P: Advanced Face Blur Options in Lightroom Classic

[Mohammad Al Darweesh]

Dear Adobe Lightroom Team,

I hope this message finds you well.
I am writing to suggest an enhancement for the Adobe Lightroom Classic application to improve editing flexibility and workflow efficiency, especially for portrait and fashion photographers.

Currently, the Lens Blur feature provides excellent background depth control and bokeh effects, but it lacks the ability to blur a person’s face or any selected area of the image using customizable shapes (such as a circle, square, or freeform).

I would like to suggest introducing a new tool — “Face Blur” or “Custom Blur Mask” — similar to the existing Radial Gradient or Brush Mask, that would allow users to:

• Apply selective blur to a face or specific area of an image.

• Choose from multiple blur styles, including Gaussian Blur, Motion Blur, or Shape Blur (circle, square, etc.).

• Control blur intensity and edge feathering to match the desired artistic result.

This addition would significantly streamline workflows and reduce the need to switch between Lightroom and Photoshop for simple privacy blurring or creative focus effects.

Attached with this email are example images demonstrating the desired outcome for your reference.

Thank you for your continued innovation and for making Lightroom such a powerful creative tool.

Warm regards,

An example of this is according to this attached image.

[Sameer K]

Hey, @Mohammad Al Darweesh. Welcome to the Lightroom Community. Thanks for the detailed post. 

These workflows are commonly achieved in Photoshop or any other pixel manipulation software. Please head here to get started: https://adobe.ly/4gXPnK4

Thanks! 

Sameer K
(Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)

[Mohammad Al Darweesh]

Thank you, dear Samer, for your response.

I’m aware that Photoshop already provides great tools for blurring faces or sensitive details. However, my suggestion focuses on integrating a face/area blur feature directly into Lightroom Classic.

Right now, I have to transfer my edited photos from Lightroom to Photoshop just to apply a simple blur — which quickly becomes repetitive and time-consuming, especially when handling many images. For each one, I have to add the blur effect manually, resize for social media like Instagram, and then export them one by one.

Many photographers — including myself and others working in fashion, street, or event photography — often need to blur faces, license plates, or other identifiable details quickly and efficiently. Having this built-in blur option inside Lightroom Classic would save a huge amount of time.

Imagine a simple, smart tool that detects faces or lets you select any area to blur with one click — adjustable in shape, size, and strength — and then easily synced across a whole batch of photos before export.

This would streamline the workflow for thousands of users and make Lightroom even more powerful as an all-in-one editing solution.

:small_blue_diamond: I truly hope the Lightroom team considers adding this feature in a future update — ideally in the next upcoming release. It would make a big difference for so many of us.

Best regards,

Mohammad

[Rob_Cullen]

@Mohammad Al Darweesh   Not what you ask, but- You could make a 'Face Black'  preset.

Use masking AI to detect people- all face features, edit with everything to black the face (-Exposure, etc),  Save the Masking and Basic adjustments to a Preset.

Applying this preset to any image with people (one or more)-

Example results-

[Mohammad Al Darweesh]

Thank you for your response.
However, the suggested method using AI face detection and reducing exposure only results in a dark patch — not an actual professional blur.

What I’m proposing is a dedicated and precise blur tool inside Lightroom, allowing users to manually shape the selection (circle, rectangle, or square) and control the feather and blur intensity.

This would enable a clean, realistic blur similar to Photoshop’s Gaussian or Motion Blur, giving users full control and keeping the workflow entirely within Lightroom.