Drawing on Mobile with fingers: magnifier or offset from finger location?

Question

We are working on a "remove objects from photos" app, where the users highlight/select a part of an image they want to remove and the app takes care of it.

Precision is sort of important here, on one hand, it's not for Pro users, it's a classic B2C mobile app.
On the other hand, we assume users want to remove specific objects, sometimes very subtle.

Currently, when the users move their finger they'll "paint" the same location on the image, which can create issues as the finger "hides" the content underneath it.
We thought about two mechanisms to improve it:

• Add Offset to the finger location:

• Same location, but you Maganfier to showcase what's below the finger:

Would love to hear you suggestions, thanks!

Answer 1

There are several possibilities. I would try making a separated working zone at the same screen.

• Horizontal split-screen to get a working area in the lower half
• Color difference between the image of the working area and the real one
• A button to move the partition boundary vertically
• A button with the option to see a working grid in both partitions
• Possibility of zooming in the work area, with or without repercussion on the real image. For example:
  • Zoom in both with the usual two-finger gesture
  • Zoom in on just one image with three fingers (or vice-versa)

The user paints in the work area, the lower part, and visualizes the result in the real image, the upper part.