With the Zoner Photo System X Spring 2025 update, AI masking has arrived making this great-value editing software even more appealing.
The ability to accurately and quickly mask areas of your photographs is like having a superpower. Masking technique gives unprecedented control over images whether that is to adjust exposure, colour or tonality but creating accurate masks can be fiddly taking time and effort and the final result can look dreadful if you do a poor job.
All that has changed, however, with Zoner Photo Studio X (ZPS X), a powerful raw workflow editor for stills and video available on subscription only. Each spring and autumn it enjoys a big update with new tools and features. Last year’s updates brought AI-powered smart features to speed up workflow and true HDR editing.
For most photographers, though, you could argue that the ZPS X Spring 2025 update is the most significant yet and its amazing AI masking skills give the opportunity to take your editing to the next level.
Editing without the angst
What used to take an age can now be achieved in seconds with ZPS X’s AI Background, AI Object, AI Sky and AI Subject masks. With a single-click the software quickly generates an accurate mask that you can edit to your heart’s content. Also new this Spring, there’s Color Range and Luminance Range masking tools that have the power to precisely fine-tune specific colours and control highlights and shadows.
We tried ZPS X’s four AI masking tools on a selection of different photographs. In image editing you rarely use one tool in isolation and ZPS X’s AI Masks can be combined to make complex selections and of course other editing features can be brought into play too. For this preview, though, we stuck with one mask for each image.
Sort out distracting backgrounds with AI Background
However careful your approach, sometimes it can be hard to avoid distracting backgrounds, especially in fast-moving street and travel photography. ZPS X gives you great control with a single-click of the AI Background tool. Once selected the background’s colour, brightness and clarity can be modified with no more effort than shifting a virtual slider, and changes are updated in real time.
We tried out AI Background with a simple shot of a resting red admiral butterfly. We wanted to lighten the green background to lift the overall scene without affecting the insect. ZPS X did a great job and produced a mask that did not need any further editing.
Easy masking with AI Object
This masking tool is incredibly versatile and all you have to do is draw a box around the object you want to edit and ZPS X does the rest. Whether it’s a small detail or the main subject, the AI Object mask tool is a great weapon to have in the editing armour for its sheer versatility.
The scene was a tricky exposure with the foreground camera user in shadow and the background in full sun and that was what the camera exposed for, hence the near silhouette image.
Shooting Raw gave the opportunity to correct the exposure but first we need a mask. AI Subject could have done the job or another option was to use AI Background and then inverting the mask. In this example, though, ZPS X’s AI Object Mask was called on to create a mask and it did a fine job before the foreground exposure was increased by 1-stop.
The sky’s no longer the limit with AI Sky
It’s rare that the sky does not need a tweak at the editing stage, even if a ND graduate filer was used at the time of shooting. ZPS X’s AI Sky mask makes adjusting the sky dead easy and a single click will create a mask even through trees, structures and windows. Once selected the sky’s brightness and colour can be adjusted to taste with the ZPS’s suite of editing tools. As with all these new AI masks, the selection can be precisely refined if required.
The out of camera Raw file used here actually came out very well considering the extreme contrast range and the image is fully detailed. That said, the sky looked on the pale side but that was quickly remedied with the AI Sky mask. There was intricate detail around the bushes to be selected but that was not an issue and ZPS X produced an accurate mask before the exposure was adjusted by -0.7 stops to tone down the sky and finish off the shot.
Focus on the subject with AI Subject
With this mask, ZPS X automatically detects the main subject whether it’s a person or a group, animal or product. In the unlikely event that ZPS X doesn’t maskthe whole subject, it’s simple enough to add to the selection and the chosen area can be tweaked to suit your needs with the many tools on offer.
In our sample, underexposed image, the main subject dominates the composition so in theory masking it should be straightforward but the intricate bridge detail made it more challenging. However, ZPS X dealt with the selection expertly so there was no need to refine the mask any further. The masked area was then brightened by +1.4 stops to make Tower Bridge stand out more prominently against the sky that was left untouched.
Zoner Photo System X: a welcome spring update
Zoner Photo System X is an impressive workflow app for stills and video and its recent updates have enhanced its standing even further. Judged on its own high standards, you have to say the Spring 2025 update is something special with its powerful and very useful masking tools.
Easy to use, effective and versatile, ZPS X is a software that Windows users must take a serious look at, especially with its competitive pricing. Its subscription costs $5.99 a month and it’s even better value at $59 if you take the annual option. Click here for a free seven day fully working version so you can check out ZPS X for yourself.
