P: (Technology Preview) Reflection Removal (CR)

[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 non-raw photos (e.g., JPEGs or HEICs) will be added in a future 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 the 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:

[Leigh Gray]

Didn't work. Just get this every time...

[David Franzen at Work]

Didn't work. Just get this every time...

By @Leigh Gray

Can you please send me the full system info for your computer? In Photoshop please select "System Info" from the Help menu and copy the information.

Thanks for your help!

[painterjan]

 I have tried 4 photos and it pixilates the photo. They are all artworks that I did and are behind glass. I read that it should work but it doesn't. My raw files are not compressed and I use a Canon R6 and it saves raw as CR3. 

I would love some suggestions and help

Jane

[David Franzen at Work]

 I have tried 4 photos and it pixilates the photo. They are all artworks that I did and are behind glass. I read that it should work but it doesn't. My raw files are not compressed and I use a Canon R6 and it saves raw as CR3. 

I would love some suggestions and help

Jane

By @painterjan

Can you please provide a link to download one of the CR3 files that does not work?
Can you please send me the full system info for your computer? In Photoshop please select "System Info" from the Help menu and copy the information.

Thanks for your help!

[painterjan]

[PII removed by moderator as per OP's request - Details can be found on post history by employees only]

[NZBayman]

The replies here have been very helpful. Particularly as some have had the same problem as me - rejection of NEF files. It seems the new tool only works if a NEF raw file is opened directly into Camer Raw from the file explorer (I'm using Windows). Opening a NEF file from Lightroom results in the file being "not recognised". I've had some success. The best was the mummies, wher the tool removed all reflections and with a bit of clean-up, I ended-up with a nice reminder of my visit to the museum. The bronze sculture of the ballet dancer proved a challenge for the tool. It only removed the reflection of the bronze bust and left the reflection of the tutu. Again, some clean-up with the Remove tool gave me a nice image. Finally, the tool removed nearly all the reflectios from the case containing the swords. There's just a hint of reflection in the centre top it couldn't remove.

[NZBayman]

Sorry - grabbed the wrong files for the swords. Here they are.

[Eric29489323q7t4]

To remove reflections from raw images in Lightroom Classic, right-click on the image and select "Edit In->Open as Smart Object in Photoshop". Then in photoshop you can double click the smart object layer, and the Camera Raw plugin will appear with the option to remove reflections. You can edit as needed and save. This will allow you to manage the cleaned TIFF within Lightroom.

[Aimee V Photo]

I followed the steps to actvate thsi feature, even rebooting my mac, but it still does not allow me to use. On Mac mini M2 pro, Sequoia 15.2.

[David Franzen at Work]

I followed the steps to actvate thsi feature, even rebooting my mac, but it still does not allow me to use. On Mac mini M2 pro, Sequoia 15.2.

By @Aimee V Photo

What message is shown when you mouse over the ! warning icon?
Can you please provide a link to this NEF file for me to download?
Can you please send me the full system info for your Mac Mini M2? In Photoshop please select "System Info" from the Help menu and copy the information.

Thank for your help.

[bill1346]

Did not allow the check box to activate on .NEF image?

[jeffreyh96105683]

Picked up some of the reflections but not all. Would help to have a brush to "coach" it as to where the reflections are. Admittedly picture was taken from a bus window, so the reflections are quite complex.

[Eric29489323q7t4]

Please consider sharing your images so we can understand how you are using the tool. Thanks so much!

[buzzmoss]

Attached is a link to files before and after Reflection Removal. Process
was Bridge to Camera Raw.

Note that not all reflections were removed

I hope this helps!

Buzz Mossholder
Before and After Reflection Removal.zip
<>

[Eric29489323q7t4]

It seems that the images are not attached.

[buzzmoss]

TRied refelction removl on a .NEF file.

- Starting from LRca sent to PS and used a Camera Raw Filter to acdess.  didn't work

- Tried opening into Camera Raw from Bridge.  didn't work 3 times, worked once.  Opend the successful try into PS and that worked fine, but the original .NRF was corrupted.

- Opened the another .NEF directly into PS and used a Camera RAw Filter.  That worked, but uriginal .NEF was corrupted.

This is a great feature for street photographers.  I hope you can fix th bugs soon!

[jlwolff]

did not worked, but the reflection is perhaps inhabitual (lightbox)

[Fotomaker01RA]

Win 11. Ps 2025 (production rel.) - opened Sony ARW image into ACR. Tech Previews are enabled in ACR.

Appearance of Orig. Image - inside looking out at de Young Museum (SF). The trees are outdoors behind glass. The warm colors and pictures are indoors where I am and where I'm shooting from.

ORIG

What I wanted was to remove the reflections of the indoor galleries and just see the outdoor trees. That didn't work. I tried views at both +100 and -100. Both ends of the spectrum ended up looking the same.

After running Reflection Removal feature:

After Reflections Removal run

[mxwizard1]

Hi all. I have attached a before and after image of what Im getting when trying out the new remove refelections in Ps. All software/windows 10 are up to date im running an amd Ryzen 5 3400g with the on board Radeon graphics 11 card. Im thinking the graphics isnt up to snuff for this. Suggestions?

[BrettN]

Could you send us the original files to test on our end? While hardware processing could be an issue, I would expect the process to fail up front with a warning that this may be the case rather than returning what appears to be corrupt graphic data. 

[mxwizard1]

Attached is a full size jpg. Im not able to load the nikon raw file. what other format would work. Thanks for the help.

[D Fosse]

It should be possible to attach a raw file. Try again.

They'll need the raw file to test. This doesn't work on jpegs.

If you can't get it to work, use wetransfer and send the file to yourself. Then post the download link here.

[jane-e]

@mxwizard1 

I've moved your post from Photoshop to the Adobe Camera Raw forum.

"The Reflection Removal tool in Adobe Camera Raw simplifies removing reflections from photos taken through glass windows. This tool eliminates large and prominent window reflections in just a few steps, allowing your image's subject to stand out clearly."

Be sure to read the steps here: https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/using/remove-reflections.html

Jane

[mxwizard1]

https://we.tl/t-f7RN1BTQYA ...lets try this wetransfter link. Never used this before.

[Eric29489323q7t4]

Some hardware has issues. Below is a result from my MacBook. We are working on fixing bugs with specific hardware platforms.

Result from macbook