What is the Retouch tool in Photos on Mac?
The Retouch tool in the Photos app on Mac allows you to remove imperfections, blemishes, or unwanted objects from your photos with ease. It's part of the editing suite and is often used for things like clearing up skin, removing spots, or even eliminating distractions from the background.
It works by sampling surrounding pixels and using them to cover up the target area, giving a smooth and seamless finish. It's a handy tool for quick fixes without the need for professional photo editing software! However, in macOS Sequoia 15.1, Apple replaced the Retouch tool in the Photos app with the Clean Up feature.
What is the Clean Up tool in Photos on Mac?
The Clean Up tool utilizes Apple Intelligence to remove distracting objects or imperfections from your photos. It is only accessible on Apple Silicon Macs with AI-enabled and running macOS Sequooa 15.1 and later. Unlike the Retouch tool, which allows users to manually paint over areas to remove blemishes, Clean Up automatically detects and highlights items in your photos that can be removed with a single click.
The tool uses advanced AI to fill in the removed areas with surrounding pixels, ensuring that the photo looks natural and that no traces of the object are left behind. The tool is designed to be quick and easy to use, even for people who don't have much experience with photo editing. You simply click on the object you want to remove, and the tool takes care of the rest.
Photos Retouch vs. Photos Clean Up
Automation vs. Manual: Clean Up uses automatic object detection for easier and faster editing, while Retouch gives you manual control over the process.
Flexibility: Retouch allows for more precise, detailed fixes, while Clean Up is more focused on larger, more obvious imperfections and objects.
User Experience: Clean Up is designed to save time and effort, particularly for users who need a quick fix. Retouch is for those who need more control over every detail of their photo editing.
In short, Clean Up offers a simpler, faster experience for removing large distractions, while Retouch provides a finer level of detail for more targeted and personalized adjustments.
Workarounds for macOS Sequoia Photos Retouch tool missing
Either the Photos's Retouch tool or the Clean Up feature has its pros and cons. If you prefer the Photos' Retouch tool on macOS Sequoia 15.0 and earlier versions, there are some workarounds you can try:
Disable Apple Intelligence
You can try completely turning off Apple Intelligence if you don't care about other features. It's worth trying, even though there's no guarantee the Retouch tool will return.
- Go to the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
- Tap or click Apple Intelligence & Siri
- Then toggle off Apple Intelligence.
Run an Intel Mac
If you happen to have an Intel-processor-equipped Mac that is still functional lying around, you're in luck. They won't be getting the Clean Up tool anytime soon because these Macs aren't compatible with Apple Intelligence. Additionally, the Retouch tool stays in its current location.
Alternative photo editing apps
Here are some great alternative photo editing apps for macOS that you can explore such as Affinity Photo, Pixelmator Pro, GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), etc. These apps should give you a wide range of options, from simple, beginner-friendly tools to professional-grade software. Each has its strengths depending on your photo editing needs!
Downgrade macOS
A more drastic solution is to downgrade macOS to an earlier release if you truly want the Retouch tool back. If you've made a Time Machine backup before upgrading to the newer macOS version, you can restore your system to that backup. Or, you can reinstall an older macOS version with a bootable USB drive.
