Distraction Removal: Dust (Camera Raw and Lightroom Classic)

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

This post applies to Camera Raw and Lightroom Classic.

Dust Removal is no longer in Early Access status and can be found in the Remove edit panel for Camera Raw. Dust Removal helps with removing distracting spots on an image that may be caused by dust on a camera's sensor.

Once enabled, your image will be scanned, and the detected dust spots will automatically be removed using Content-Aware Remove. For refinement, you can select one or multiple spots to delete or refresh. Batch removal is supported as well, just select the "Dust" checkbox under "Remove" in the copy settings dialog.

Please note that scanned negatives are not in the scope of this feature at this time. 

• Dust spots on scans tend to be in the focal plane with the negative and very sharp, while sensor dust is typically out of the focal plane and not in focus.
  
• Scanned negative dust tends to show as white spots on a darker background, while perceived sensor dust tends to show as dark spots in lighter areas. 

We would love to hear your feedback on Dust Removal! Please give it a try and let us know what you think:

• How is it useful?
• How could it be more useful?
• What could we do to improve your experience?

Lisa Ngo, Product Manager

Also see this video by @brianmatiash where he demos the feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwpUX4b6igY 

Posted by:

[Manniac]

I was so curious how this would work - but sadly removing *sensor* dust is not useful for me. I have thousands of negative scans with billions of dust particles waiting to be removed. I hope you'll soon consider us analog people too.

(Also, please add a true negative mode for lightroom. Negative Lab Pro gets you only so far.)

[RenatoNPhoto]

I just tried the dust removal tool, but it didn’t detect dust in areas with midtones and details. I understand that if dust is not obvious, neither ACR nor a human observer may notice it. I believe a dust removal tool could benefit from a “pilot image” where dust is clearly visible, which could then serve as a pattern or map to correct other images. A plain white background with dust spots might reveal many spots that aren’t noticeable in actual photos and may not need removal. However, in real photos, some dust spots may be mistaken for image details, so using a pattern from a pilot image could provide more reliable guidance for ACR.

[Erik Bloodaxe]

This exactly what Canon does in its own proprietory software.

[JLobert]

Take a look at my above image. Did you try to use the "visualize spots" feature? I believe it is exactly what you are looking for, except it is white on black not black on white. It shows many spots that you won't see with your eyes. The algorithm seems to be doing an excellent job not to remove features. It does not remove star points or trails, for example.

[DianeCarol]

a great new tool 

[Bruce Richardson]

The feature failed to identify any dust on a high resolution scan of the black and white photo.  Surprising, because it's quite obvious to the naked eye.

[Erik Bloodaxe]

Doesn't work on scans. See the top post in this thread.

[Bruce Richardson]

That makes it wholly useless then.  I came here directly from the app, so I didn't read anything--just reported my results.  Honestly, what are they thinking?  That people let their sensors get so filthy they need to automate dust removal on a digital camera?

[jnwbr]

Exactly. It should be renamed Camera Sensor Dust Removal. Or something like that. I need it for images post-sensor.

[Bentley B]

The Distraction Removal- could sections we expand remain expanded for next time used?

[bernardwerner]

Killed a lot of birds. It gets iffy as the ISO goes up. Sensor dust for the most part has a very characteristic shape.

[Jhofman]

I was excited to try this on my B&W negatives which don't benefit from my scanner's ICE dust removal technology.  Unfortunately it didn't work.  I tested a dusty scan and it didn't detect any dust.  

[Erik Bloodaxe]

At the ouset it is stated, "Please note that scanned negatives are not in the scope of this feature at this time."

[Marjorie22687778pmnv]

It would clearly be much appreciated if it could work on scans as soon as possible! 

[IVB]

It will run correctly for me and won't remove anything!

[richards23734419]

I've been experimenting with spot removal on some macro shots. So far I'm very impressed as it has removed not only lens dust but also background artifacts that spoiled the appearnce of the picture. 

[saiytil]

Bonjour,
Efficacité perfectible, surtout sur les images détaillées.
Pourtant certaines sont tres visibles
Cdt

[Verdid]

Cette preversion est déja tres performante, mais sur le ciel certains taches de forme non circulaires ne sont pas détectées. probablement confondues avec des oiseaux

[saxi.sen]

prinzipiell funktioniert das tool schon recht gut.
im vorliegenden fall erkennt das tool jedoch nicht alle sensorflecken - obwohl das foto ein paar sekunden nach jenem foto geschossen wurde, auf dem ALLE flecken automatisch entfernt wurden.
toi, toi, toi für die weiterentwicklung - ich freue mich sehr auf dieses feature ...
gruß aus wien / austria

[Angel Scan]

Dust removal tool works very good!!!

I hope it will be very soon implemented in Lightroom too 

I do the main RAW development in Lightroom!

thanks to de Developer Team

Charly

[Arlo_Reeves]

I got a little too excited as I'm scanning in a lifetime of negatives at the moment. Dust removal adds several minutes to every image and I'm somewhat surprised that it's not been automated yet. So that would be my feature request. Sensor dust removal isn't usually a problem for me unless using small apertures (high f-number) which is rare. I find sensor dust a problem mostly when my aperture is set to a range of values where diffraction is negatively affecting my image resolution. That's the same realm where I might see sensor dust. Also the newer DSLRs have pretty effect dust removal tech in my experience. But thanks for chasing this important feature down. We will use the heck out of it.

Arlo

[Design-Kink]

Perhaps this was made to only find dust on the lens? 
I have a RAW file with little white dust dots all over a black product surface and this filter doesn't see it at all and says there is no dust. 

[gregb68838334]

Love this feature. I have tried it a couple of times and its been great. Thanks.

[DagRattler]

Brilliant! One of the many recent PS Beta innovations that 'hit the mark'. Thanks,

[Elwoodjblues1]

Beim aktuellen Bild hat der Filter kein Staub gefunden, obwohl es ziemlich verstaubt ist.