Using the new Content-Aware Remove in Lightroom Classic
For many years Adobe has been trying to improve the Healing tools in Lightroom Classic. Each update brings some improvement. This current update brings us an AI-generated Content-Aware Remove to remove objects is another step forward.
Where to find Content-Aware Remove
Content-Aware Fill in Lightroom Classic
In the Develop Module, look for the Healing tool, it looks like a Band-Aid. This will open the Healing tool options. You will find three modes, the first is the Content-Aware Remove tool. You will also see the Heal and Clone tools. They have different abilities but essentially do the same thing in slightly different ways. But the hero of the day is the new Content-Aware Remove tool.
How to use it
Using the Content-Aware Remove tool
Depending on what you are trying to remove, I found it can be a little hit-and-miss. This was the case with with the edges of images. But I manage to get a fairly accurate area where my backdrop didn’t quite cover my area. Click and drag to cover the area you want to cover. You can change the size of your selection with your mouse wheel or the open and close brackets, as well as the slider within the tool area. You can also change the opacity. I left mine at 100%.
You can also use a circle area slightly larger than your subject to remove and just use a single tap. If you’re not happy with the selection in Lightroom, try the refresh button and see if LR offers a better selection. Alternatively, press Control and drag to select an area you wish Lightroom to use for the selection.
If you want to see your selections, try pressing the H key to reveal or hide your selections.
Benefits
I did find it did a great job with removing smaller objects. In the image above, the sign on the right, the two people in the background and a few other items (light poles etc) in the far background were removed with ease. I found the selections were pretty good and it did a fair job of removing these objects without leaving too many clues.
Drawbacks
As previously stated, I found that if your subject was on an edge it did not make a great selection at first. I found I had to play around to get what I wanted, but it was still a little messy. I also found that in larger objects like the dog (right-hand edge), the Content-Aware Remove did not do quite as good a job as with smaller objects.
Final thoughts
While this is a great improvement from the previous versions of software, I still found it a little lacking. I feel that with such vast improvements in AI and Content-Aware in Photoshop, it seems a little strange that the Lightroom AI Content-Aware is not quite as good. Perhaps there is still a little room for improvement. But overall, if you are not a Photoshop user, I am sure you will find this new tool a handy improvement, albeit with a little tweaking required.
