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 

Posted by:

[kilocreations@yahoo.com]

I tried doing a reflection removal on the attached file.  The original had reflections on a glass cabinet, but the result was horrible with bands going across the photo.

[Autohitch]

I provided a raw file shot through glass that had all sorts of very obvious reflections and the tool did not remove a single one of them.

[F.Quill]

Perhaps calling this feature "Reflection Removal" is not accurate.  It is truly only "Through Glass" or similar image ghosting.  Just spent some time testing it on pure "Reflections on glass", and relections on shiny surfaces, including reflections on window panes.  It definitely did not work, although it did try.

As well, on my set-up, it was necessary to close each image file and then re-open within Photoshop just to get the tool to activate/work in ACR.  FYI.

macOS Ventura 13.7.2, Camera Raw 17.1, Photoshop V 26.2.0, Lightroom Classic V 14.1.1

[Averil2]

When I read the write-up about the new tool it said that it is only for reflections on windows and the other types of reflections they are looking at. It is also just Beta version so I expect there will be a lot of flaws until they can narrow everything down

[mholstein]

could not get it to work with ARW files from Sony. The check box  was greyed out.

[phladler]

so by my count this new feature doesnt work with Sony, Nikon or Fujifilm
raw files. Canon, anyone?

[paull4771161]

Nope, doesn't recognise CR2 files. Begs the question, what the hell are the succesful users using?

[Conrad_C]

CR2 works fine, as shown in the demo below. I also have Panasonic RW2 and Sony ARW files, and reflection removal works on those too.

If the feature isn’t visible, or is visible but not accessible, then review some of my other replies in this thread to make sure the image is set up so that it’s meeting these two specific requirements:

• Raw data must be available. For example, if it’s a CR2 converted to a Photoshop document, that’s no longer raw, if it’s a CR2 imported into a Photoshop document as a raw Smart Object then it is still raw and it should work. 
• The image must be open in the full Camera Raw processor. That means, if in Photoshop, absolutely do not use the command Filter > Camera Raw Filter, which has never worked directly with raw data and therefore won’t satisfy the first requirement. If working with a raw Smart Object in Photoshop, edit by double-clicking it (the shortcut for Layer > Smart Objects > Edit Contents), not with Camera Raw Filter.

Many, many of the “it doesn’t work” reports in this thread are because the image either got converted out of raw at some point, or the Camera Raw Filter is being used. Once those are resolved, it should work, at least with the raw files from the camera brands I’ve tried above.

A very reliable way to get this right is to select a raw file in Adobe Bridge and choose File > Open in Camera Raw. This avoids any conversions or confusion that comes from introducing Lightroom or Photoshop into the mix, guaranteeing that the actual raw file opens in the full Camera Raw processor.

[defaultleio22hekl6t]

same result as Ab van Polanen

[defaultleio22hekl6t]

same result as ab van Polanen

[Avilev]

I see no change after applying Reflection Removal.

I cannot attach original file- file size exceeds 47mb.

[Eric29489323q7t4]

Please read our blog to learn when reflection removal works best, and our plans to improve it.

[bruce_7791]

Windows P.C. - Why does Camera raw say that my .dng file is not compatible in the reflection removal section? My Photoshop version is up to date.

[David Franzen at Work]

The feature works with raw files. Most, but not all DNG files are necessarily raw files, as you can convert non-raw files to DNG as well as raw files. Can you select raw profiles like Adobe Color for the raw file (only availabel for raw), does the White Balance temperture slider go from -100 to +100 (non-raw behavior)? If you are sure the DNG contains raw data and it stil doesn't work, please share a sample file for us to examine.

Thanks,

David

[Duffy2512]

The Idea is not bad, but not covering similar problems, like LED bending stripes  which are sometimes looking equal to refelction patterns. 

[peterking]

This is the result when trying to remove light reflecions from glasses: 

I know it doesn't specifically say it works with glasses, but thought it might be helpful when expanding capability.

[Eric29489323q7t4]

Our blog notes our plans to support this in the future.

[adriant12105070]

I have just started to use the new "Remove reflections" in Camera Raw, but cannot see how to return the processed image  to LrC. Guidance appreciated.

Adrian

[Peru Bob]

I've moved this from the Using the Community forum (which is the forum for issues using the forums) to the LRC so that proper help can be offered..

Scroll down here to see a list of the forums:
https://community.adobe.com/l

[Conrad_C]

Because Lightroom Classic doesn’t have this Technology Preview test feature yet, Lightroom Classic doesn’t know what to do with the metadata, so the reflection removal can’t be returned to the raw original in Lightroom Classic yet.

Until they release the feature in Lightroom Classic, you can only catalog it as a rendered (not raw) copy. For example, after removing reflections, use the Save button in Camera Raw to save a copy in a non-raw format like TIFF or JPEG, and add that copy to the Lightroom Classic catalog.

[arjen_5792]

It seems not to work with canon CR3 files on a MSI compter.

[David Franzen at Work]

It seems not to work with canon CR3 files on a MSI compter.

By @arjen_5792

Can you define "not working" in more detail? Is the feature not available? Does using it cause an error dialog to appears? Do you simply not like the results? 

If you'd like us to examine your problems further please share system information about your MSI computer (from Photoshop's help menu > System Info) and example file that does not work.

Thanks,
David

[MadDrongo]

I have tried several dng files (converted from Sony arw files) and arw files  and the tool keeps saying the images are not compatable - this is on Windows 11.  According to you they are raw files and it should work - any suggestions?

[scotth41361852]

Will not work with Canon cr3 files or older raw filed from olympus M43 or Panasonic cameras. 

[David Franzen at Work]

Will not work with Canon cr3 files or older raw filed from olympus M43 or Panasonic cameras. 

By @scotth41361852

Can you define "not working" in more detail? Is the feature not available? Does using it cause an error dialog to appear? Do you simply not like the results? 

If you'd like us to examine your problems further please share system information about your MSI computer (from Photoshop's help menu > System Info) and example file that does not work.

Thanks,
David