Remove all Shadows and Highlights ?

"You want to keep the info of the image but if there are highlights or shadows from when the image was taken, you want those removed."

I'm sorry but that still does not make sense to me. If you remove the highlights and shadows then you are removing the detail. You showed us a "before" image but I don't understand your explanation of what you want the "after" image to look like. Just repeating the same thing is not helping our understanding so that we can help you. Just removing the range of luminosity to leave the colour does this, which I am sure is not what you want :

I mentioned 3D software early - such as Substance Designer and Alchemist, which you told me was the wrong answer, but in way of an explanation this is what Adobe Alchemist does to your image with it's conversion to a Base Color map : 

It also uses the information in the original to build roughness, normal and height maps :

so that the material can be reconstructed in 3D

It would be helpful if you can show us with a simpler example a before and after of what you want to achieve so that we can apply that example to the image you posted earlier

Dave

Perhaps the confusion is caused by the terminology involved.  From the start, you used the verb  “remove” which I, for one, assumed meant “modify” -- make a part of the tone range lighter or darker by some specific amount.  (See my previous post.)

If by “remove” we should assume “take out” that can be done. The highlight area and the shadow area could each be identified, selected and removed by using Threshold as an adjustment layer for identification and isolation, followed by some other familiar tools to accomplish the extraction.

Once removed, the question then becomes: what would you like to replace the vacant areas with? If you can specify that, we would have a more clearly defined objective and perhaps an acceptable solution.

Here's a possibility: slightly blur the image, and run the Custom filter. Specify a convolution kernel that would emphasize lighter pixels surrounded by darker ones.

I've played around with this filter to do something else; I found it tends to leave artifacts. In your situation, it might not matter. You can often see the type of artifacts in generated normal maps.

When I read the inquiry I thought the OP was inquiring about creating a Ghost (also called Phantom) image that is often used as a background design element…usually as a duotone as shown above or with a flat color over a ghost. In it the highlights are toned down a bit and the shadow end of the scale is lightened considerably. In the film days, we were provided with a normal-range photograph and the designer’s instruction to the lithographer was “Ghost to 70%” or “Ghost to 50%" to specify the maximum shadow value of the final image.  Today it is a simple Curve adjustment.

If you do that, you'll ruin the image.  All images contain highlights, shadows and midtones.   Otherwise, there would be nothing to visualize.

Can you show us the image?

Maybe we can offer some ideas on what settings to use in an adjustment layer.