non-skin areas.
Invert the mask (Ctrl/Command+I) and paint with white over the remaining stains to apply locally.
