P: Generate Remove/AI Selections fail during export

[marcella_5983]

Since the new update in Lightroom (8.31), when I export an image, items I've removed with generate remove do not apear in the exported image.

[Julie Kmoch]

Thank you for reporting this. We've filed a bug and are investigating. Can you tell us how much RAM your machine has? My theory is that it may be memory related. 

[carpcarpcarp]

My M3 Pro has 18 gigs of RAM, and I close down all other applications when
using Lightroom.

I do notice that I will constantly get the pop-up that’s something along
the lines of “Some AI settings need to be updated” when I am scrolling
through my gallery in detail view, even when I do not update the pictures
with any edits.

However, when I am in gallery view, I can not tell which photos need their
AI settings updated, and there is nothing to indicate that the photos have
any kind of issue or need any kind of updating. Everything looks ok — it
says synced and updated, and the preview for each photo shows all the
healing edits. The problem only appears when I export several pictures at
once. It’s creating a huge bottleneck in my export process, as I am having
to export each picture individually in order to ensure they have their
proper edits.

[Julie Kmoch]

Got it, thanks. If not for this problem, how many photos would you typically export in a batch?

[carpcarpcarp]

The catalog that is currently affected by this issue contains about 750 photos total. Out of these, about 150-200 are flagged as “picked”, which are the ones I am trying to batch export. While I first noticed this problem when I was trying to export these 150-200 photos, it also occurs during smaller exports (~5 photos or more). 

[brianmatiash]

I'd like to clarify something: you mention a specific catalog affected by this, but ou also state that you're using Lightroom 8.3.1 (which doesn't use catalogs to manage photos). Can you confirm whether you're referring to Lightroom Desktop or Lightroom Classic?

Also, for the affected images, are you using the Generative Remove tool or the legacy Healing Brush? I suspect Generative Remove because you referenced the "AI settings need to be recomputed" message, but I'd like to be certain. Thanks!

[carpcarpcarp]

Sorry! I meant to say library, not catalog. Yes, I can confirm I'm working in Lightroom Desktop, not Classic. 

I am using just the legacy healing brush for a majority of the pictures, and a minority have both (legacy + gen AI). When the problem occurs, the exports do not show either of these types of edits. 

The "AI settings recomputing" notification pops up for photos both with and without any generative AI healing. I am using a lot of masking for the photos, though. I thought maybe it was updating the masks? But the notification pops up multiple times for a photo when there have not been edits in between each of the pop up occurrences.   

[brianmatiash]

Very helpful - thank you for clarifying all of that!

There are other edits that can kick off the AI Recompute toast, including the Adaptive Color/B&W profiles and Lens Blur. Are you using either of those tools with these images?

[carpcarpcarp]

No, I am not using any of these tools. The edits all lighting/color edits that I am manually adjusting, healing brush (majority legacy, small minority genAI remove), and lots of masks using object detection. 

Let me know if you need any more info, and thanks for investigating.

T

[brianmatiash]

All good info, thank you again. We are still looking into this from our end, as well.

Also, we've improved the experience involved with having to update AI settings in an upcoming Lightroom update, so you won't have to deal with that blue Recompute toast.

[Jason Blazick]

Looks like Brian asked most of my questions. Thanks again for your help isolating this issue. 

[Jason Blazick]

A few more questions, if you don't mind.

I understand that you are seeing this issue with random images. Do you ever see these Heal brush edits drop out of images that were previously exported correctly? Or do previously successful images fail just as frequently if you were to export the same batch of images again? When you individually export previously failed photos, are you ever asked to update AI settings on those images before exporting? Then after a successfully export, if you batch export those previously failing images again, do they fail again?

Finally, a long shot, do you happen to apply a preset to your raw images when importing?

Thanks for your help!

[carpcarpcarp]

Sure thing.

Do you ever see these Heal brush edits drop out of images that were previously exported correctly? Or do previously successful images fail just as frequently if you were to export the same batch of images again?

Yes, the Heal brush edits does drop out of images that were previously exported correctly. I have experimented with batch exporting the same pictures in different volumes (between 5 and the whole batch of ~200), and sometimes images that exported without error on one try will have the issue on the next try. I can't identify any clear pattern for which pictures are affected by the issue. 

When you individually export previously failed photos, are you ever asked to update AI settings on those images before exporting? 

Yes, when I individually export previously failed photos, I am asked to update the AI settings on those before exporting. Even when I ignore the pop up and export, or when I export before the blue bar finishes loading, it exports properly as long as it is being exported as an individual photo. I'm not exactly sure what AI setting is being updated, as I do not see anything changing on the photo in detail view. 

Then after a successfully export, if you batch export those previously failing images again, do they fail again?

Yes. If I batch export previously failing images after a succesful individual export, they do fail. However, it's not consistent. For example, if I batch export 5 photos, it seems like the issue occurs at random to any of these 5 photos each time (rather than, for example, only photos 2 + 3 being affected at random during each batch export). 

The AI settings will constantly ask to be updated, even if I just approved an update. When I am in detail view, the notification will pop up twice within a few seconds, even though I have made no edits. I originally thought that maybe there was an issue with the program "forgetting" or losing the AI settings, which was causing my healing edits not to save (because it would keep needing approval to recalculate them, and I can not mass approve the updates for the whole batch because the pop-up only appears in detail view). There is no real basis to this theory though, just a hunch I had based on the timing of the pop-ups and my experience with this issue.

Finally, a long shot, do you happen to apply a preset to your raw images when importing?

No, I do not apply a preset to my raw images when importing. 

[Sameer K]

Set status to Investigating.

[Astonished_Ripple5CE4]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been editing a batch of wedding photos in Lightroom and used some AI-generated edits (like masking or subject enhancements). However, every time I export the images, the AI edits don’t show up in the exported files—only the color adjustments and basic settings are applied.

Does anyone know why this might be happening or how to fix it?

[Nusifil Studio]

When editing a batch of photos in Lightroom (v8.3.1) on an ARM-based Surgace Pro 11 windows 11 (Snapdragon(R) X 10-core X1P64100 @ 3.40 GHz 3.42 GHz), I’ve noticed a recurring issue with the Remove Tool (H). Here's what happens:

• After applying Light, Color, Masks on ~150 JPG, and using the Remove Tool to delete elements from 2 photos, the Remove with AI option was OFF. 

• I export the whole selection (~150 photos),

• The export succeeds, but the removed elements reappear (i.e., they are not actually removed in the exported image),

• This happens randomly within the batch — some photos apply the removal properly, others don’t.

Workaround:

• If I reopen the specific image where the removal failed and re-export it individually, the result is correct — the object is gone.

• This issue seems isolated to batch exports.

Best regards and thank you!

[puguhw82279439]

it happened to me too, the ai remove generation dont appear in the exported image if i exported the images in bulk, but it works fine if i export it 1 by 1, i hope this issue can be fixed in the next update

[Generous_view0D45]

There are other edits that can kick off the AI Recompute toast, including the Adaptive Color/B&W profiles and Lens Blur.

By @brianmatiash

Seems silly to jump to "you must be editing something and not mentioning it here" when there's been a recent mountain of reports of AI mask syncing issues that all trigger the same recompute toast.

[brianmatiash]

I'm not sure I understand the context of your comment. I simply brought up some of the other AI editing tools that can result in a recompute toast surfacing to a user with no intention of invalidating the issue related to AI masks.

[Generous_view0D45]

I stand by what I've said in other threads: it's really troubling how many issues I see reported where Adobe is unable to replicate the bug that I myself am able to replicate in seconds. And I really hope someone there is putting the testing methodology under some scrutiny, because to have this volume of bugs reported by this many people that a company worth billions is unable to reproduce is not normal.

[Generous_view0D45]

I'm not sure I understand the context of your comment. I simply brought up some of the other AI editing tools that can result in a recompute toast surfacing to a user with no intention of invalidating the issue related to AI masks.

By @brianmatiash 

The context of my comment is sheer frustration due to a combination of: 

1. The number of bugs introduced in recent updates
2. A multi-billion dollar corporation being unable to reproduce a very large number of those bugs
3. The trend of software companies using their paying user base as a workforce for unpaid bug testing and report writing
4. An accumulation of negative experiences here in the forums, including but not limited to sidestepping my questions and merging my reports into seemingly unrelated threads without any feedback as to why that was done

[Wigley_]

Lightroom version: 8.3.1 x64 [ 20250505-2344-4fb7147 ] (May 5 2025)

Operating system: Windows 11

When I export my photos, sometimes edits I've made with the generative remove tool aren't applied to the exported JPEGs.

Steps to reproduce:

1) Open local folder containing a couple dozen photos in Lightroom

(In the below example I have copied+pasted this photo of a dog 40 times for illustrative purposes)

2) Use the remove tool, with "Use generative AI" checked, to remove one or more subjects from each photo.

3) Select all the photos and export

Image Type: JPG

Dimensions: Full Size

Quality: 60%

All Metadata

File naming: Original

Output Sharpening: None

Color SPace: sRGB

Expected Result:

The subjects which were removed using the remove tool will not appear in any of the exported JPEGs

Actual Result:

In many of the photos, the subjects which were removed using the remove tool still appear.

As shown below, in most of the 40 exported JPEGs Geoff the dog has successfully been removed, but in half a dozen of them he has reappeared. 

NOTE: Other edits made to the photo, including colour corrections and non-AI removes, seem to export just fine. The issue appears to be limited to just the AI remove tool. 

As one can imagine, when I come back from a trip and spend many hours meticulously removing inconvenient people from the background of photos I've taken or specs of dust that landed on my lens, only to find that in many of the photos I've exported those edits have come undone, it is very very frustrating.

[Jason Blazick]

A quick update for those of you following this thread.

After some investigation, we’ve been able to reproduce this issue by manually deactivating “Use GPU for Export” in performance preferences when exporting from Local. This suggests an issue with how we are using the GPU or how the OS is managing GPU access in some scenarios. We appreciate your patience as we continue our investigation and develop a solution to this issue as soon as possible.

In the meantime, if you are experiencing this issue, we suggest trying following:

• Verify that you graphic drivers are up to date
• Verify that your power settings are not limiting your resources
• Verify that your Lightroom performance preferences are set to maximize performance
• Try changing your GPU from Auto to Custom with all checkboxes ON. This may force GPU export usage in situations where it might otherwise not be used.

Custom with all GPU settings on

If you find any of these steps resolve the issue, please share your experience here. If that does not improve things for you, you can DM me your system specs (available from the LrD Help menu) and an example of a file that failed to export.

We know there is nothing more enraging than losing work. Thanks again for your help and patience as we resolve this issue.

- Jason

[眞里5CC4]

ぼかし機能を使おうとすると

「一部のAI設定は再計算する必要があります」とエラーメッセージがあり

更新ボタンを押すも

「問題が発生しました」とエラーになります

環境設定からグラフィックプロセッサーをオフにしてもエラーは続きどこに問題がありのか全く分かりません。

書き出しもエラーが出てしまい出来ません。

（Ai設定していない写真も書き出し出来ません）

Lightroomアプリを再インストールしましたが状況かわらず

どなたかお知恵をお貸しください。

[Lucie32442392tjgf]

Hi, I would like to report a bug in Lightroom - there is an issue with exporting final jpgs. The export includes all the edits, except retouching and AI retouching. 
When I export the photos one by one, it is there, however, when I export all the edited photos in my library, the retouch edits are not included. However I tried exporting, it is never there. Please let me know how to fix this situation, because as a wedding photographer with 1000 photos, I can not export them one by one. 

Thanks.
Have a nice day,
Lucie

[Generous_view0D45]

Hi @Lucie32442392tjgf! Thank you for reaching out! Sorry to hear about your issue.

Since this thread is a bit old, starting a new one with all the details of your issue might be best. That way, your comments won't get lost, and you'll get the help you need more quickly. Thanks a bunch!

Please share more details, like your system configuration. From Help> System Info> copy and paste it into a text file. Also, a screen recording or relevant screenshots of the export process would be helpful for me. You can share via Google Drive, WeTransfer, or another public file-sharing platform with your response.

Thanks a bunch!

Noel

By @Noel Orridge 

Man you guys cannot be serious. Y'ALL ARE THE ONES WHO MERGED THEIR POST WITH THIS THREAD. And what the hell do you mean "a bit old"? This is literally the thread for a bug that is actively being discussed and investigated, and anyone who spent even 2 minutes reading this thread would see that what this user is reporting is EXACTLY what this thread is about.

Between this and all the other issues I've written about, this is all starting to feel like one big joke.