Apple retouch tool gone after update to Sequioa 15.1

OK..... in desperation I've continued to try the absolutely no-good CleanUp just to see if it could work for me. Here's what happened: as previously stated, I stopped down the size bar to about 5.26, hovered my cursor (the arrow) over a speck of dust and depressed my fingertip on my trackpad. A small circle around the cursor glowed as before. But this time I moved my finger just slightly, maybe an eighth inch. Again, not knowing what to expect, I saw the familiar white line as with the old retouch brush, immediately released pressure and the dust speck was gone! But beware of coming too close to a large object you don't want to eliminate. My dust speck was about a half visual inch from a person whose body glowed as well. Of course, there's always 'revert to original' if a mistake is made.

So perhaps there's hope after all. And I still want my brush back!

I did not contact Apple Support about Retouch until November 11, 2024 - ten days after -Alex D.- began this incredibly helpful thread. I still think it is most telling that all of the Apple Support personnel with whom I interacted - and who interacted with each other in working to help me - literally had no clue Apple had removed Retouch. They were certain my being unable to access it was simply an issue specific to my computer and they could walk me through restoring ReTouch to my Photos. And they continued working to do that even after I told them I was pretty sure it was gone.

As noted, Apple Support assured me multiple times that ReTouch had not been removed. My main Support repo also had me hold several times while he consulted several of his Support co-workers - returning in between to assure me ReTouch wasn't gone. The last time I held while he and other Support co-workers researched the issue further, he returned and reported they had learned that ReTouch had indeed been eliminated. That is when I asked him to walk me through how to downgrade from Sequoia. He immediately knew that was now impossible, informing me once you upgrade to Sequoia you can never return to a previous operating system version.

The Apple Support staffer I spent a lengthy amount of time talking with - as well as his Support co-workers who also tried to help me - were super helpful and most genuine. They really wanted to help and were sincerely disappointed when they learned that they could not restore ReTouch to Photos for me. At the time, the fact Apple had not informed Apple Support personnel of the elimination of ReTouch -- and I had been the one to tell them - really surprised me. That was a first in my Apple Support experiences Later, after posting in the Support Community on this issue, it also raised red flags for me. Why all the secrecy, silence, etc. etc.? 

And thanks for the idea to screenshot, document comments, NaturesPagan. I wasn't doing that to begin with, but I have been lately.

I am learned to appreciate what CleanUp CAN do - as an AI tool it can be very handy, BUT it does NOT replace Retouch, Photos needs BOTH, as they are completely different tools, I hope Apple is reading this thread and realizing the mistake of replacing Retouch with CleanUp, both are excellent tools that do completely different things - Photos would be the BEST tool on the market if they kept them BOTH and marketed the difference. Please Apple listen to your loyal customer (and fan) base.

For those who need what retouch did, in the meantime, download free SnapSeed and use the Heal tool, it is the next best thing, then AirDrop to your Mac.

Retouch was not "moved" or "renamed." Retouch was deleted from Photos in 15.1 with no prior warning and replaced with Clean-Up, a half-baked AI dependent tool designed to delete large unwanted objects that produces unusable results 90% of the time and is no substitute for Retouch, which is a non-AI dependent fine guage touch-up brush. Thankfully, Retouch was restored in 15.4. The name was not changed and it works the same as before. Unlike Clean-Up, it does not require or even utilize AI.

I was also under the same impression and annoyed. In fact, Apple did a much better job now.. its on the top-bar next to 'Crop' called 'Clean Up'.. I am loving the new AI powered feature

I did it as soon as I realized it. The Apple tech support guy kept telling me he would help me find where retouch was located now. Finally, he figured out it no longer exists. He did not seem to know before my contact yesterday. I also told him about Clean Up and how bad it is. He said there’s nothing that can be done once you’ve updated your software. Evidently, Apple did not promote the change at all. He sent me a link to give feedback, which I did immediately. I agree everyone needs to do so. Research needs to be restored. This is just boneheaded in every way on the part of Apple.

The way I try to get around this bad idea of Apple to remove the retouch tool entirely, is to call up Pixelmator Pro and edit the image there.

Unfortunately, Apple seems not wanting to correct this blunder of removing a tool which was working fine,

because even in 15.2 (Dec 20) retouch is still missing.

Reginald

Yes, CleanUp is not as intuitive as the retouch brush but, as stated in my post of Dec.1, I've managed to make it work. Stopping down the CleanUp size bar to 5.25 or so, you can move the arrow cursor with your finger (if on a MacBook trackpad) or your mouse (if on a desktop), hover over the imperfection and click. For a speck of dust, I move my fingertip a mere fraction (more like a rolling) and click. You'll see the familiar white line or blob. Dust speck gone! For a scratch, drag your fingertip along the distance.

Large objects will pixelate but not be removed unless you click on them. I can't say what happens with color as my negs are all B & W, scanned to positives. And don't discount 'revert to original' when needed. Actually, I did mess up one time and deleted a large object (a car) from a photo but, guess what, it was an unexpected improvement so I kept it that way. Good luck everybody.

Yes, Apple has made our editing lives less easy, but as it doesn't seem like they're in any hurry to 'revert to original'

we might as well learn to live with it for the time being.

Yes, Retouch is now grouped together with Clean-up as a separate tool. While some folks seem to have had some success with Clean-up, I find it to be completely useless.

kbastian wrote:

I wish they had left both, the new tool only works if you have Internet, the old tool worked any time. And in some uses worked better. Why can't they add the new tool, but leave the ReTouch which worked fantastic? No need to remove it. Both have their uses.

Apple is trying to unify the code between the devices, so iPad apps can now run on the Mac.

So far, we have had no Retouche Tool in Photos on the iPhone or iPad - the new "Clean up" is the first tool for retouching in Photos iOS/iPadOS. Perhaps Apple removed the older Retouch tool from Photos for Mac as a further milestone when trying to make Photos iOS and Photos for Mac more similar. I would have preferred, if Apple had brought smart albums and keywords to Photos on the iPad and iPhone instead.

OMG, have you seen it yet! Retouch is back!!!

I completed the download for Sequoia 15.4.1 earlier today.........and couldn't believe my eyes.

Yes, Clean Up is still there and needed to be reloaded after the update. And suddenly Retouch is there, too,

I'm over the moon with happiness. And it works just like it used to. So if you haven't upgraded yet, waste no time.

Finally! After 8 months, Apple has returned Retouch to Photos on the Mac with 15.4.1! Maybe Apple does listen to its users after all. After a few test photos it appears to work exactly as before. What a relief!

The Clean Up tool is not an upgrade. It's a terrible, dumbed-down version of the Retouch tool. I called Apple Support and spoke with a sympathetic customer service person. She said she'd pass on my complaint but also urged me to submit feedback to Apple (Feedback - Photos - Apple ). I did that and let them know I'm an unhappy and angry customer, and I want them to reinstall the Retouch tool. I have no idea how responsive they'll be, but if they receive a lot of complaints there's a chance they might take action.

You can't. I communicated with Apple Support at length. I was told that Retouch was not discontinued, and he told me he could help me restore it. I told him I had read in Support Communities it was eliminated. He told me it was not. I was put on hold multiple times while he checked with other Support representatives. He was certain nothing had been done to Retouch.

When he came back after he put me on hold the last time, he told me he had confirmed that it had been eliminated. I replied that as that was the case, I did not want Sequoia, and I asked him to walk me through how to downgrade. He told me unfortunately, once you've upgraded to Sequoia, there is no way at all to downgrade because Apple made/makes it impossible to downgrade any device that updated software to Sequoia.

He was super nice and very sincere and really wanted to help. As I've posted before, it was telling (and shocking) that multiple Apple support personnel had NO IDEA that Retouch had been eliminated. Usually they are very up to speed. He was certain (as were others he consulted) that Retouch was fine, and he (and others with Support) just needed to figure out what happened to cause it not to show up on my MacBook Pro so they could easily restore it for me.

The lack of communication across the board - including the deleting of messages here - is not good. Lack of communication with Apple Support employees, lock of communication with consumers, blocking any downgrades so you are forced to use Clean Up - or not use it on anything like you did with Retouch after you've wasted so much time having to undo its bizarrely obvious repixelation. The easy solution is restore Retouch (no cost to do that) in the next software update and keep Clean Up. Retouch was eliminated with no notice to consumers or Apple Support to force us to use Clean Up. I guess we are supposed to teach it to do what Retouch already does. (That will probably get this message taken down).

But yes, due to Apple's intentional design it is impossible to downgrade once you've updated to Sequoia. Apple Support IMMEDIATELY knew that when I asked to downgrade after they finally learned and confirmed Retouch was indeed gone. Again, they were most helpful even if they couldn't help me with Retouch. They truly wanted to be able to help me restore Retouch.