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

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:

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)
4. Edit
5. AI Selective edits
   
   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.

[jrsforums]

Yes...but....

Isn't 'remove' always really 'replacement', in that it is creating new "background" to replace what is removed?

[johnrellis]

@JLobert, "It works really well in many cases, but very often, the algorithm is trying to CREATE something, instead of removing what is highlighted. I tried to remove a folding chair and it put a car into the scene out of nowhere. I keep seeing this happening. It should NOT be a generative fill, it should be a remove tool only."

Have you tried the tips described in this article?

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/generative-remove-replace/ 

If those don't help, please upload a problem original photo (not an export or screenshot) to Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar, and post the sharing link here. Then we can see what you're seeing, and Adobe has an example photo of what might be going wrong.

[JorgeHL]

No está mal, pero aún falta mejorar, deja marcas de relleno, no acierta siempre.
Mayormente lo uso para rellenar o reemplazar los cables o imperfecciones del entorno.
Acabo de hacerlo con Photoshop y es tremenda la diferencia, en PS casi no se nota los cambios, en LR aún se debe mejorar.
Adjunto observación:

[johnrellis]

@JorgeHL, had you previously applied AI masks to those areas of the photo?  If so, do Settings > Update AI Settings, and those "filler marks" could go away.  In general, though most settings in the Develop panel can be applied in any order, Remove should be applied before masking.

[Bochynek2013]

Hello, the new AI based "Remove Tool" could be the solution.
I want to remove Tattoos from Skin.
The new Tool does this work on legs very well, but not on Arms or Body.
Makes ADOBE a discrimination or  a censorship?
The pictures I work out, are all my taken by me and I have the full Copyright.
So what is the problem by Adobe?

[johnrellis]

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

@Bochynek2013, interesting. I was able to avoid the scolding error message and remove the tatoos by doing the arms in three sections but the star on the torso all at once:

[Andrew37792480onaz]

Whenever using any Ai tool there is a dark leftover of what was replaced. Use the regeneration to expand your backdrop the whole space that gets genertated just ends up being a dark space. i get the results i need but the only problem is that it'll be sort of darker than the surrounding image making it obvious the image was edited

[Gregory Omlor]

I like others have been having problems with generative AI remove replacing items, instead of removing them. In some cases making a generous selection has helped but in others it has not. It seems to be worse if something is right along an edge. 

[johnrellis]

@Gregory Omlor, "It seems to be worse if something is right along an edge. "

Are you applying Remove to a cropped photo? It will remove items better if you first apply Remove and then crop.  If you're not cropping first, attach a sample JPEG here showing where it's going wrong.

[JLobert]

BUG REPORT:

When trying to synchronize A.I. masks (e.g., sky, inverted sky for foreground), Lightroom does not sync the masks correctly. The target photo shows that it has some AI masks and the process ends normally, but it does not display the masks. When I try to update them by clicking on that triangular ! symbol, I get an error message: Lightroom Classic skipped N Generative Remove Spots, with N indicating the number of spots. This appears to be consistent and does not happen with the normal remove tool.

[Richard34313996cvpr]

Hola
a mi simplemente no me esta funcionando y me sale Error constantemente 

[johnrellis]

@Richard34313996cvpr, Google translation of the error: "Generative Erase has failed. We have detected an issue and are unable to complete your request at this time. Try it again later."

Sometimes network firewalls on your computer, local network, or ISP mistakenly block LR's network requests. Try the steps described here:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-new-ai-powered-generative-remove-earl...

[Alex5C27]

Tool works great. I haven't been using it for very long, but removing people walking infront of fences and railings has been a breeze. A possible improvement would be and easy wait to reintegrate grain back into the region that was corrected. If I crop into the area of the photo where the removal was performed, the patch of picture looks smooth with respect to the rest of the image. I can roughen the removal patch manually with a mask, but this would be a handy slider if possible.

[johnrellis]

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

Tip for removing an object near the edge of the photo: Temporarily disable any Crop, Lens Corrections, and Transforms before applying Generative Remove. 

* * *

This article explains that Remove works on all the pixels of the original image, ignoring any crops. If you don't select all the pixels of the objects you want removed, then Remove will generate pixels that fit best with the remaining unselected pixels, often resulting in what we view as a "replacement" rather than a "removal".

So to select all the pixels to be removed, you need to turn off Crop, Lens Corrections, and Transform, each of which can crop the image and hide some of the original pixels near the edges of the photo. (Thanks to @JohanElzenga for the insightful observation that lens corrections crop the photo.)

See here for an example of how disabling Lens Corrections allows an object near the edge of the photo to be removed:

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/community/threads/lightroom-generative-remove-reviews-discussion.5025... 

The interaction between Remove and Crop, Lens Corrections, and Transform explain why many are observing that removal works well in Photoshop but not LR:  In Photoshop, there are no pixels being hidden, so it's easier to select all the pixels of the object to be removed.

If this tip doesn't help remove an object near the edges, then upload the original to Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar and post the sharing link here.

* * *

The Remove tool should temporarily disable Crop, Lens Correction, and Transform while the tool is active (similar to how Crop shows the entire image while it's active). This will avoid a huge amount  of user confusion.

[Geert37488769nf2q]

Hallo,

In LRC I got really great results but other times you get very unexpected effects.  I remove a bag in front of a kneeled person.  As a result I got a person with three knees.  

I'm glad with the feature but it still needs improvments.

[Ian Lyons]

What you describe will occur if the item to be removed is not fully selected/masked. This includes shadows, reflections and projections.

Below are some tipes that are posted at top of the thread. You may find them helpful

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. 

[Eva32234968wj8o]

I'm having issues with removing cranes in front of bright blue sky. Whatever removal tool I try I always have the area stay white. Nothing helps.

[Ian Lyons]

@Eva32234968wj8o 

You reason/answer lies in the red dot below the Masks icon on the toolbar. See your screenshots

The red dot indicates that the AI mask needs to be updated because some edit applied after it conflicts. In your case, it was using AI Remove (Generative AI). To fix the issue just choose the 'Update AI Settings', which can be found in the Develop module 'Settings' menu.

[Eva32234968wj8o]

This is my selection: 

[Eva32234968wj8o]

This is the heal tool. 

[Ian Lyons]

The selection/mask is likely fine, but as I wrote above - To fix the issue just choose the 'Update AI Settings', which can be found in the Develop module 'Settings' menu.

Until you use 'Update AI Settings', the ghost of crane will remain.

[Ian Lyons]

The Heal tool will also cause the ghost image. You need to use 'Update AI Settings' so that the masks can be recomputed.

[Eva32234968wj8o]

Okay the update AI settinsgs worked! 

[Ian Lyons]

Thanks for confirming. It's much better photo without the crane.

[redlester]

My first attempts with the new AI removal tool are quite encouraging. Below is an example on a recent iPhone photo taken on a visit to Auschwitz.

Original colour image contains two men in the foreground and another figure in the distance.

For processed b&w image I've used AI Remove on all three figures. The man on the left and the figure in the distance have both been very successfully removed. For the man in the foreground holding what looks like a bag in his right hand, I forgot initially to remove his shadow, so Lightroom has replaced him with what appears at first sight to be the figure of a child, holding the bag in hand. I actually think this adds to the effect of the photo so decided to leave it like this, although I have now removed the shadow using the Heal function. Although it does show that for successful removal of people you really do need to pay attention to shadows, even if fairly insignificant ones!