P: Reflection Removal feedback (CR & LrClassic)

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

This post applies to Adobe Camera Raw plug-in.  

Adobe Camera Raw team is sharing an early look of our new Reflection Removal feature, which removes reflections caused by plate glass surfaces from photos. 

Note: 

• The feature currently only works on raw photos. Support for JPEGs & HEICs is added in the April 24 Update.

• There is a known issue on some Windows machines where the feature may produce a corrupt image. We are working on a fix for the upcoming release. 

Check out HelpX for more detailed usage information. For more technical information on the underlying technology, please refer to this Blog post. 

Getting started with the Reflection Removal feature: 

• Make sure you have the “New AI Features and Settings Panel” Technology Preview enabled in the Camera Raw plug-in Preferences dialog (requires restarting the host application to activate). 

• Go to the Remove panel [B] , and in the “Distraction Removal” section, click on the “Reflections” checkbox. 

• Optionally adjust the slider after the ML model is done computing. 

• Use the rest of the Camera Raw tools just like you would otherwise. 

When using the slider, the key values to note are: 

• 0 – the input photo

• 100 – de-reflected (window reflections removed) photo 

• -100 – reflection photo (what the window was reflecting towards the camera) 

Please try the feature and share feedback in this community forum. It would help to include details like how you access Camera Raw (via Adobe Bridge or Photoshop), your computer system details, and as much information about what you like or do not like about the resulting photo quality. Our team will continually monitor this thread to track issues to improve the future experience. 

When to use Reflection Removal

The feature is designed to deal with large-area reflections when shooting through windows. Many other types of reflections occur in nature and are captured in photographs, but this feature may not recognize and handle those. We plan to work on expanding the supported reflection types in the future. 

Example use-cases for the feature include: 

• Looking through windows inside-out (e.g., from the car, airplane, room windows, etc.) 

• Looking through windows outside-in (e.g., shop windows) 

• Museums (e.g., paintings behind glass, glass case exhibits, etc.) 

How best to use Reflection Removal

For best results, try the new feature following these suggestions: 

• Apply Reflection Removal before applying any other edits to the photo, except for Enhance features such as Denoise
  • The changes made to the photo may be quite profound and render any changes you already made inappropriate.
  • If you plan to use both Enhance (Denoise, Super Resolution, or Raw Details) and Reflection Removal on a photo, it is better to apply Enhance first.
• Play with the feature slider and adjust the removal strength as appropriate.
• If you applied Adobe Adaptive (beta) profile prior to running the Reflection Removal feature, please update it or you may see traces of removed reflections still present in the photo (Adobe Camera Raw will remind you to do this).

Boris Ajdin: Product Manager, Emerging Products Group 

Update (01-16-2025)

To improve the performance and results of this feature, it is important that examples of images that are failing to properly remove the reflections are forwarded to the team via your report.  A large variety of file formats are allowed as attachments in these forum posts. The best option is to attach your image's raw file directly to your feedback post. Note that there is a 50 MB limit on an attachment's file size. If your raw file is too large to attach, the best option is to share the file via a file-sharing service (Dropbox or similar) and then share the link in your feedback post. Thank you for continuing to provide feedback on this Tech Preview!

If you have already shared your raw file with us - thank you!

~Rikk

Posted by:

[Eric29489323q7t4]

Please share your system information. For some older systems, this tool might not work.

[tzurlis]

does nor remove secondery placed reflactions, as in water puddel (see sample in right side of pic. under the umbrellas). same for floor reflaction of furnituars and back glass reflaction in musiume. 

[Eric29489323q7t4]

The subject of this photo is a pool, pool deck, chairs, a hotel, plalm trees, and the sky. There is not a pane of glass between the camera and those subjects of the photo. The tool has therefore correctly determined that there is not glass, and has done nothing. Please checkout the Adobe blog to learn more about what this tool does.

[margareta94780972]

Remove reflection doesn't work on my MacBook Pro. x

[Eric29489323q7t4]

Please post your system information. This tool will work best on newer Macbooks. 

[Kristina C.]

I'm having the same problem. Do you believe that one day its gonna be fixed or is there a turn-around? Thank you. 

 

[Eric29489323q7t4]

Apple has moved away from its intel-based macbooks, so its hard to comment here. 

[Kristina C.]

Thank you for your answer. No reflection removal for me then. 

[Eric29489323q7t4]

I'm so sorry to hear this. Hopefully things can change in the future. 

[Sean Goodhart]

I've read that the Reflections removal tool in the Distraction Removal panel is still in early life and has on-going development.  I've an example image which the team might like to play with.

I've been waiting for a feature like this to be able to re-edit some old images I took through glass.  This city view over Chicago includes shadows over the lake and reflections in the sky portion - especially noticable at the top right of the image.

I've attached a screen-shot of the LrC desktop showing the tool option applied, but reflections still exactly as they were.

[Eric29489323q7t4]

Thanks for sharing. Yes, we are continuing to improve the tool, so watch for updates. If you're comfortable sharing the RAW original photo, that would be helpful.

[grand_4785]

So far, it has been a great tool. Something that would be helpful is to have an option to brush out the parts we don't want the effect on. I am shooting on a blue background, and I have an item in plastic that is reflecting some light. The tool works great to bring back detail on the item, but the background gets edited as well, which makes me unable to use the tool in this capacity. Other than that, solid so far.

[Eric29489323q7t4]

Thanks for letting us know. We're working on new features for sure, including handling small reflections. Check out the Adobe blog to learn more.

[Rafaello666]

I photographed the city at night, through a window. The reflections disappeared, but so did the sharpness. I'll have to test this.

[Chapps-LA · Accepted solution]

Did you by any chance just use the 'preview' mode instead of the best mode? A lot of people have been making that error, and the preview mode is intentionally low res.

[rotbaer]

I did the standard mode and will try the Best mode.

[kellicia_4718]

Is there a way to just mask a specific area that has reflections? When I apply the reflection removal tool to actually remove the spot on one side of the image, the rest of the image becomes blurry. Not worth using it if the quality of the whole photo and the focus goes out.

[Eric29489323q7t4]

You can reduce the "blur" you mention by changing the quality setting to "best." 

[EIMO34043688pfdi]

I took up the solution suggested by ‘Chapps-LA’ and consistently preset ‘Best Mode’. In fact, it worked once with an ARW file (Sony) – for the first time ever. However, with the second RAW photo, the anti-glare process was interrupted again within the programme after the bar had been visible for about a second. After that, it no longer worked with any photos.

I also have the impression that when the de-reflecting process crashes, something gets ‘stuck’, as if a process in the background is not being completed. This is because it happens repeatedly that when I want to remove the reflection from image A and then (after the process is interrupted internally by the programme) switch to image B in the image scroll bar at the bottom, image A continues to be displayed in the ‘Develop’ workspace. I then have to go back to the library, select image B there, and then return to the ‘Develop’ area, where it is then displayed correctly in the workspace.

[Eric29489323q7t4]

Please post your system information.

[rotbaer]

iMac
Retina 5K, 27 Zoll, 2019
3 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i5
Radeon Pro 570X 4 GB
16 GB 2667 MHz DDR4
Macintosh HD 1TB
15.5 (24F74)

[californiakingcleaning]

, you now include a reflecion remover, it be simple to include one for Eye

[Eric29489323q7t4]

Yes, many users have requested this. Thanks.

[ChrisOgden]

[ChrisOgden]

fwiw, this is an example that consistently fails: shooting through vehicle windows inside-out (ie, see white usb cable, dashboard on the bottom right of window). (note: I tried uploading original iphone .HEIC, but the form disallows, so did quick convert to jpg)