P: New AI-powered Generative Remove (Early Access) available across all surfaces.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

This post applies to Lightroom Classic and the Lightroom Ecosystem products.
Post Camera Raw feedback here

This thread is now closed. Please update to LrC 14.x or LrD 8.x. If you wish to provide feedback, please go to the new article.

The Lightroom team is sharing an early look at Generative Remove, which makes it easier to remove unwanted objects and distractions, even on complex backgrounds, with a simple brush stroke. Generative Remove is powered by Firefly AI.

How to use Generative Remove on a desktop:

• You can find Generative Remove under the newly renamed Remove panel (aka “Heal”).
• Make sure the “generative AI” checkbox is enabled before you start brushing (note: when unchecked, Lightroom will use Content-Aware Remove to fill your brushed spots). 
• By default, you will be given a moment to refine your selection with an add or subtract brush. Remember to include shadows for a more accurate result! You can also skip this step by holding down ‘CTRL’ on windows or ‘CMD’ on mac as you finish your brush stroke. 
• Once you’re ready to apply and have accepted the terms, Generative Remove will use Firefly AI to remove your distractions and intelligently fill in the space that’s left by the removed objects. 
• Note: stable internet connection is required to use this feature.
• Generative Remove also lets you choose from multiple variations, so you can pick the one you like best, giving you full creative control. 
  
  Checkout the FAQ and Best Practices

Please give it a try and share feedback and/or report variations in this community forum. It would greatly help to include details like which app you are using (i.e., Lightroom Classic or Camera Raw) and other system details. Our team will continually monitor this thread to track issues to improve the future experience.

Lisa Ngo: Lightroom Product Manager
Posted by: Rikk Flohr 

Update (Dec 2024):  With the new release, it is no longer necessary to perform Generative Remove Operations prior to Cropping. 

Update:

Here are some tips if you are having issues with the feature replacing your object instead of removing it. 

• Enlarge your selection - if your brush stroke is too tight, you will have unexpected results.
• Remember that removing an object means painting over it, its shadow, its reflection, and any non-contiguous pieces. If you leave behind a shadow, a reflection, or a disconnected piece (e.g., a hand on a shoulder), the AI will attempt to create something to cast the shadow, reflect, or complete the unbrushed discontinuous item. You can avoid these issue by following the guidance provided in this linked tutorial. https://www.lightroomqueen.com/generative-remove-replace

The recommended order for applying edits is:

1. Denoise 
2. Heal (includes Generative AI Remove)
3. Crop (includes traditional Cropping, Lens Correction, Transform, or any operation changing the geometry of the image, including round-tripping to PS to use Gen-Expand)
4. Global Edits
5. AI Selective edits (Sky, Person, etc)
   
   If you deviate from that, you may see the removed object remain as a ghost image. If this occurs, you will have to use Update AI Settings, which can be found under the Develop module 'Settings' menu.

[John R Ellis]

@Arnold-Norway: "every way I tried left a light shadow of the "stick""

Your screenshot suggests you previously applied a Sky mask before doing Remove. Do the menu command Settings > Update AI Settings to recompute the Sky mask -- does the shadow stick go away?

If that doesn't help, then in Library, select the photo and do Metadata > Save Metadata To File. Upload that original photo (not an export) to Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar, and we can see what's going wrong.

[Arnold-Norway]

Ouch. Of course you are correct, @John R Ellis - sorry. I now found I had even made a mask - a subject mask - over the "stick". That was the main problem. Problem solved.

[Arnold-Norway]

Here is the final successful result with correct workflow.

[John R Ellis]

Good. It's unfortunate that LR is a little fussy about the order in which you have to apply corrections.

[Arnold-Norway]

The order is something to learn. In this case the problem seems to be my fault, because I had masked the object in the sky. Removing the object mask helped.

[sb2314]

Gotta use generative remove BEFORE you do anything else.

Sent from Gmail on iPhone

[macey_9516]

This feature has been a God send for me! I'd say it works perfectly 8/10 times. The other two times, it  can't get removing frizzy hair quite right. Overall very impressed and excited for it to get stronger and better.

[Anne27463624wqqc]

The tool is phenomenal for removing branches across birds.  But I just tried to remove an electrical wire from the sky and it wouldn't do it.  It only smoothed out the twisted wire.   I would think that would be the easiest thing to remove.  I tried various diameter removal tools also.  See photo- middle wire has been "removed."

[Anne27463624wqqc]

I just perfectly removed the wire from the tail of the bird, now it looks like the wire is behind the bird! I guess I will use photoshop to remove the rest of the wire.

[John R Ellis]

[This post contains formatting and embedded images that don't appear in email. View the post in your Web browser.]

@Anne27463624wqqc: " But I just tried to remove an electrical wire from the sky and it wouldn't do it.  It only smoothed out the twisted wire."

Remove did a good job of removing all three wires from your exported JPEG:

Its metadata indicates you were editing a .CR3 raw that you had cropped. When you use Remove on a cropped photo, it examines the cropped-out pixels as well, and in your example, it's generating a replacement matching the cropped-out part of the wires.  

Adobe recommends removing first, then cropping, which doesn't match many (most?) people's workflow.  So in your photo, undo the crop, remove the wires, then redo the crop. 

See this article for more on how to remove objects more reliably:
https://www.lightroomqueen.com/generative-remove-replace/

[Anne27463624wqqc]

Thanks!!! I won’t crop first!!! Crazy how it works tho.

[Goldilocks208]

Sometimes it gets glitchy and doesn't retain the full area selected when generating.  Very frustrating.

[marcus6675]

seems to work so much better in photoshop... why can't they make it as good in lightroom?

[John R Ellis]

@marcus6675: "seems to work so much better in photoshop... why can't they make it as good in lightroom?"

See this article for how to remove objects more reliably:
https://www.lightroomqueen.com/generative-remove-replace/

Most complaints about Remove are addressed in the article. But if it doesn't help, please attach a full-resolution JPEG exported from the unmodified original photo, so we and Adobe can see the issue in detail. With nearly everyone who has posted a problem photo, we've been able to show how to quickly remove the desired objects.

[david_8994]

Bonjour,

Au début la suppresion d'objet indisirable avec l'IA fonctionnait à la perfection. Maintenant ce dernier me propose plutôt des suggessions basé sur d'autre objet qu'il trouve sur le net, au lieu d'utiliser la photos pour supprimer le défault.

[RKentB]

It is still quite difficult to just erase something.  The tool tends to substitute something that it derives from the underlying image. In order to get it to delete something, you have to select such a large area that other objects are also included and then influence the result as well.

[John R Ellis]

@RKentB: "the tool tends to substitute something that it derives from the underlying image."

See this article for how to remove rather than replace objects more reliably:
https://www.lightroomqueen.com/generative-remove-replace/

Most complaints about Remove are addressed in the article. But if it doesn't help, please attach a full-resolution JPEG exported from the unmodified original photo, so we and Adobe can see the issue in detail. With nearly everyone who has posted a problem photo, we've been able to show how to quickly remove the desired objects.

[Vivien25632459qigm]

AI does not remove vertical bars in the face of the subject.

[John R Ellis]

@Vivien25632459qigm: "AI does not remove vertical bars in the face of the subject."

Please attach a full-resolution JPEG exported from the unmodified original photo, so we and Adobe can see the issue in detail. With nearly everyone who has posted a problem photo, we've been able to show how to quickly remove the desired objects.

[Vivien25632459qigm]

Here are the original jpeg files. I'm trying to crop to show use the little boy and to remove the white railings from the little boy's body. Can you help?


Regards,
Vivien

Phone: 416-660-2586
www.viviensphotography.com<>
www.facebook.com/viviensphotography<>
www.instagram.com/vivienchengphotography<>

[John R Ellis]

@Vivien25632459qigm, your attachments didn't make it, perhaps because you attached them to an email reply, which doesn't work. You have to come back to the web site and attach the photos to your reply there.

[Michele MMPhoto]

I'm using IA to remove object from the scene. If the objects are small IA is great but for large parts or backgrounds, that need to be smoother out, AI doesn't work as well.

[sarah_9541]

Love the feature 

, it almost always understands what im needing it to do. and if it doesnt all i have to do is zoom in and be more specific.

I will say I only use the feature to remove things. I never really use it to add things.

[ArcherA4]

Brilliant feature (Lightroom Classic) - I like to understand mechanisms and found that my early attempts improved with the explanations you provided re the feature trying to create objects to create the remaining shadow/reflection/connecting the wires sampled in the uncropped image etc

I do sometimes have problems with sensitive edges, eg a face with a blurred object behind it. Selecting a normally generous edge for the blurred object can replace or change some of the face but even removing any of the selection from the face can still result in a change to it. I wonder if there is a mechanism or development request for the ability to have an absolutely inviolable protection for an area which must not be changed?

Many thanks

[Zaj89]

AI removal tool fails in removing objects (crane in this case) from a light cloudy background. In the imageg you can clearly see a lighter area of rwmoved object.