Discover the new AI-powered Remove tool in Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw and why it’s a game changer for photo fixes
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The new Remove tool in Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw features a brilliant new generative
AI mode. It can now employ machine learning to remove unwanted objects from your images. Most older retouching tools work by sampling the surrounding pixels, copying and re-using the data from nearby to fill in the area you define. This was once considered cutting-edge but, these days, it is almost primitive in comparison with these new AI-powered tools. For quick fixes, the new Remove tool can be used in the same way as before. However, for larger areas, we can check the AI box and it will generate new pixels not only by analysing the surroundings but also by recognising the image’s content.
Take the underwater portrait here. We wanted to fill in the dress to cover the swimwear. The tool recognises it’s a dress, calls upon a vast library of similar images and builds new content based on its large learning model, not only of what the dress should look like but also the direction of the light in the scene, the overall colours and perspective.
It’s currently in ‘Early Access’ mode, which means that anybody with an Adobe CC subscription can use it. However, it’s still in development and isn’t the finished article just yet. That said, it’s still hugely impressive…
1 Check Generative AI
The Remove tool has been in Camera Raw and Lightroom Classic for a while but has been boosted by generative AI. Click on the Remove Tool icon in the toolbar and check Generative AI. It works like a brush, so paint over areas you want to fix and objects you want to remove. When painting, use the size slider or the ] and [ brackets to resize the brush tip.
2 Paint an overlay
After painting with the Remove tool, you’ll see a colour overlay and the Mask Refinement panel will pop up. Change the colour and opacity of the overlay if needed. We can add to or subtract from
