Ideal toolkit for Photographers, artists, and hobbyists

ON1 Photo Raw 2022 is creative software for photographers, artists, and hobbyists that includes many features, including plugin files that can be accessed through Adobe Photoshop, Affinity Photo, Adobe Lightroom Classic, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Capture One, or as standalone editors. ON1 Photo Raw 2022 provides users with tools for full creative control over their images.

I’m writing this short bit on one of their newly added plugins: ON1 Resize AI 2022

THE COMMISSION

One of my patrons loved Pygmalion Redux, a 19x13 inches fine art print on archival paper. But, she wanted the painting, as a triptych measuring 74x36 inches for a large open wall space. My original digital artwork would have to be resized for the commission. Not to get overly technical, but whenever you upscale a digital image for printing, you do not want your image blurred, pixelated, or strewn with other artifacts. When upscaling, it’s critical to maintain the sharp quality of the original on the enlarged image.

Note: One of the benefits of working with the digital art medium is that you are not locked into one size. This advantage allowed me to accept the commission.

On my Epson SureColor P900 art printer, I can print one of my fine art paintings up to 17x22 inches on museum quality archival paper, which, in this case, did not fit the bill. I needed to take another approach for my patron’s artwork dimensions. I farmed out the digital image to a reputable online printing service that would resize and print the art, as a triptych (three panels hung side by side). After uploading my digital file of the painting to the printing service, they later sent digital proofs for my approval of how they had professionally resized my image.

RESIZING THE ARTWORK | NOT SO FAST

After inspecting the digital image from the online service, which was good, I decided to try ON1 Resize AI 2022 to upscale the image to 74x36 inches. Other than inputting the new dimensions, I left any default settings, as is, then ran the ON1 Resize AI 2022 plugin from Photoshop. My iMac 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 took five minutes plus to upscale the image. Depending on your computer’s processing speed and image, resize time may vary.

DIGITAL JUGGLING | ASPECT RATIO

When upscaling an image to dimensions that retain the same aspect ratio, the image will not be distorted. But, if the upscaled size is of a different aspect ratio, then elements in the image will end up being deformed; how much depends on the degree of difference between the original width and height and the resized image.

Launching ON1 Resize AI 2022 Photoshop plugin

The aspect ratio in this case was not the same. In Pygmalion Redux (13x19 inches at 300 dpi), the upscaled version (74x36 inches at 300 dpi) stretched the woman statue and man to an unacceptable width.

Let’s back up. Before uploading the image to the online printing service, I had to make a number of adjustments, so they would be able to upscale to the needed aspect ratio. To protect the main subjects from having gained weight, I had to do digital juggling to maintain an undistorted perspective.

I used Photoshop’s Content-Aware scale (to protect the main subjects when resizing) and some diligent cropping (19x9.243 inches upscales in proportion to 74x36) to prepare the essential part of the art into the needed aspect ratio for the online printer; these cropped dimension were also needed later for my upscaled ON1 Resize AI 2022 version, as well. Minor distortions in other elements in the painting, or a bit trimmed from the height, didn’t impact the integrity of the art.

Before opening the image in Resize AI 2022, I first tried the ON1 NoNoise AI 2022 plugin to see if it would provide any improvements. It, too, worked well, but it smoothed out many of my brush strokes; to be fair, the ON1 NoNoise AI 2022 plugin was designed for photography, not necessarily paintings.

Note: Do editing on your image before opening in ON1 Resize AI 2022.

ON1 Resize AI 2022 (left) refinements are subtle and may be difficult to appreciate onscreen. For example, yellows are richer.

AND THE WINNER, PLEASE

Finally, in making the side-by-side comparison onscreen, it became apparent that the art upscaled by ON1 Resize AI 2022 was superior to the online printing service; AI 2022 provided more vibrant colors and subtle details with hardly any noticeable artifacts. I uploaded my resized 74x36 digital image to the online printers, who then used it to create the three-panel artwork.

My patron was thrilled, as was I, with her art in its new life as a triptych. The three panels were printed on Lustre Paper with a soft Satin over-Laminate; each panel was gallery wrapped.

I highly recommend ON1 Photo Raw 2022: it’s a well-thought-out photo editor with first-class customer support, plus a steady stream of training videos, free creative extras, presets, textures, and more.

Enter EDENSART Coupon valid for 15% off a purchase at www.on1.com.

Note: A free trial download of the complete ON1 Photo Raw 2022 or the standalone ON1 Resize AI 2022 is available.

ON1 Photo Raw 2022 | The Ultimate All-in-One Photo Editor

Ideal toolkit for Photographers, artists, and hobbyists

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