How to Remove The Background In Lightroom Classic & Mobile [2024]

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All you have to do is:

In this short tutorial, I will show you how to remove and if we can change the background using Lightroom.

Lightroom is a powerful photo editing tool and easy to use. It features an intuitive interface and comes packed with a ton of editing tools to help you create beautiful images. It’s my favorite photo editor, and I use it extensively to edit my images.

How to remove the background in Lightroom Classic and Lightroom Mobile?

Unfortunately, you can’t remove the background in Lightroom. Although it’s a fantastic software and its AI-powered masking tool can automatically select backgrounds in just a click, it doesn’t have a built-in function to remove the background. Lightroom is more of an image enhancer and organizer rather than a complete photo editor.

portrait of a japanese lady using nikon d750

Honestly, It’s not an issue for me because I don’t use Lightroom as an all-in-one photo editing tool. Instead, I use it for its intended purpose: to enhance my images, color grade them and organize my photo library.

Additionally, Lightroom is perfect for beginners because it’s easy to use, and comes with built-in presets (you can download them as well) that help you quickly edit your images.

However, if you’re looking for ways to remove the background from your images, there are a few programs that you can use that I’ll discuss below.

Use Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Express instead

You can use these tools to remove the background from your images and they’re both easy to use.

The best way to remove or change the background is to use Photoshop. Photoshop is a powerful photo editing program that can do just about anything. It’s the industry standard in photo editing, and it’s used by professionals everywhere.

Now, if you don’t have a Photoshop subscription, Adobe Express has a free background remover that works well. It’s not as powerful as Photoshop, but it can do the job if you don’t want to spend money on Adobe Creative Cloud.

All you have to do is:

Here are some examples:

removing the background using adobe express
Before
background removed
After
girl on a lake
Before
getting rid of the background
After. It can remove complicated backgrounds too!

Can I change the background in Lightroom? – The Masking Tool

Lightroom has a masking tool and it’s a total game changer. This tool can enhance and change the color of the background. However, it can’t really replace or get rid of it. Also, the masking tool works well for most backgrounds. You should definitely try it as it saves a lot of time than manually selecting the background.

Here are the easy steps on how to change the background:

  • Go to Develop > Masking Shift
masking shift
  • Click Select subject. Lightroom will automatically detect the subject in your image.
select subject
  • Right after it detected the subject, check the Invert checkbox and now the background is selected.
  • Change the settings according to your preference.
white watch

This is the easiest way to change the background without going to Photoshop. I really like this feature a lot! Oh, and one more thing, the masking tool works well with busy backgrounds too!

Elephant in the zoo

FAQ

Is Lightroom completely free?

Yes and no. Lightroom mobile is free but its functions are limited. On the other hand, Lightroom Classic has a free trial but in after that you need to get a subscription. Before, Lightroom had a one-time payment option but Adobe moved to a subscription-based model in 2013.

Is Lightroom better than Photoshop?

These two wonderful apps serve different purposes. Lightroom is primarily geared towards editing and managing images while Photoshop is a tool for more detailed and fine tune editing. That being said, the two work very well together and we recommend that you get both of them if you’re serious about photography.

Can Lightroom edit JPEG files?

Yes! Lightroom can edit almost any kind of photo file: RAW, JPEG, TIFF, etc. It’s even possible to import photos from your mobile device and start editing them right away.

Does Lightroom work on Android?

Yes! Lightroom is available for Android devices and you can download it from the Google Play Store. It’s a free app, so don’t hesitate to give it a try. You can use it for free, but the features are limited. In order to get access to the full potential of Lightroom Mobile, you’ll need to purchase a subscription.