Lightroom and Photoshop both offer smart tools powered by artificial intelligence to help you edit photos more efficiently. After testing and using both programs extensively, this article compares their AI features, from basic edits to advanced fixes.
1. Basic Editing
If you want to use the AI editing tools in Lightroom or Photoshop, start with basic adjustments for the best results.
Adobe Lightroom
One of Lightroom's best basic AI editing features is its noise reduction tool. Introduced by Adobe in 2023, it makes removing grain easier if that isn't the look you prefer in your photography. To use it, just choose Denoise, select how much noise you want to remove, and save the photo as a DNG file.
While editing in Lightroom, you can use the auto function to adjust exposure, shadows, color, and white balance. Lightroom also uses artificial intelligence to set white balance automatically. In practice, though, most people don't use this auto feature often unless they want to learn how photo editing works.
Lightroom also offers an automatic straightening tool that helps you get precise results. In addition, the app includes a red-eye correction feature.
Adobe Photoshop
Photoshop offers many of the same AI editing tools as Lightroom. For example, with Camera Raw, you can automatically adjust the brightness and color of an image. In Photoshop, you can also use Auto Tone, Auto Contrast, and Auto Color to change an image's colors automatically.
These tools offer real benefits to people who are still learning how to work with color in Photoshop and sometimes struggle with it.
Lightroom's automatic straightening is very useful, and Photoshop's Auto Contrast is just as handy. The two apps differ very little in their basic adjustments, so in this respect the platforms are fully comparable.
Comparison of the two apps: There is no major difference.
2. Editing and Fixing Image Flaws
Sometimes you may need to touch up blemishes and marks in your photos. Both Lightroom and Photoshop offer smart AI retouching tools, and we'll look at them in the next two sections.
Adobe Lightroom
Today, the most popular AI retouching feature in Lightroom is the Healing tool. When you select a spot or flawed area in a photo, Lightroom automatically identifies the corrected area and changes the region you want to fix. This is very helpful when you only need to make small adjustments.
However, using the Healing tool in Lightroom can take a lot of effort if many areas need repair. When a photo has many spots to remove, people often make the basic edits in Lightroom and then finish with a few edits in Photoshop.
Adobe Photoshop
Photoshop is also equipped with several editing tools based on artificial intelligence. Photoshop's Spot Healing tool is more effective than Lightroom's. Once applied, the image is corrected automatically in just a few seconds. So if you need to fix many different aspects of a photo, Photoshop is a much better choice.
When using the Spot Healing tool in Photoshop, you can change the brush size as you like.
Comparison of the two apps: Adobe Photoshop has the advantage.
3. Ideas and Image Creation
Beyond applying edits to photos you've already taken with Photoshop and Lightroom, you can also consider using them to develop new ideas.
In 2024, Adobe launched a new Photoshop feature called Generate Image, which lets users create images from scratch. It uses Adobe Firefly's Generative AI technology and can take text prompts to produce the kind of image you want. Users can pick a reference image from a built-in catalog or upload their own reference image if needed.
As of May 2024, the feature is available through the Photoshop Beta app in Adobe CC. Adobe may well bring the tool into the official release of Photoshop in the future. Since Lightroom doesn't offer similar features, Photoshop leads in this area.
Comparison of the two apps: Adobe Photoshop has the advantage.
4. More Advanced Image Editing
Once you've made the basic adjustments to your photo, you can apply artificial intelligence to add extra polish. One of the most useful AI features in Lightroom is its ability to automatically detect the sky, background, or subjects in a photo. After detection, the app masks that area and you can edit it however you like. Detection isn't always perfect, but you can easily remove unwanted parts from the mask. In Lightroom CC, you also have generative remove tools to help you finish your photos.
Meanwhile, Photoshop lets you remove the background from an image when needed. Photoshop also includes features such as Generative Fill and Object Selection.
Lightroom's artificial intelligence features have improved significantly compared with other high-end photo editing apps. If you're new to Lightroom, you may want to learn some simple ways to improve your photo editing skills in the app.
Comparison of the two apps: Adobe Lightroom has the advantage.
Photoshop and Lightroom come out nearly even when you judge each aspect. Rather than competing, though, the two apps can work well together. You can easily try all the features of both by getting them in the Photography Plan bundle.
Photoshop's Spot Healing tool is very effective, while Lightroom's Denoise tool is also very powerful. Photoshop does a better job of automatic color and tone editing than Lightroom. If you want more advanced AI photo editing, Lightroom is the right choice.
