ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate: selective light and AI masks

This ACDSee tutorial demonstrates how selective adjustments can direct attention within a photo. The presenter starts with an underexposed coastal image and compares raising fill light across the frame with brightening a smaller area. In this example, the global adjustment reveals rock detail but leaves the image looking washed out to the presenter. A feathered radial gradient brightens the subject and water while keeping the sky and right side darker.

The walkthrough explains how to invert masks, revisit edits in Develop Mode and restore originals from Manage Mode. The presenter identifies the split before-and-after view as a 2026 feature. An AI sky selection also picks up part of the ocean, so the lesson shows how to remove that area with the brush and add back any accidentally removed sky. Color EQ and its eyedropper allow adjustments to selected colors within the mask.

A second landscape example combines a constrained crop with a custom vignette. The presenter converts an AI object selection to a brush mask for cleanup, then duplicates and inverts it to edit the background separately. The final example uses a JPEG: radial masks separate the center from its surroundings, a linear gradient targets an overexposed sky area, and a brush adjusts the water. Throughout, the presenter revisits individual masks and general controls to reduce edits that feel too strong.