The latest updates to Camera Raw (17.4), Lightroom Classic (14.4) and Lightroom Desktop (8.4) have been released to customers via the Creative Cloud App. These updates include new camera and lens support along with feature enhancements and bug fixes.

Distraction Removal [Lightroom Classic & Desktop]

People

Both Lightroom Classic and Desktop now support ‘People’ and ‘Reflection’ Removal. These features are available from the Distraction Removal section of the ‘Remove’ tool.

People removal is fairly straightforward in operation in is far as the identification and selection of people is triggered as soon as the People section of Distraction Removal is opened.

It’s also possible to omit one or all of the selections from the removal process. This can be useful if you want to leave some of people in the photo or want to start again. It’s also possible to generate Variations by clicking on the relevant pin, then the Generate button.

Reflections

Reflection removal uses a single raw image, captured behind a glass window, to predict both the de-reflected result (image with the reflection removed) and the reflection result (i.e., what the window was reflecting towards the camera). Equipped with those 3 images, it allows you to smoothly blend between them by using the adjustment slider and effectively adjust the strength of reflection removal. When using the slider, the key values to note are:

• 0 – the input image
• 100 – de-reflected (window reflections removed) image
• -100 – reflection image (what the window was reflecting towards the camera)

For best results, try the new feature using these suggestions:

• Apply Window Reflection removal before applying any other edits to the image. The changes made to the image may be quite profound and render any changes you already made inappropriate.
• Play with the feature slider and adjust the removal strength as appropriate.

While removing reflections, you can select one of the options:

• Preview: fast, but low quality
• Standard
• Best: takes more time, but best quality

Enhance as Standard Edits [Lightroom Classic & Desktop]

Denoise, Raw Details, and Super Resolution are now provided as standard edit panel features. They’re are available in the Detail panel, and are non-destructive.

Previously, when Enhanced was used, a new ‘Enhanced DNG’ file was created. This is no longer the case.

To apply any of the 3 Enhance options a multiple images first requires that you select the files to be enhanced, next enable Auto Sync, then choose the enhanced option you require (e.g. Denoise).

Update AI Settings [Camera Raw, Lightroom Classic & Desktop]

The red dots that previously appeared below some of the tools to indicate status of AI based edits have been replaced with a single AI Status button. This is located at the far right of the toolstrip in Lightroom Classic and the last button on Lightroom Desktop and Camera Raw toolstrip

If the AI Status button is grey, then all of the AI settings applied to the image are up to date. However, when the button turns yellow, then one or more of the settings needs to be updated. Typically, an update is required if an AI based edit is ‘applied out of order’.

What does ‘out of order’ mean? Well, Adobe have identified an order in which each of the AI based edits should be applied so as to ensure that no artefacts appear in the image. For example, applying the Remove tool after a mask often results in the removed object appearing as a ghostlike artefact, whereas if the object is removed first, then there will be no artefact.

So, what’s the optimum order in which to apply edits? The following is the list for edit order operations provided in the recently updated Adobe Help document:

1. Denoise, Raw Details, and Super Resolution
2. Reflection Removal
3. Distracting People Removal
4. Generative Expand (Currently only in the ACR Tech Preview)
5. Generative and Content-Aware Remove
6. Lens Blur
7. Lens Profile
8. Crop /Transform
9. Profile (includes Adaptive)
10. Global Adjustments
11. Local Adjustments (Masking)

The example shown above in which I’ve used all of the AI based edits indicates that the Remove tool has been applied outside of the optimum order, and that the AI Settings need to be updated. Since all of the edits below Remove are highlighted in yellow, then pressing ‘Update All’ will resolve any issues.

Color Variance Early Access [Camera Raw]

Currently only available as Early Access within Camera Raw, the Variance slider, which is located in the Color Mixer > Point Color panel, lets you adjust the colour tones in an image and achieve a consistent look.

Remember Last Selection in Folders & Collections [Lightroom Classic]

A new preference has been added to Preferences > File Handling. Enabling this preference means that Lightroom Classic remembers your last selection for the 25 most recently accessed sources (collections or folders). If no selection has been made yet, Lightroom will either select the first image by default or retain the selection that overlaps with the previously selected source.

Use Smart Previews [Lightroom Classic]

Lightroom Classic now shows a warning dialog at startup if user has the “Use Smart Previews instead of Originals for image editing” preference turned on.

Auto-XMP Write Enhancements [Lightroom Classic]

The Auto-XMP write mechanism has been updated to include two new enhancments:

• Temporarily pause automatic XMP writing during imports and resume it once the import process is complete.
• The automatic XMP writing will now occur every 10 seconds for the active image instead of after each individual edit.

Duplicate Detection During Import [Lightoom Classic]

Previously, files with different names weren’t recognised as duplicates, even if their content matched. Duplicate detection now also allows renamed files to be accurately identified as duplicates whenever possible.

Precise Capture Time [Lightroom Classic]

Lightroom Classic now retains ‘Capture Time’ data with millisecond precision. This update should resolve issues where some images captured in burst mode were incorrectly detected as duplicates. Please note that this update does not address other issues related to capture date/time precision.

Faster Loading Loading of Colour Label in Folders [Lightroom Classic]

In previous versions, folder colour labels appeared with a delay after launching the app—especially, which was especially noticeable when a large folder hierarchy was expanded. This performance improvement resolves the issue, resulting in significantly faster display of colour labels on folders.

New Filters in Metadata and Smart Collections [Lightroom Classic]

The following new options have been added under “Library Metadata Filters > Develop” and in the Smart Collection creation dialog box.

• Has Reflection removal
• Has Distracting People removal
• Has Denoise
• Has Raw Details
• Has Super Resolution

Note: The new Library filters (Has Denoise, Has Raw Details, Has Super Resolution) also work on images enhanced in previous versions of Lightroom Classic.

Identity Plate Changes [Lightroom Classic]

On Windows, personalised text Identity Plates will now be rendered using a single style only. The ability to have multiple text runs with different styles has been removed. Personalised Identity Plates in existing catalogs will continue to render till the time they are updated using the recent Lightroom Classic builds.

Performance Improvements [Lightroom Classic]

Several architectural enhancements to boost overall performance, particularly in interactive editing areas like Masking and Image Switching. Additionally, general performance and user experience on Windows have seen noticeable improvements.