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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.

AI Adaptive Presets is a new feature coming in ON1 Photo RAW 2023. It builds on key AI and masking technology that is foundational in Photo RAW. In my previous article about AI Adaptive Presets, I explained the feature, showed how this genre of presets works, and shared a quick example of building an Adaptive Preset.

This articles takes a deeper look at building your own Adaptive Presets and some best practices to follow to create versatile adaptive presets that will speed up your workflow.

Building A Versatile AI Adaptive Preset

A good preset is one that makes complex, selective edits, yet is also versatile so it applies to many different photos and scenes. Traditionally, the more complex the edit, the less versatile it is. The subject-aware Mask AI feature of Photo RAW bridges that gap and is what fuels AI Adaptive Presets. There are two “big rules” for building effective AI Adaptive Presets.

• Use the Auto buttons in Tone & Color
  Auto settings are based on the photo being edited. If you hand-adjust sliders, those adjustments get built into the preset and may not translate to the next photo.

• Don’t use hand-crafted masks
  Leverage Mask AI to target adjustments to specific subject and elements that Photo RAW determines. That same analysis gets performed on your next photo, and presets that use Mask AI reap the benefit. You can also use luminosity masks and color masks because those masks are also adaptive, and are built based on the photo being edited. Global adjustments (no masks) are OK, too.

In the screenshots below, notice in Develop the AI Auto in Tone and Auto On in Color are both active. In Effects, the masks use Mask AI to let Photo RAW figure out what is the sky, or mountain, or flora in the scene. There is also an adjustment using a luminosity mask and a global adjustments.

Also, stop short of the “finishing touches” for a photo. Almost every photo needs their own unique tweaks and fine tuning. However, those changes are not typically conducive to a preset. When building your preset, think about the next photo you’re going to apply it to.

Pro tip: Masking bugs like gradients and radials can be in presets, because they are easily adjusted later, after applying a preset. You’ve just got to remember to do it!

Saving An AI Adaptive Preset

Once your look is built, open the Settings > Save Settings as Preset menu. There are a few things to make sure are selected and deselected.

• Turn off settings that are not typically universal, such as Crop and Level, Retouching, and Liquify.

• Expand Effects, Local Adjustments, and Portrait AI and make sure Apply Masks is selected. AI Adaptive Presets work with masks.

• Open Develop, Color & Tone and disable everything in Tone. Then, enable only Auto Tone.

• Open Develop, Color & Tone and disable everything in Color. Then, enable only Auto Color.

• Turn off Lens Corrections. Let Photo RAW figure out the lens corrections, don’t have the preset overwrite the settings with a potentially wrong set of corrections.

Best Practices For AI Adaptive Presets

To make the most versatile AI Adaptive Presets:

1. In Develop, use the AI Auto or AI Match buttons in Tone, and the Auto On button in Color.

2. For Effects and Local Adjustments

   • Use Mask AI to target adjustments to specific subjects and objects

   • Use Luminosity Masks and Color Range Masks to adjust specific tonal and color regions

   • Use global adjustments (no masks)

   • Do not apply hand-painted or otherwise custom masks

3. In Portrait AI, let Photo RAW determine faces, eyes, and mouths. Adjust sliders, don’t adjust facial feature positions.

4. When saving your AI Adaptive Preset:

   • Disable Retouching and Lens Corrections

   • Expand Effects, Local Adjustments, and Portrait AI and select Apply Masks

   • Expand Develop/Tone and select only Auto Tone

   • Expand Develop/Color and select only Auto Color

Your AI Adaptive Preset is versatile and flexible and will quickly treat your next image with the look you want. Apply it, make your final adjustments, and move on to the next image.