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Rikk Flohr_Photography
Community Manager
Community Manager
September 5, 2024
Question

P: Adaptive Profiles

  • September 5, 2024
  • 49 replies
  • 65171 views

This post applies to Camera Raw.  
Feedback for Lightroom Classic and Lightroom Desktop should be posted here.

 

Update February 2025:

Adobe has introduced two Adaptive Profiles – Adaptive Color & Adaptive B&W.

 

Getting started with the Adaptive Profiles: 

  • Access a profile inside the profile favorites menu. 
  • In addition, there is a new section for Adaptive Profiles in the Profiles browser. 
  • Enable the profile and adjust the ‘Amount’ slider as desired. 
  • Use the rest of the Camera Raw tools just like you would otherwise. 


Check out the Help Page for more detailed usage information. For more technical information on the underlying technology, please refer to this blog post

 

Please try the profiles and share feedback in this community forum thread. It would help to include details like how you access Camera Raw (via Adobe Bridge or Photoshop), your computer system details, and as much information as possible about what you like or do not like about the resulting image quality. Our team will continually monitor this thread to track issues and improve the future experience. 

 

Best practices for using the Adaptive Profiles:
 

Try the new profile in the following scenarios: 

  • For food scenes. 
  • In situations where simply moving Tone and Color sliders may not be sufficient, such as for: high-contrast scenes, landscape or cityscape scenes with skies. 
  • For High-Dynamic-Range (HDR) photography, simply select Adaptive Color or Adaptive B&W as a profile and click on the ‘HDR’ button. 

    Note: Adaptive Profiles generate HDR and Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) data jointly, creating photos that look consistent with one another. In other words, after applying either of these profiles, if you toggle the HDR button on or off, you will see either the adaptive HDR or SDR look, depending on the position of the toggle.  


To maximize the value of using Adaptive Profiles, please follow these steps: 

  • Always start from the Adobe Default or Camera Default rendering (with no other edits) and enable the Adaptive Profile first. 
  • Reset any other settings before applying the profile. 
  • Make additional global and local edits after assigning the profile, just as you would begin to edit photos with Adobe Color or any other profile. 


Boris Ajdin: Product Manager, Emerging Products Group 


Posted by

49 replies

Dal_s_Photography
Participating Frequently
October 17, 2024

Since it's the first time I use Adobe's adaptative Profile, I can agree that it flattens the image, and yet, it corrected highlights which is quite good for certain images. Of course it all depends on the intent of the image we are editing  image. As I am going to print later my birding images, some of them were benefited with the A. Profile , and other's were not.

It might be a very interesting option when it can be sudivided into categories , as we can do with our cameras (cars, people, birds, insects, etc) . On the other hand, I think it's a good starting point, and I wouldn't use it in the middle of the photo development. I have used the other Adaptative included profiles (the long list) and generally it doesn't work for me. As I said, we are all different photographers, and with different aims and styles.  One recommendation would be what ON1 Photo Raw already included last year, which is to train those profiles according to what we wish on a session of photos, that might be interesting. Right now, and as it is, at least for me, results are very limited. Yet I think that as it is a work in progress, it has potential. Thank you.

Participating Frequently
October 17, 2024

Hi! Will this feature be available in LRC too? I was excited to give it a try yesterday and got a bit disappointed. 

Inspiring
October 17, 2024

I suspect that it will make its way there once it's tested sufficiently, feedback gathered, and finalized! It's currently a tech preview, which they often release in one product or another before it gets rolled out more broadly.

Participating Frequently
October 17, 2024

Gentlemen,

I did try with different on some landscape picture and it works wery well, surprisingly well, the same with some picture of the interior of my house.

"Well" means very good dynamic range, no color shift and good luminosity and contrast, the picture does not need many adjustements after the application of the new peofile, basically most part f the job is done simply appling the new profile.

In my experience, the application of the profile is absolutely the first operation to be done on the workflow of the         RAW.

Good job and.....bravi!

Known Participant
October 16, 2024

Just playing around with it for the first time today. So far, I'm liking what I see. Of course you don't select "Adobe Adaptive" and be done editing, so I've found any tonal issues can be dealt with easily you start off with the image quite a bit closer to what the end result is going to be. I'm surprised and very satisfied so far, though I'm only on my third photo...

Braniac
October 16, 2024

I would advise not using the new Super Resolution in combination with the new Adobe Adaptive (beta) profile unless you want this

 

 

to become this

 

 

It looks a bit like the Adobe Adaptive (beta) profile creates some kind of "mask" based on the original image size and leaves it in place when applying the adaptive adjustments. If it is a "mask", it is also resized because the adaptive profile seems to apply to the whole image, but the small "mask" is also applied to the top left quarter of the image.

 

I hope this bug gets fixed soon.

Braniac
December 13, 2024

This problem has been fixed in ACR 17.1

New Participant
October 15, 2024

Funzione eccellente aiuta molto nel flusso di lavoro

Participating Frequently
October 15, 2024

Works suprisingly well even with rather challanging images, what i would like to see is an option for separate controll of applied color and luminance corrections. 

New Participant
October 15, 2024

Some feedback - how it feels so far and what the results look like.
I shoot a lot of street and urban situations, sometimes with very changing light conditions. The whole thing with a fairly modern camera, 47mp.
If you take a picture without strong contrasts and provided you really start at 0, the result is okay. The colors are ok. The contrast is very flat, which is fine as an output. What you get here is a flat preset and a very neutral starting point. Nothing more and nothing less.

 

New Participant
October 15, 2024

Since feedback was requested, here are my considerations.

 

The idea is potentially good, but unfortunately, many complexities are evident both in the final results and in the application. However, these are inevitable when developing new solutions.

 

The results are reasonably decent for standard images taken in typical shooting conditions. If we stick to the scenes used for the presentation, there are interesting corrections on macro photographs of flowers or insects, and on well-balanced images. If considered as a product aimed at an inexperienced and amateur audience without particular shooting needs, it may be acceptable, although the reference models for the images are extremely limited, and the analysis of the obtained results does not seem accurate. If these shortcomings are overcome, it could lead to acceptable and already interesting results.

 

The process tends to flatten the images, stripping them of their structure and depth, which means it is unusable for high-key or low-key images, in product still life, for portraits taken in a studio or on location, in landscapes with strong visual impact, and in shooting situations where depth and volumes are essential. The approach is quite simplistic in this regard.

 

Unfortunately, nowadays one would expect sophisticated depth and structure mapping of the image in order to generate corrections based on a three-dimensional logic. But as can be seen from how the Lens Blur panel works, Lightroom still lacks the ability to map the scene for volumes and subjects. This issue affects the correction of high-light and low-light areas: a shadow caused by a decrease in light is perceived as a dark area and is balanced accordingly, rather than based on the volume of the scene. These limitations are still evident in all AI applications.

 

Therefore, if the goal is to create images with a high dynamic range, we are really not there yet. When working in color grading for professional HDR solutions, readability in shadows or highlights is not considered the final element; instead, the aim is to extend the dynamic range as much as possible to deepen the scene. Thus, in this case, the application of corrections is simply terrible. The images become flat, structure is lost, and above all, the photographic intent is lost.

 

Errors are obvious on high-key landscape images such as snowy northern landscapes, studio photographs with deep shadows, and portrait photographs with pastel tones. The aesthetic reference standards are too limited, and the application often produces worse results than the original image. Verifying files from different cameras, photographers, and manufacturers, I can state that, on a very limited sample of about 300 images, only in 10% of cases was the result potentially interesting.

 

The main limitation is in the application to the Adobe Standard color profile alone, which, by its very design, does not allow the full gamut of the sensor to be rendered, with obvious difficulties in reds and blues. It is also impossible to select a 3D LUT within the profile to properly correct the starting base. Other main limitation of this solution, besides the extremely limited data source, is the inability for the photographer to allow the app to train on their own files, thus providing the ideal working base for making corrections.

 

If the goal is solely to normalize the image in order to start working on it, this process often makes the photographer’s work more laborious, as in most cases the starting point for their work is already the image they have created.

 

I hope to soon see a more accurate development of the product and be able to apply it proactively to a large number of images. I trust that there is the ability to create a new tool that enables professionals to integrate a series of solutions that allow for maximum customization of the individual photographer’s experience. More than a multitude of generic references, it would be useful to have a private and non-shareable AI training area dedicated to the individual photographer, as well as the option to use a specific color profile and proprietary 3D LUT that can provide the correct mood to the image. Obviously, in color grading, the AI should be trained to maintain the deviations expressed by the LUT so that specific tones of the image are not corrected. This approach would better assist all photographers and allow reportage photographers to maintain compliance with the C2PA standard.

 

Note: to provide accurate feedback, I tried modifying the starting data of the adaptive XMP profile by inserting different references for color profile and look-up tables, obtaining better results compared to the initial setup, but with clear limitations imposed by the AI control system.

Participating Frequently
October 15, 2024

i tested a broad range of image from my commercial work and have a very different impression, could it be that you simply oversaw to reset your old develompent settings first ?    

Participating Frequently
October 15, 2024

I’ve tested numerous images from various photographers, using clean, fully reset RAW files from multiple brands (Leica, Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm). The images span across different genres—landscape, F1, MotoGP, portrait, advertising, and more—reflecting the diverse sectors of the professional market my partners work in.
I also included images from amateur and reportage photographers. While I tested only 300 images, I achieved satisfactory results in just 10% of them.
 
I encountered significant color deviations from the required standards and major issues with dramatic images, which appeared overly processed and unsuitable for commercial or international distribution. As discussed by Florian Kainz, Marc Levoy, and Lars Jebe in their article, there are still substantial limitations, and the tool doesn’t work well for all types of images. I’ve identified and reported these limitations, and I’ve also pointed out that relying solely on a single Adobe Standard profile presents considerable restrictions. In our workflow, we use high-end profiles with dedicated 3D LUTs, which is a more advanced process. While it would be promising to see this tool evolve, at present, it feels more like a beta version with potential rather than a polished solution.
 
Although I can manually adjust the standard settings of the Adobe Adaptive Profile XML and apply a different profile or LUT that better suits an image at the start of the process, it’s cumbersome. The adjustments are only valid for one specific setting in a single scenario, and every time I need to close Camera Raw, edit the Adobe Adaptive Profile XML, save it, reopen Camera Raw, and continue editing. Additionally, the tool doesn’t support multiple profiles, limiting your ability to use invariant solutions or switch between LUTs as you would with an XMP profile.
 
Lastly, if the tool works for your images, it can produce great results, but it struggles with proper color management. The AI tends to alter tones based on its interpretation of reference images, forcing you to fine-tune each image individually rather than apply a consistent look across a series of images. I could elaborate further on the complexities of this tool—it has potential but feels underdeveloped for a beta, more like an alpha version. I hope to see significant improvements soon, especially for professional-level editing workflows.


as I wrote in my earlier posting  I think we should get a separate slider for luma and color corrections  or be able to at least turn color corrections off but otherwise i don't see the same issues like you but maybe this is because I do not expect miracles but see it just as an improved adjustable starting point nothing more.    

I do also not buy the high end profile BS as there is not such a thing as a perfect camera profile, the adobe profiles are well balanced., when you build a custom profiles which should work with different content and illuminations you just end up with something very similar as adobe.  as someone who had made a very large number of art reproductions I have a rather clear picture what profiles can do.