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Participant
June 27, 2023
Open for Voting

Simple way to remove glare and reflections from glasses

  • June 27, 2023
  • 10 replies
  • 23714 views

Love the new Remove Tool in Photoshop and the Generative Fill function in the beta version. So powerful and fun to use.

 

But when it comes to eyes and removing glare from glasses, these tools tend to warp and destroy the eyes... Removing glare from glasses is a strugle that takes time, so maybe I'm being a bit optimistic in thinking that a simple remove tool or AI generated function can do the job. But I'm throwing it out there. How about making a dedicated tool for removing glare and reflections, and even shiny forheads and noses? Would be awesome. 

10 replies

D Fosse
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 4, 2025

Right. Thirty seconds to adjust the light can save you a half day of tedious Photoshop work. And the result will always be better. Every experienced photographer knows this.

 

As much as I love Photoshop, my goal is always to use it as little as possible. 

 

 

Genius
November 4, 2025

"Fix it in post" is always a bad solution. Unfortunately a lot of people are not skilled enough to understand photo lighting. With enough time and work, ANYTHING can be fixed in Photoshop, but that doesn't make it easy.

 

Avoiding reflections can be as easy as moving the subject a bit, tilting their head, moving the light, using lighting modifiers...

 

Signed, a working professional photographer.

D Fosse
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 4, 2025

@dpick2 

A camera flash bounced from a white ceiling (slightly back) gives basically the same effect. Although you may have to crank up ISO a bit.

 

I would like to repeat what I said above:

"Yes, I do realize there are situations where you can't control the light. Still, I just wanted to point out that it is in fact possible."

dpick2
Known Participant
November 4, 2025

I wish I had taken my lighting set-up when my family--from all over the country--met at Panera's.  Really, if you have studio lighting, it's your fault.  95% of the people taking photos, don't.  Thanks for the great help.

Participating Frequently
September 21, 2024

Some glasses will reflect glare coming from anywhere in front of subject. Does anyof the new Photoshop adds solve this problem?

jane-e
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 27, 2023

 

"The craft of photography is slowly dying..."

 

Sadly, I think you are right, @D Fosse , with so many folks using only their phones. Thanks for the explanation!

 

Jane

D Fosse
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 27, 2023

@jane-e  I use very diffuse lighting for portraits - a white room, with two bounce flash units pointing 60° upwards behind me. In other words, the whole room behind me acts as diffuse light source, mostly the ceiling.

 

As long as most of the light comes from the back ceiling, reflections in eyeglasses are pretty much killed.

 

The rest of the room reflects enough light to soften all shadows, with an added reflector from below.

 

OK, maybe that sounds complicated, but it is pretty simple to set up and works surprisingly well. It can even be done with an on-camera flash. You just need the white room.

Ivan Zajats
Inspiring
June 27, 2023

@D Fosse, or just paste it from another shot of the series...

or take the glass out of the frame on set 🙂 so many options

jane-e
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 27, 2023

 

@D Fosse How did you set up the lighting?

 

@Robert-NRK Terry White from Adobe has a video on removing glare. Note, however, that the glare is not on the iris and I think that makes a difference.

 

Jane

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5UUiHuIoFw

D Fosse
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 27, 2023

...or you can set up the lighting to avoid it completely. This is a crop directly from a raw file, untouched by Photoshop:

The craft of photography is slowly dying...

 

Yes, I do realize there are situations where you can't control the light. Still, I just wanted to point out that it is in fact possible.