Open Adobe Camera Raw in Lightroom for Distraction Removal->Remove Reflections experimental feature

[ZimFromIRK]

I've searched in vain for a way to open Adobe Camera Raw from within Lightroom on my Nikon NEF RAW files. While I've read that ACR is built into Lightroom, I specifically want to use the new experimental "Distraction Removal->Remove Reflections" feature in ACR on a number of photos that I took out of a bus window in Cairo a few weeks ago. It works fantastically well.

While I'm sure this feature will eventually be included in Lightroom, I want to use it now.  The only way I've been able to do it is to find the image in Windows Explorer and then choose "Open with Photoshop" , which brings up ACR. In Lightroom, "Edit in Photoshop 2025" doesn't enable the feature (I guess it's sending a TIFF or PSD) and "Open as Smart Object in Photoshop" and then choosing the Camera Raw filter doesn't enable the feature either -- says "wrong file type".

Is there a .EXE for ACR that I can choose in Explorer, or add as a second "Edit in..." option in LIghtroom?  Or should I just wait for Lightroom to get this feature in an update?

[Ian Lyons]

Have you tried  Adobe Bridge? It's free, will allow you to view your files in much the same way as Lightroom Classic and open the raw file directly into Camera Raw.

[ZimFromIRK]

Thanks -- I just tried that. I see the NEF RAW image in Bridge and selected "Open in Camera RAW". That worked and I was able to open the Nikon NEF raw file and remove reflections (see attached for how incredibly well this works).

When I click "Done", a new file appears with the same name as the original NEF file but an .ACR extension (and is nearly the same size). Searching reveals the .ACR file is masking data, and has existed since at least 2021 (there are questions in this forum about that). Bridge displays the reflection-free image as the NEF file.

However, Lightroom does not display the reflection-free image. The image is marked as "needs reload" and I did that but it still doesn't display the reflection-free image.  Maybe it doesn't understand the .ACR file, or at least not the current version.

Still a good start. Hopefully the next release of Lightroom will understand this. In the meantime, I'll see if I can figure out how to get Bridge or Camera Raw (or maybe Photoshop) to make a copy of the NEF with the reflections removed.

[JimHess]

I'm wondering if you could send the NEF file to Photoshop as a Smart object and then open it in Camera Raw. Then after you finish your editing you could save it as a TIF or PSD file back to Lightroom. I haven't tried it, and I don't know if it would work. It's just a thought that came to me.

[ZimFromIRK]

I did try that -- in Lightroom, "Open as Smart Object in Photoshop". If I then use Filter -> Camera Raw Filter, and select the Eraser, then Distraction Removal/Reflection, there's a warning sign that says "Reflection removal is currently not compatible with the photo format".  However, Bridge does seem to work properly.

EDIT: Based on Per Berntsen's reply, I tried sending a smart object and double-clicking on the layer instead of using the Filter.  That works!

[Per Berntsen · Accepted solution]

Using the command Open as smart object in Photoshop from LrC works for me with raw files, as well as for tiffs.

When the image opens in Photoshop, double-click the smart object thumbnail in the Layers panel.

This will launch the ACR plugin (not the ACR filter).

There is no .exe file for ACR – it's a plugin that can be hosted by Photoshop and Bridge.

[JohanElzenga]

Correct. If you open the image from Lightroom in Photoshop as smart object, and then in Photoshop double-click on the smart object, you will get the Camera Raw plugin with its new features. This should work. Using the Camera Raw filter is not the way this works.

[ZimFromIRK]

I just tried it -- double-clicking on the layer and camera raw opens and does let me apply reflection removal. That's great! Thanks!