Next Generation Photo Resizer Software
Review by Dave Williams
Cropping tightly on a feature of an image, and resizing that crop is now possible with a range of software, including Topaz Gigapixel AI, perhaps the main competitor to ON1 Resize AI 2023.5. One big difference between the two is actually in the machine-learning method itself: ON1 trains its AI algorithms using its own photos rather than those belonging to their customers. This is something that a lot of photographers welcome, because it means our photos aren’t being used for free by ON1; ethically a smart move.
ON1 Resize AI 2023.5 works as a standalone app but also as a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and Capture One. Buying it as a single app doesn’t make a lot of sense though when, for far more value, it comes as part of a package with other ON1 apps in the Professional ON1 Plugin Bundle 2023 for $149.99. This software does exactly what it says on the label: It resizes images to better fit certain image specifications.
Upscaling an image well is something fairly new. Using AI to interpret the image, expand the pixels, and fill in the blanks based on the image content makes it simple from a user’s perspective. ON1 has focused on a great user experience. The top option on the right-hand panel is Photo Size, where you can input either an image dimension in pixels or a percentage increase along with dpi. Other options sit below this, including Sharpening, Film Grain, Tiling, and Gallery Wrap, which help you to refine the resize. Over on the left you’ll see a set of presets for printing and web use, allowing you to set your image size with one click.
Using a series of tests, I found that any increase of 100% is practically flawless. The AI does a great job in pretty much any situation at this scale. Pushing the limits beyond this to more excessive resizing is still good, from an overall perspective; however, zooming to 100% view begins to reveal the errors in the process. But, this was only when I really pushed images by increasing them to 10x their original size.
The difference between the 2022, 2023, and 2023.5 versions of the software is that the newest version gives incredible results. The advances made in just one year are very impressive. Face Recovery and better results in upscaling, particularly when it comes to JPEG artifacts, take the technology that ON1 has inside its other AI-powered software to give even better results.
Overall, ON1 Resize AI 2023.5 is an excellent app for anyone looking to upscale images for any purpose, and it stands well above the competition. Whether you want to upscale a cropped image or print a billboard, this app has you covered with impeccable performance and intuitive UX.
