How to remove your ex from engagement and prom photos

Engagement photos and prom pictures capture milestone moments—moments that become complicated when the relationship ends. These photos are often formal, posed, and centered on the couple, which makes removing one person harder than it sounds. Here's an honest look at what works, what doesn't, and when a solo crop beats an AI edit.

Before

After AI-edited

Why milestone photos are different

A vacation selfie might have your ex off to one side, with a landmark or a beach behind you both. A prom photo or engagement shoot is different: two people facing the camera, posed together, often touching. The composition is built around the couple.

When you remove one person from a photo like this, the AI has to rebuild half the scene. Matching poses, arms around waists, intertwined hands, and formal outfits all add complexity. The more overlap, the more guessing the tool has to do.

What free phone tools can do

iPhone Clean Up, Google Photos Magic Eraser, and Samsung Object Eraser all let you brush over a person to remove them. They work best when the person is:

• Small in the frame (a guest in the background, not the subject).
• Separate from you (not touching, not overlapping).
• Against a simple background (grass, sky, wall).

For a posed couple shot, these tools often leave smudges or warped edges. The bigger and closer your ex is, the more the app has to invent. You can try multiple passes and undo, but the result may never look natural.

When a solo crop is the honest answer

Sometimes the best edit is the simplest: crop the photo so you're the only one in it. This works well when:

• Your ex is on one side and you're on the other.
• You don't need the full background.
• The original framing was wide enough that cropping doesn't cut off anything important.

A cropped photo keeps the original quality—no generated pixels, no smudging. It won't fool anyone who knows the original, but it gives you a usable solo portrait for a frame, a profile picture, or a memory wall.

Be honest with yourself: if you and your ex are posed tightly together, arms intertwined, faces side by side, a solo crop may look more natural than an AI edit that tries to reconstruct half the image.

Describe-to-remove for overlapping poses

Remove Your Ex works differently from phone erasers. Instead of brushing, you describe who should go—"the man in the suit on the left," for example. The AI identifies the person and removes them, filling in the background.

This can help with milestone photos because:

• You don't have to brush carefully around overlapping arms or formal attire.
• The AI has context from your description, so it's less likely to remove the wrong person in a group.
• You can batch up to 10 photos from the same shoot and process them together.

It's not magic. Close two-person poses are still the hardest case for any tool. But describing beats brushing when the free tools leave smudges. If the first result isn't right, every photo includes a free second edit—try a clearer description.

Tips for editing formal photos

• Start with the best original. A high-resolution image gives the AI more to work with. If you have multiple shots from the same session, pick one where your ex is less overlapping.
• Describe clothing and position. "The woman in the blue dress on the right" is easier for the AI than "her." Formal wear makes descriptions precise.
• Check at full size. Zoom in on the edges where your ex was. Look for smudging, odd shadows, or repeated textures.
• Be realistic about close poses. If the result looks off, a solo crop might serve you better. There's no shame in keeping it simple.

What about professional retouching?

If you need a perfect result for a frame or an album—and the AI tools aren't cutting it—consider a professional retoucher. A human editor can spend hours on one photo, painting in details and matching shadows. It costs more, but for one or two photos that really matter, it may be worth it.

For most people, though, the goal isn't perfection. It's having a photo you can look at without the complicated feelings. A good-enough edit, or an honest crop, usually does the job.

Pricing

Phone erasers are free. Remove Your Ex costs 1 credit per photo, including a free second edit. Credit packs are $2.99 for 1 photo, $4.99 for 5 (the Starter Pack), $9.99 for 15, or $24.99 for 50. There's no subscription—buy once, and credits never expire. Failed edits return the credit automatically. See the pricing page for details.

Your photos are stored privately and deleted automatically after 90 days. You can delete them sooner from My photos. Google doesn't use them to train its models.

Which approach fits your milestone photo?

• Ex is small or in the background: free phone eraser.
• Ex is at the edge, you don't need the full frame: solo crop.
• Ex is overlapping you but the photo matters: try Remove Your Ex and use the free second edit if needed.
• Close two-person pose, tightly framed: be honest—a solo crop may look more natural.

More on group and wedding photos in how to remove your ex from group and wedding photos. For a broader look at tools, see how to cut someone out of a picture.