Now that Adobe Lightroom has released its latest update, with unique, AI-enhanced features to elevate your photo editing experience.
Read our Adobe Lightroom guide on how to use Adobe Lightroom’s latest features and embrace the full potential of the new tools.
sponsored message
Tutorials for Adobe Lightroom’s New Features
Here are the 5 tutorials we will cover today:
- Generative Remove by Adobe Lightroom
- Lens Blur
- Adaptive Blur Background
- Edit Archived Photos Locally
- Curve Controls
1. Generative Remove by Adobe Lightroom
Step 1: Remove Tool
Locate the Remove tool in the Develop module (previously known as the Healing Tool). You can also use the following keyboard shortcuts.
- Command + Shift + H for Mac
- Control + Shift + H for PCs.
Step 2: Select Generative AI
Within the Remove Tool, select the Remove tab (which is the far left option). Then check the Generative AI box that appears under the Remove tool tabs.
Step 3: Brush
Use the brush to paint a rough selection around the object you want to remove. It is recommended that you be slightly generous with your choice. It’s better to grab a little extra area than miss parts of the object.
Step 4: Refine
You further refine your selection by using the refinement tools offered by Adobe Lightroom. These include:
sponsored message
- Add: Add to the selection by painting with this brush.
- Subtract: Remove from the selection by painting with this brush.
- Feather: Soften the edges of the selection for a smoother transition.
Step 5: Apply
Once you’re happy with your selection, click the Apply button and wait for the AI to remove the distraction from your image.
2. Lens Blur
Step 1: Apply Lens Blur
First, you must go to the Edit and select Lens Blur. Many options to customize your image blurring will appear below.
Step 2: Automatic Blur
To harness the power of the AI that has been integrated into Adobe Lightroom, select the Apply checkbox to apply AI-powered Lens Blur automatically.
Step 3: Refine Blur
To make sure the Lens Blur is to your liking, take advantage of the many refinement options offered for blurring. These include,
- Adjusting the slider to control the strength of the blur (default: 50).
- Choosing the type of blur effect from the following:
- Circle: Modern circular lens
- Bubble: Standard circular with over-correction
- 5-blade: Vintage lens effect
- Ring: Reflex or mirror lens effect
- Cat Eye: Vignetting effect
- Boosting or adjusting the brightness of out-of-focus light sources.
Step 4: Adjust Focus Range
sponsored message
You can control the area that appears sharp and blurred using the Focus Range options. There are three ways to do this:
- Use the AI in Adobe Lightroom to automatically set the focal range based on what it detects as the subject in the image.
- Manually define the focal point by clicking on a specific photo area. You can also drag to create a larger area in focus.
- Visualize the depth information in your image by overlaying the image with different colors to represent the focal range. This means using,
- Warm or yellow areas near the focal range
- cool or blue areas far focal range
- white areas for the current focus area
Step 5: Refine Blur
Finally, choose the Focus option to refine the blur areas and make your image blurring clear-cut. To adjust the selection, you can edit using the Amount, Brush Size, Feather, and Flow sliders. For a bit of help from AI, consider using the Auto Mask option to enable automatic edge detection while brushing.
3. Adaptive Blur Background
Step 1: Select the Adaptive Blur Preset
In the Presets panel, navigate to the “Adaptive” section. Choose any Blur Background preset that is to your liking.
Step 2: Preview Preset Effects
Hover your cursor over each preset to preview how it will affect your photo. This helps you understand the blur intensity before applying.
Step 3: Apply the Preset
Click on the desired preset to apply the Lens Blur effect. The Adobe Lightroom AI technology will detect your subject and automatically apply the blur settings.
Step 4: Fine-tune Lens Blur
The Lens Blur panel will open with the preset settings. You can adjust the Blur Amount slider for stronger or weaker blur or explore other options like Bokeh shape and size.
4. Edit Archived Photos Locally
Step 1: Select Photos for Archiving
In Adobe Lightroom, switch to the Grid view and choose the photos you want to archive from the cloud. You can select individual photos or even an entire album.
Step 2: Initiate Archiving Process
Right-click on the selected photos (or album). Then, from the context menu, choose Archive Photos Locally.
Step 3: Choose Destination and Organization
When the Archive to Local Storage dialog box appears, click the “Save to” section. Within this, click Browse to select where on your computer you want to save the archived photos. Then, under Organize, choose how you want to organize the archived photos: into a single folder or by date.
Step 4: Confirm Archiving
Once you’ve selected the destination and organization method, click the Archive button to begin archiving the photos.
Step 5: Edit Archived Photos Locally
After successfully archiving, the photos will be removed from the cloud storage and stored in your local folder. Finally, you can now edit these photos directly within Lightroom using the local files.
5. Curve Controls
Step 1: Access Tone Curve Panel
Head over to the Develop module on Adobe Lightroom. Locate the Tone Curve panel on the right side and lick the double-triangle header to expand it and view the graph.
Step 2: Make Adjustments
Adjust the Tone Curve graph by moving the Highlights, Lights, Shadows, and Darks sliders to brighten or darken specific areas of your image.
Step 3: Precise Control with Point Curve
For more precise adjustments, switch to the Point Curve mode. Click the Point Curve icon (it looks like a circle with a line). Now, you can directly add points to the graph itself, with each point representing a tonal value.
Step 4: Target Specific Tones
If you want to adjust a specific color in a particular area of the image or video, click the Tone Curve selector icon (eye dropper symbol) on the image area you want to target. Now, adjustments you make with the sliders or Point Curve on Adobe Lightroom will specifically affect those tones.
Step 5: Color Adjustments
Like brightness, Tone Curves can adjust colors and tones. To do this, click the red, green, or blue button above the graph to target a specific color channel for the graph to represent. Similar to the Point Curve mode, add points and drag the line up and down to add or subtract that color from your image.
Lightroom New Features Tutorial – Final Words
With this brief photographer’s guide to Adobe Lightroom’s new features, you can take your photo editing to the next level. So join Adobe Lightroom today and enjoy these dynamic new features.
