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ThomasH_on_the_web
Inspiring
February 5, 2026
Question

Reflection removal may be restored by denoise.

  • February 5, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 70 views

Reflection removal in so many cases works wonder, astonishing. However I noticed that sometimes when using denoise after the reflection removal, the reflection removal will be undone. Here is an example, a snapshot from Egyptian museum. 
Image 1, original.
Image 2, reflection vanished.
Image 3, de-noised, reflections are back. 

And when I try to make it the other way around (1st de-noise, than reflection removal) the process hangs and never terminates.
 


 

No reflections.


 

Denoised, reflections are back.

 

      3 replies

      D
      dj_paige
      Legend
      February 5, 2026

      This was already reported to Adobe as a bug, they confirmed it, and so they are investigating. However, in this new forum, I cannot find the link.

        T
        ThomasH_on_the_webAuthor
        Inspiring
        February 5, 2026

        Thanks, yes, I assumed that someone might have reported this as well and I also failed to find the thread.  

        Update to the “hanging” symptom: The reflection removal has finished after all, not sure when. I left the room and when I saw LR running several hours later, I saw a de-noised image with reflections removed. 

        JohanElzenga
        Community Expert
        JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        February 5, 2026

        Do you see a yellow ‘wheel’ icon in the upper right corner of the develop module? That indicates that AI settings need to be updated, so (shift-)click on it. Seeing something like this is not unusual. If you denoise an image, then the original pixels are used. That invalidates any previous AI edits you’ve already made. Simply updating these edits solves the problem.

        -- Johan W. Elzenga
          AxelMatt
          Community Expert
          AxelMattCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          February 5, 2026

          If you’re using Lightroom’s AI function to an image you’ve to follow a specific order when processing the data.

           

          The best order of Develop operations to avoid unexpected results and achieve the best output is as follows: 

          1. Denoise, Raw Details, Super Resolution
          2. Reflections Removal 
          3. Distracting People Removal
          4. Generative Expand (Currently available only in Adobe Camera Raw as Tech Preview)
          5. Generative Remove, Content-Aware Remove, Heal, and Clone
          6. Lens Blur
          7. Lens Profile 
          8. Crop and Transform
          9. Adaptive Profiles
          10. Global Adjustments
          11. Masking

           

          Take also a look Julieanne Kosts video here: The Recommended Order for AI Edits in Lightroom Classic

           

           

          My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 25H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 8 - PureRAW 5 - Topaz Photo
            T
            ThomasH_on_the_webAuthor
            Inspiring
            February 5, 2026

            Thanks for the pointer to Julieanne’s video. They are really a valuable learning tool, especially for casual users. Of course to maintain a specific order of potential 11 operations is not realistic. Adobe should work on making the order invariant, if its possible. 

            JohanElzenga
            Community Expert
            JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            February 5, 2026

            The order is invariant, except perhaps for step 1. If you use a different order for the next steps, then you may have to update your AI settings several times, but in the end there should not be a difference.

            -- Johan W. Elzenga
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