Generative AI
Generative AI transforms photography and photo editing by offering tools that simplify complex tasks like removing distractions and expanding image boundaries. At ON1, we’ve integrated AI into our products for over five years, and in Photo RAW 2025, we’re introducing new features like the Generative Eraser, Generative Crop, and Generative Replace.
These tools allow photographers to enhance images with speed and precision. You can run them locally on your computer or use a cloud-based option through our partner, Stability.ai. While generative AI isn’t perfect, it offers exciting opportunities for creativity and efficiency in photography.
Generative Eraser
Generative Eraser as the evolution of the Perfect Eraser. It will be the new standard for removing large distractions from your photos. However, this doesn’t mean it will be suitable for everything. We still recommend the non-destructive healing brush for small or simple retouching tasks, which works well in many everyday situations. But when dealing with more challenging tasks like removing photobombers, bystanders, signs, braces, cars, etc., the Generative Eraser excels. The workflow is slightly different, as generative AI doesn’t produce the same result when identical input is given repeatedly. Therefore, the results must be saved rather than replayed like other non-destructive settings. The output from the Generative Eraser is applied to a new copy of the layer you’re working on, allowing you to retry as much as you like to achieve the desired result.
Generative Crop
Think of Generative Crop as the next step beyond content-aware crop. It’s an option when you use the crop tool to expand the canvas beyond the original photo, allowing you to recompose the shot if necessary. It’s like zooming out after the fact. The results from Generative Crop far surpass the quality of content-aware crop. Like the Generative Eraser, its results are created on a new layer copy.
Generative Replace
(Coming in an update to ON1 PHOTO RAW 2025, not yet included)
Generative Replace will be a new option within the Generative Eraser allows you to use a text prompt to influence the generation of a specific area. For example, you could add a bird to a fence or place the moon in the sky.
What Are The Differences: Local Gen AI vs Stability.AI
Choose Stability AI if you can, results will be better but does cost extra through credits purchased through Stability.AI . When using it, brush in one area at a time, then press generate. You can undo and regenerate as needed. Then you can paint another area. Keeping each area smaller than 512px will give the highest detail results. That said, you don’t need it for tiny areas either, tools like the Perfect Eraser are better suited for dust and small distractions. If you get an error, we have detected the results are not satisfactory or contain content that violates the usage terms. You can try again, or change the region you brushed to fix this.
Local Gen AI:
This option runs the Ai models locally on your computer. Running these features locally instead of in the cloud protects your privacy since no photos go there. It also allows us to provide generative AI features without requiring a subscription. Keep in mind that diffusion models are typically run in the cloud on large servers equipped with specialized GPUs designed for AI processing. To make these models functional on standard PC gamer GPUs, we’ve had to scale them down. While they should generally yield acceptable results, they may not be as precise as some cloud-based solutions. You will need a modern GPU with current drivers in order to use this option.
You can find our 2025 tech specs here.
Stability AI:
We’ve partnered with Stability.ai, the creators of Stable Diffusion, for an in-app integration with their cloud-based service. Visit dreamstudio.ai to create an account and purchase credits. Then, enter your Stability key in Photo RAW, and Photo RAW will use Stability in the cloud for these tools. (Each tool usage currently costs 3–4 credits, with each credit priced at one cent USD at the time of this writing). Anyone can use Stability integration, as it is not limited to users with low-end systems. The Stability integration can sometimes yield different results, which may be better in some cases, and it can also be faster depending on your hardware specifications. Stability.ai’s terms of service protect your privacy.
Results Produced by Generative AI
Results can vary based on a variety of factors.
While it’s an exciting and valuable development, it is imperfect, just like any other AI-based tool. You’ll usually get excellent, usable results on the first try with most photo editors using this technology. Sometimes, however, you may need to retry to achieve the results you want. Remember, each attempt will yield different outcomes. We return the results to a copy of the original photo layer, allowing you greater control over blending and adjustments. In our tests, our results are comparable to those of others editors with the same techhnology. Nobody does a great job 100% of the time, but all of them do pretty darn good most of the time. As with all AI features, there may be times when it fails to deliver the desired results.. Rest assured, we are continuously working to improve the output and provide updated models as we train them.
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