A Deeper Look At AI Adaptive Presets In ON1 Photo RAW 2023
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Note: A pre-release version of Photo RAW 2023 is featured in this article The final product may be slightly different.
What Is An AI Adaptive Preset?
ON1 Photo RAW 2023 is supercharged with AI. Each photo you edit is analyzed to detect different subjects and objects in your photo. The results feed other tools like Super Select AI, AI Keywords, and the Mask AI tool. What if you could take that AI power and bake it into a stylistic preset? Yep! You can.
An AI Adaptive Preset uses the AI power of Photo RAW to apply adjustments to specific elements in your photos. You can build a preset using one photo and apply it to another and let the AI figure out where the different subjects are.
The end game: You get a complex edit done in a single click.
Photo RAW includes a set of AI Adaptive presets in the product - and you can build your own.
Building An AI Adaptive Preset
To build an adaptive preset, create your look and leverage the Mask AI technology to target adjustments to recognizable elements. Things like People, Animals, Architecture, Sky, Mountains, or Flora. If Mask AI can categorize it as a maskable object, you can build an AI Adaptive Preset around it.
AI Adaptive Prests shine when photos have clear, recognizable subject and elements. You have two steps to create an adaptive preset:
Build up your look using the Effects filters and Local Adjustments. As you apply each filter and adjustment, use Mask AI to target specific maskable objects. In the example in this article, I applied two filters for People.
Save your settings as a new mask with Settings > Save Settings As Preset. Make sure to expand Effects and/or Local Adjustments and check the Apply Masks button.
Pro tip: You can also invert masks created by Mask AI.
Use Mask AI to build up a look, targeting Effects filters and adjustments to specific maskable elements.
Save your adaptive preset like all other presets. Be sure to check the Apply Masks option in Effects and Local Adjustments to include the Mask AI masks.
Applying An AI Adaptive Preset
Applying an adaptive preset to another photo is no different than any other preset. Select the photo you want to edit, open the preset browser, and choose the preset to apply. The AI Adaptive Preset will apply the appropriate adjustments to the elements in your image.
An AI Adaptive preset creates masks appropriate for the target image and applies your selective adjustments.
What About Landscape Photos? Do AI Adaptive Presets Work?
Yes, AI Adaptive Presets work with landscapes. Landscapes that have stronger, recognizable features work very well. Photos of mountains, large rocks, forests, fields, etc. all work wonderfully.
For more chaotic landscapes, such as a very busy forest or seascapes where land and ocean intermix, there is less precision in the AI masks and the adaptive presets may need more adjustments.
For example, in my seascape work, I supplement Mask AI with luminosity masks and color range masks. Those masks are also adaptive and are generated based on the image being edited, not the image used to create the preset.
Pro tip: Luminosity and Color Range masks are adaptive, too!
Conclusion
The masking and preset building power of Photo RAW 2023 is incredible. Complex edits become simple and your editing time will be spent refining your image. You’ll spend less time editing and more time out with your camera.
