I opened these CR2 (Canon camera raw) images into Photo AI 1.3.7 via Adobe Bridge on my Mac (System Information attached), applied sharpening and (raw) noise removal. Initially, I saved as DNG (the “preserve input format” option), but noticed that the colors in the image differed noticeably from the original image (as seen in Bridge) and that there was a slight shift in the image geometry.
In an attempt to isolate the problem, I first reduced the alterations to the image made by Photo AI to a minimal amount of sharpening. Second, I also saved the Photo AI image as TIFF. The attached Photo AI log documents these two files. Third, to eliminate any impact from Bridge or Adobe Camera Raw, I opened the CR2, DNG, and TIFF image sources into Photoshop (as 16 bit, Adobe RGB (1998)). To further document the color changes, I included the histogram for each in the screenshots.
There is a significant color change between the three images. Note that I am ignoring the white specks in the corners of the DNG image; that appears to be an artifact arising from the minimal sharpening. In addition, I see a geometric shift in the image. Since this can’t be discerned from the screenshots, I overlaid the DNG on top of the CR2 image in Photoshop and set the blending mode to “Difference”; I am including a screenshot of that as well. I can use the Move tool to eliminate this shift with a few nudges up and to the left; i.e., the change appears to be uniform across the image (note that I have the lens correction option turned off in Photo AI).
Finally, with the CR2 image open in Photoshop, I ran Photo AI on it via the plug-in, applying full sharpening and noise removal. This works great; no color changes or geometry changes. A screenshot of that is included.
I expected to be able to have the stand-alone Photo AI provide this same result in a DNG file, but it’s giving me these color and geometry shifts instead.
@dpstotler4 Thanks for supplying all the context and files, it really makes troubleshooting much easier.
It looks like you’re done a lot of the investigating I would’ve done by trying to isolate the issue. Just to confirm, the processed exports work as expected as a Photoshop plugin but when the images are imported from Bridge the Photo AI used a standalone, there is a color and pixel shift.
Which specific camera model are you using? We know there are some bugs with processing certain CR2 files that cause these problems. We’re working on improving our performance for RAW files as a top priority this and next quarter.
I’d like to confirm whether or not your camera model is one we’re known to struggle with or if there is a separate issue here.
It’s technically a supported camera model but Photo AI could still be having trouble processing RAW files.
Can you update to v1.3.8 and see if this behavior persists? We also have v1.3.9 coming out later today if you want to give that a shot as well.
In the meantime, processing as a TIF would be the best option to not get the color and geometry shifts. I’ve passed this along to the rest of my team to take a look at as well.
I don’t think I will have a chance to look at this again until next week; I will try 1.3.9 then.
If the problem persists, I might instead just run Photo AI via the Photoshop plug-in. I haven’t decided yet what I want to do with the images from this shoot, but I will need to remove the noise, one way or the other.
I have tried the test case with version 1.3.9, but got exactly the same result. Please let me know if the team comes up with a solution. In the meantime, I will proceed with the suggested workaround.
