Adobe Adds AI Photo-to-Video and Smart Culling to Lightroom

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA: Adobe rolls out a major Lightroom update with AI photo-to-video generation, smarter Assisted Culling, and new sharpening tools for photographers.

The Creative Cloud update landed on June 15, 2026, across Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and Photoshop. Other apps like Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Illustrator also received significant new features simultaneously. The release marks one of Adobe’s broadest single-day refreshes across its photo workflow.

✨ AI Summary

Adobe’s June 15 update introduces generative AI photo-to-video capabilities to Lightroom using Firefly and Google Veo. New Assisted Culling tools utilize face detection and automatic stacking to accelerate high-volume workflows. An integrated AI Sharpen feature also allows for native fine detail recovery without external software exports.

The release includes reflection removal for Photoshop and expands AI-driven features across the Creative Cloud. Photo-to-video generation operates on a credit system based on clip complexity. These additions prioritize efficiency for professional photographers handling large sets of RAW files, such as wedding and sports specialists.

One of its biggest features is Photo to Video, which uses generative AI to transform any still photo into a short video. The feature draws on Adobe Firefly combined with Google Veo for motion generation. Users can either let AI generate prompts or write their own.

The tool ranks as the first native Lightroom feature requiring generative credits to operate. The cost for which appears before generation, with credits varying by length and motion complexity. Shorter clips consume fewer credits than longer or more complex generated sequences.

Assisted Culling exits Early Access and reaches general availability alongside major upgrades. Face View isolates each person in group photos and scores eyes-open and eye-sharpness. Automatic stacking groups similar images and surfaces the strongest frame from each set.

Adobe has also improved Assisted Culling, a tool that helps photographers pick the best photos. It can now detect faces, check if eyes are open, and measure image sharpness. The updated tool is much faster. As per Adobe, the upgraded culling runs up to 10 times faster than before. It is especially useful for photographers who handle large number of photographs, like wedding or sports photographers.

Adobe also added a Refelection Removal Tool in Photoshop, which, as the name suggests, can automatically detect and remove reflections from photos taken through glass. The update, all in all, intensifies Adobe’s AI integration push across its full creative platform, so photo editing becomes faster, easier, and much more powerful.

Another new feature is AI Sharpen, which improves image details like fur, flowers, and textures. The integration brings Topaz Labs’ Noise-Aware Sharpen model directly into Lightroom, eliminating the previous export step required to use Topaz tools externally.

Yashika Aneja

Yashika Aneja is a journalist at Tea4Tech with over five years of experience in reporting and editorial writing. Her work spans technology, environment, education, politics, social media, travel, and lifestyle, with a focus on fact-based reporting and explanatory storytelling. || At Tea4Tech, Yashika contributes original reporting and analysis that adheres to the publication’s editorial standards for accuracy, originality, and responsible journalism. Her reporting is informed by curiosity-driven research and a multidisciplinary approach to news coverage.