Trying to pixelate a face on a photo using ‘clean up’.

Since iOS27 and macOS 27 I can no longer clean up faces in Photos at all, neither on a Mac or an iPhone . I can remove a complete person from a photo, but any attempt to brush over the face will result in the error message "unable to modify that area, identity protection applied".

I have to use the Mark-up extension to cover the face with a rectangle or a circe, when I want to cover a face. That is still working.

Added: iThis happens, whenever the face detection has detected a human face in the area I want to pixellate; it does not apply to the faces of pets.

Hi there

Please try this

While drawing a simple circle works on some photos, the Clean Up tool occasionally prompts the "Identity protection applied" text without rendering the blur if it feels the selection boundary is too vague or doesn't fully cover the facial features. 

• Try scribbling completely over the eyes, nose, and mouth using a solid painting/brushing motion with your finger rather than a loose outline. 

2. Zoom In on the Face Before Brushing

1. Go into Edit mode on the photo.
2. Select the Crop tab and pinch to zoom directly onto the face.
3. Switch back to the Clean Up tool and try brushing over the face again.
4. Reset the crop back to normal when you're done. 

This has been happening since iOS 27 developer beta 2 for me. I’ve reported this bug using the beta feedback tool and Apple has consistently responded stating that the feature works as intended. I’ve sent them photos, a video replicating the problem, and system logs. Nothing.

The cleanup/retouch function still works (thankfully). It’s the pixelation aspect that is broken. Before iOS 27, retouching or circling a face automatically blurred the face for identity protection. Now the OS is gaslighting instead of applying the filter haha

How do you blur? In the native photos app, the cleanup tool used to do that. That’s the function we’re saying is broken in iOS 27.

Oh…so you’re not using the native photos app to do this?

I use Photoshop Elements 25 from within Photos.

Hi. Thanks for the suggestion. I tried exactly that with no success at all. The videos on YouTube make it look so simple without zooming in but as I say, I tried your suggestion on several different pics. Were you able to pixelate a photo with ios27? I’m not sure if it was working ok with ios26? The layout has changed slightly with 27. Yiu have to select ‘Tools’ before you see ‘Clean Up’

Thanks

For me on an M4 Mac Mini running Goden Gate 27.0.1 the Cleanup/Retouch brush works much like the Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop Elements and the Retouch tool in earlier Photos:

Pre-Ventura-Retouch

With Golden Gate 27.0.1-Clean Up

Or am I way off base here?

VinylJunkie57 wrote:

Oh…so you’re not using the native photos app to do this?

No. You can use any image editor from within Photos by selecting the photo and Control (right) - clicking on it to get this menu:

It will list all of the apps in your Applications folder that can open the file format of the photo.

JJ_Newberry wrote:

I thought the thread was about iOS 27, but didn’t realize another poster looped in the native macOS problem. My bad.

I may have done that. I have trouble seeing the bio at the end of a person's post and missed the iOS referenced in the Author's first post - bad Glaucoma.

Tried this as well, nothing happened. It doesn’t work.

Wow. So even when faced with photos and a video showing the problem, Apple still insist there is nothing wrong? What has to happen for Apple to acknowledge the feature isn’t working?

Yes. I can do exactly that with photos but I’m talking about pixelating a face which is what you should be able to do as opposed to making things disappear completely.

I use blur when I want to hide a person's face rather than pixelation. Just a preference.

Just some food for thought.

Out of curiosity, how do you blur as opposed to removing? I can’t see a blur option?

Thanks

That’s what I want to know.

I thought the thread was about iOS 27, but didn’t realize another poster looped in the native macOS problem. My bad.