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.

[Lisa37675484let7]

AI-powered Generative Remove is incredible. SO much easier to use than importing the photo into Photoshop and spending time trying to figure it all out. Cannot wait for it to be available again, it has saved me so much time in editing galleries. 

[Michael274779850udx]

Morning, The AI tool works of a sort - sometimes it provides excellent results but I find in most occasions the results are no where like the results I'd expect. To be honest, the old repair tool did a far better job most of the time compared to the new AI tool. Adobe, if you're listening please give us back the old repair tool or at least both!

[Ian Lyons]

@Michael274779850udx 

The old repair tool is still present, likewise the clone tool (see icons in red box of attached screenshot). If you want to use the old Content Aware Remove tool (blue box), then ensure that Generative AI is unchecked.

[Michael274779850udx]

Thank you. I couldn't find a way but makes sense. Sometimes the older tool
does a much better job.

[Kh�nh_??c4216]

Thanks, that's good to know.  I have switched back to using the remove tool in Photoshop for now.  I'm sure that the Lightroom remove tool will get better over time, especially if Adobe looks at all the feedback.  I just don't have time for experimenting.

[kailuo0D4C]

It works most of the time, the only main issue is low resolution, which limits it's usage, I wish there is a way to use further compute time to improve the resolution. 

[kyle.doak@gmail.com]

The remove feature seems to be less accurate after this latest Lightroom update. Prior to the update, the feature was fairly accurate with the removal of objects from the image. Now the feature seems to struggle with simply removing the object. Too often, the feature now replaces the old object with a new object, which usually looks worse.

[John R Ellis]

kyle.doak@gmail.com: "Too often, the feature now replaces the old object with a new object"

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.

[David27911980prex]

impressive. 

In the top image, I selected the entire post, LR removed it *and* connected the vines on both sides. Unexpectedly efficient. 

In others, represented by the lower image, I had to select the various smaller bits to ensure the leaves still looked realistic. 

[Michael F 66]

More resolution please!

Generative Remove works well overall, but the replaced area is super soft. It's not suitable for retouching anything but a small area, where that lack of resolution won't be noticable, if you ever expect to make a print from the image.

[Ian Lyons]

@Michael F 66 

The resolution is a limitation of Adobe Firefly, which is the underlying AI model used across multiple Adobe apps. I believe that the limit is 2000 by 200 pixels for apps like Photoshop, but LrC, Lr and ACR might be less.

[Asta33754073f0g7]

I didn't want to move photo from LR to PS, and Remove solved the problem for me perfectly on the first try, wow

[Gerard38305403cjab]

Wordt niet goed opgeslagen in de foto
Ga je op een andere computer editten moet je alle AI opnieuw genereren

[Juan_Octavio]

HOLA, LIGHTROOM CLASSIC 13.5 NO ME DEJA USAR LA IA GENERATIVA PARA QUITAR OBJETOS NO DESEADOS, SU AYUDA POR FAVOR.

[John R Ellis]

@Juan_Octavio, Google translation of error: "Generative deletion failed. We have encountered a problem and are unable to complete your request at this time. Please try again later."

A few others have reported this error, but there's been no further information posted about it, unfortunately.

[Jon29694995oqnj]

I wish there was a way for me to crop, and then remove objects from the edges of the photos, without the ai taking into account things that are already outside of my crop. It always just tries to recreate the object. 

[David27911980prex]

export to a new file (jpg) then run the remove process on the new file. 

[John R Ellis]

@Jon29694995oqnj: "I wish there was a way for me to crop, and then remove objects from the edges of the photos, without the ai taking into account things that are already outside of my crop. It always just tries to recreate the object."

Generative Remove looks at all the pixels of the photo, including those cropped out. This is by design, though it doesn't match many (most?) people's workflow, in which people crop first and then edit.  So if you want to apply Remove after cropping, do Copy (selecting just Crop), reset the crop, apply Remove, then Paste. Lens Corrections and Transform also crop pixels, but those are easy to temporarily disable before applying Remove. See here for more details:

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

[sarawhittaker]

I feel like this was a perfect feature a month or so ago. Im not sure what has happend to it, but I cant remove anything at any more if the photos has been edited at all. and even trying to remove pre edit its not working. 

[John R Ellis]

@sarawhittaker: "even trying to remove pre edit its not working. "

To troubleshoot this, please attach a full-resolution JPEG exported from the unmodified original photo. We can see if the issue is inherent in the photo or something specific about your LR installation.

[txdao]

Works really well over all.

Found a pain point: The removed/generated area doesn't match the grain/noise of the surrounding area. Would love to see it match the grain so that it's not obvious that the tool was used.

[Steven26414468gt4a]

Not working.  Says try again later.

[John R Ellis]

@Steven26414468gt4a: "Not working.  Says try again later."

Is the full error message, "We've encountered an issue and can't complete your request at this time. Please try again later"?

From which country did you register your Adobe account?  In which country is your computer currently running?

[VJCortezJr]

Pretty cool. I tried removing a nestle quik bottle from a photo. It didn't remove it, but it replaced it with what looked like a coffee cup. The subject in the photo was wearing a hoodie with draw strings hanging down. The AI generator used one of the draw strings to look like it was a straw coming out of the cup.

[Ivan38995758m3ye]

Hi,

I'd like to say that I love the feature. The problem is that it only works with Windows Firewall Disabled.

Any idea why?

Best regards,

Ivan