Industry News


Lightroom’s Newest AI Tools: Faster Retouches for Portrait Photographers

October 18, 2022

By Hillary K. Grigonis

© Adobe

New one-click functions in Lightroom will help speed up edits for both beginners and experienced users.

Adobe Lightroom’s newest AI tools automatically select people, eyes, teeth or skin for retouching, and at the start of its annual creativity conference earlier today, Adobe announced a list of new updates across the Adobe Lightroom family, as well as Photoshop and other programs. The updates take last year’s Subject Selection and Sky Selection tools even further, along with bringing more features to mobile devices.

Lightroom's newest AI tools include a Select Object tool as shown here.
The new Select Object tool will make masking objects much easier and will be less time-consuming. © Adobe

In Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and Adobe Camera RAW on desktop devices, photo editors gain three new smart selection tools: Select People, Select Objects, and Select Background. The first goes beyond the existing Select Subject tool and allows photographers to select one person, a group of people, or just individual features. Along with selecting the entire person, Lightroom can now automatically mask out the skin (face or body), eyebrows, eyes (iris/pupil or sclera/whites masked separately), lips, or hair. Masks are commonly used for tasks like whitening teeth, smoothing skin, or enhancing the eyes; the latest update aims to do that without using the brush tool to select each feature.

At the Adobe Max conference, Lightroom's newest AI tools were announced.
Along with selecting the entire person, Lightroom can now automatically mask out the skin (face or body), eyebrows, eyes (iris/pupil or sclera/whites masked separately), lips, or hair, so you don’t have to manually create layer masks. © Adobe

While Lightroom already has a Select Subject tool, the new Select Object and Select Background options allow for more specific masks. The Select Object tool is used by either roughly drawing with the brush or using a rectangle selection. The software then detects the edges and creates a mask of the object, similar to the feature by the same name in Photoshop. The Select Background tool simplifies background selection, which could be previously done by using Select Subject and then inverting the mask. (See below how it can pull apart specific elements within complex subjects, such as a person holding a surfboard.)

Photoshop Object Selection
© Adobe

These masks are also the basis for a new set of Adaptive Presets—unlike the masking tools, though, the presets will also be available on iOS, Android, and iPadOS. Adaptive Presets for portraits include options such as enhancing eyes or whitening teeth with one tap. Earlier Adaptive Presets for skies and subjects are also migrating to mobile.

Adobe Camera RAW also gained the option to adjust the curves within a masked selection. Adobe says that this option will also be coming to Lightroom but at a later date.

[Read: Lightroom Just Expanded to Video Editing in a Major Update]

Lightroom and Lightroom classic, as well as mobile apps, will also gain Content-Aware Remove. Similar to the Photoshop tool, the tool allows photographers to select an object and fill in the gap using data from the surrounding area.

Adobe also announced a handful of updates for Photoshop. One Click Delete mixes Object Selection and Content-Aware Fill. The tool is used by selecting the object, then using a new Shift + Delete keyboard command.

Adobe also announced two features that are available in beta testing mode. The first is a Share for Review tool, which brings comments from approved reviewers right into the Photoshop application. Content Credentials, announced last year, has also expanded but is still in beta. This opt-in tool attaches editing details to the metadata to clearly identify when an image has been digitally enhanced. The metadata can be viewed online using Verify.

Photoshop for iPad also inches closer to the desktop version with the addition of one tap features including background removal, Content-Aware Fill, and tools for automatically adjusting tone, color, and contrast.

Adobe Max continues from Oct, 18 through Oct. 22, online and in Los Angeles. Read more about Lightroom’s newest AI tools and other updates here.