Is a boring background ruining your picture? Just replace it! We'll show you how with Photoshop.

Have you ever taken a wonderful picture of your family or friends against a boring wall and wanted to change the wall to something more interesting? If you want to take control of the image and add a touch of your own creativity, we’ll show you how to create Patterns in Photoshop to replace that boring wall.

Let’s get started.

If you want to follow along and see how easy it is to replace a boring wall with your own Patterns, you can download the example image from Pexels.

If you're using your own image, this tutorial will work best if your background wall takes up the entire image with your subject in front. More complicated images would require additional masking.

Before we start editing our main image, we need to create a separate Patterns document that will be used to replace the wall. Once we create and save it, it will be made available for future use in the Adjustment Layers menu under Pattern.

Now, we have set the foundation for our wall replacement. You may also create multiple Patterns so that you will have more to choose from. Not all Patterns may work with your images.

If you have a boring sky, check out our tutorial on how to replace the sky in any photo in Photoshop.

This is your chance to get creative. We’ll use the Brush tool along with a special brush to create the marble Pattern. This file will serve as a Pattern that can be accessed at any time in the future for your boring walls or any number of other uses.

We have a complete guide on how to use the Brush tool in Photoshop if you need a refresher.

Once we have created the marble Pattern, we can access the design by using a Pattern Fill adjustment layer. We’ll then separate our subject from the background layer and replace the boring wall with the marble Pattern.

There are different ways to select subjects if you have a more complicated background. We show you how to mask a subject in Photoshop using the Subject Select tool.

You’ll notice that once we replaced the wall with the marble Pattern that all the wall details vanished along with the shadows cast by the woman. For a more realistic image, you may want to bring back those shadow details. We’ll use Blend If and the Multiply Blend Mode to make this happen.

Blend If is a very useful tool that has many applications. We demonstrate this in our article on how to color grade using Blend If in Photoshop.

Now, our boring wall is starting to look a little more interesting. But there may be some exposure adjustments that need to happen to make our subject stand out more or less from the wall. We’ll use a simple Curves adjustment layer to accomplish this.

Whether you prefer the lighter or darker wall Pattern (or both), you will maintain the shadows of the subject on the wall. Also, you can always go back and adjust the Blend If and Curves settings.

If you’ve followed along, you now know how easy it is to replace boring walls in Photoshop. You’ll never have to worry about pictures that you take with friends and family being ruined by unpleasing background elements again.

Craig Boehman is a Mumbai-based American photographer. He writes articles about Photoshop and photo editing for MakeUseOf.com.

Join our newsletter for tech tips, reviews, free ebooks, and exclusive deals!