Today’s Question: During a recent presentation on Lightroom Classic you frequently deleted an effect after painting with the Adjustment Brush, but I don’t know how you did it. Can you tell me how you deleted it?
Tim’s Quick Answer: There are two options for deleting an effect with the Adjustment Brush in Lightroom Classic. First, you can delete an entire targeted adjustment area by selecting the applicable edit pin and pressing the Delete key on the keyboard. Second, you can erase part of a targeted adjustment by switching to the Erase brush for the Adjustment Brush and painting into the area where you don’t want the effect applied.
More Detail: The Adjustment Brush in the Develop module of Lightroom Classic enables you to paint adjustments into specific areas of a photo. You can adjust the settings for the brush, such as size and feathering, and then paint within the image to apply the adjustment effect you set with the various sliders and controls. After painting you can refine the adjustment settings, but also refine the area being affected.
If you decide you’re not happy with a targeted adjustment you’ve applied with the Adjustment Brush, you can delete the entire adjustment area. Start by clicking the edit pin (the gray circle icon) on the image, representing the area you no longer want to apply an adjustment to. Then, with the edit pin selected, you can press the Delete key on the keyboard to completely remove that specific targeted adjustment area.
If you simply need to remove certain areas of the image from the targeted adjustment so those portions of the image will no longer be affected by the adjustment, you can instead use the Erase brush for the Adjustment Brush.
When working with the Adjustment Brush tool, at the bottom of the set of controls for the Adjustment Brush on the right panel, you’ll find links for “A”, “B”, and “Erase”. The “A” and “B” options simply provide you with quick access to two different brush settings. For example, you might have a large feathered brush configured for the “A” brush, and a small minimally feathered configuration for the “B” brush. Painting with either the “A” or “B” brush will cause the current adjustment settings to be applied in any areas of the image where you paint.
If you switch to the Erase brush you can erase the adjustment from specific areas of the photo by painting in those areas. In other words, you’re able to add to the area that is being affected by a targeted adjustment by painting with the “A” or “B” brushes, and you can subtract from the area being affected by painting with the Erase brush.