Take a sneak peek at the brand new Restore AI module coming in May to ON1 Photo RAW MAX 2026.4. In this video, we restore and colorize a vintage family photo, improve an older digital photo from 2008, recover detail, clean up fading, and enhance clarity using ON1 Photo RAW MAX. But it’s not just for old photos. Restore AI will bring new life to any photo in just a few clicks.
ON1 Photo RAW2026Dylan KoteckiRestore AI Sneak Peek: Restoring Vintage & Digital Photos
Published: May 8 2026 10758 Views
On May 9, 2026 at 3:03 pm Terry Kimsey wrote:
Still waiting. Where did April release go? When, do now think it is coming out? “Soon” is confusing me. The never ending story. If don’t know or having technical problems , tell us. It really sound great. Just release a real date or actual facts.
On May 9, 2026 at 9:11 pm Dylan Kotecki replied:
Restore AI is coming this month, and the final touches and refinements are currently finishing up before release. Thanks for your patience!
On May 10, 2026 at 3:38 pm grahamremington replied:
are you going to do the same to On1 photo raw 2026 ?
On May 10, 2026 at 8:26 pm grahamremington replied:
I have windows 11 desktop , will ON1 photo raw max work on my computer ?
Will i be able to transfer to my external hard drive ?
GRAHAM REMINGTON
On May 10, 2026 at 7:14 am Alfred A Brissette Sr wrote:
I don’t understand why Restore AI is not being made available to loyal On1 Photo RAW users as an update, or minimally as a stand-alone app that can be used in conjunction with On1 Photo RAW. Many of us would like to have this app available, but have no need for all the additional things we find in On1 photo RAW MAX.
On May 10, 2026 at 11:54 am Herve Audet replied:
Je seconde!
On May 10, 2026 at 3:46 pm Neil replied:
Totally 100% agree with you Alfred.
At the very least the Restore AI should be a standalone option and with without cloud needed.
On May 10, 2026 at 5:05 pm Mike Piggott replied:
I agree
On May 10, 2026 at 6:03 pm Garry Gramm replied:
I totally agree with you Alfred. I have been an ON1 used since it was introduced as a freebie many years ago. I have upgraded to Latest 2026.3 and as a loyal ON1 customer do feel the need for everything in MAX. Restore AI is something I would used on a per instance occasion but I see that as a rare occasion. When needed it would be great to have but needing it rarely I cannot justify paying for MAX just for those rare occasions.
In my opinion Restore AI should be a part on ON1 Photo Raw.
On May 10, 2026 at 6:18 pm Garry Gramm replied:
Oops… typo. Thats don’t feel the need for the Max version of
On May 11, 2026 at 11:22 am Christopher Gordon replied:
I am with you I have been a user from the very first time they started
On May 12, 2026 at 7:22 am Leonie Brok-Elfering replied:
I feel same, being forced to update to MAX, specially since the possibility in ON1 Photo Raw to work on old negatives, which we now can work on. Users of ON1 Photo Raw are also pro users. The only difference is, that we use no other programs.
And what is offered in the special update for owners of ON1 2026 as BONUS is also offered earlier and already in possession for many of us.
On May 13, 2026 at 3:14 pm Larry Pendergraft replied:
I agree, I literally have no use for *anything* in MAX, other than Restore AI.
On May 10, 2026 at 7:28 am ANGEL M FIGUEROA wrote:
Me fijé en la foto blanco y negro de la dama con el perro que al cámbiala a color la lengua del perro no tiene color. Me hubiera justado ver otras fotos con mas daños.per va hacer bien interesante. Son cosas que uno también tiene que trabajarlas. Gracias
On May 24, 2026 at 9:39 am ANGEL M FIGUEROA replied:
Ya vi que corrigieron lo de la foto la dama y el perro. La lengua no tenía color y ya en esta nueva presentación si tenía color. Gracias
On May 10, 2026 at 7:54 am Volker Gottwald wrote:
It will be interesting to see how Restore AI works on my own photos. Can’t wwait to test it.
On May 10, 2026 at 8:35 am Dipak Shastri wrote:
Why on Max only. Paying Max every year to update and I think I am done. It is getting more cluttered and harder to use. Things keep changing and hard to find or remember to where to find the things you want to do.
On May 10, 2026 at 9:04 am Ralf Radermacher wrote:
I second all of what has been said above. Stop teasing us and deliver.
And what about the MAX thing? The first step to lure us into a yearly subscription model? Having AI Restore in an update for the normal ON1 version would have been enough for me. I’d even be ready to pay a reasonable supplement. Yet, I don’t own any Adobe ransomware and switched to ON1 to avoid such schemes.
And about the complexity and the clutter in the screen… I’ve been moving the monitor nearer and nearer to me in order to read all the small text and will have new computer glasses made soon.
My advice: keep it simple and don’t go down the subscription track.
On May 10, 2026 at 10:32 am Robb Charles wrote:
I’ve been anxiously waiting for “restore” to make its debut. This will help in many photos I have kept on the side for years thinking I will get to them when I have more time. Thanks ON1, can’t wait.
On May 10, 2026 at 1:11 pm Steve Bastiman wrote:
The responses in the main are typical of what you see every day.
“why wait , just get the product out NOW !” – which is usually followed by
“Releasing stuff before it’s ready – wasting my time – get your QA sorted”
or
“I want everything but I don’t want to pay – I don’t care if you have to pay employees, they could wfh”
On May 10, 2026 at 4:04 pm Neil replied:
Grow up Steve, everyone is entitled to express how they feel.
Most don’t expect something for nothing but there is certainly is a sense of here we go again down the subscription only path.
Topaz is the latest and drop offs galore.
Never failed to upgrade all these years but no way if subscription is required.
On May 10, 2026 at 5:56 pm Dean Junker replied:
I switched to On1 from Topaz. I think I ‘owned’ about 14 of their different modules. When they switched to subscription it was horrible. It took almost a full year to actually have a crop feature working. A simple feature needed on many photos. Many $$$ out the window. I will gladly wait another month for On1 to have it working properly!!
On May 11, 2026 at 1:39 am Steve Bastiman replied:
Of course ‘whine and bitch away’ with no sense of reality !
On May 11, 2026 at 6:38 am Ralf Radermacher replied:
They announced it for late April. Repeatedly. Now its almst mid-May and still no definite release date. This leaves the unfortunate impression that they announced it way ahead of time in order to cash in already.
On May 11, 2026 at 11:47 pm David Price replied:
How exactly are they cashing in?
-I have already paid for PR 2026 MAX, and I am not on, subscription. So if Restore AI launches, before I next pay my yearly fee, it will effectively be a free upgrade.
-I suppose that if people want Restore AI, but don’t currently have MAX. Then they will pay a little extra to upgrade to MAX. But, is that cashing in? or just recovering the cost of the development of an expensive bit of software? (They also have taxes to pay, and familes to feed).
Yes, they promised Restore AI some time ago. But, maybe it’s just me, I’d prefer it if they launched the product when it was ready. So, I’m content to wait.
On May 10, 2026 at 2:23 pm David Bristow wrote:
I am interested to see what AI Restore does for color restoration on scans of old, faded Ektachrome and Kodachrome slides. I have a lot of rough looking slides from the 1950s through the 1970s. Some are quite red since the blue has faded significantly.
On May 10, 2026 at 2:49 pm Adam Rubinstein wrote:
The first example was pretty horrific IMHO. The colors were garish, unnatural, and overly saturated. It appeared like an early and poorly executed HDR. Adding the Dynamic Contrast to the foreground was an equal miss. The second image appeared better, especially in the damaged areas. Again, the saturation was excessive and unnatural and there were some alterations in the lips which were troublesome. I’m looking forward to putting it through the paces.
On May 11, 2026 at 11:52 pm David Price replied:
Hi Adam
Nice to see that you have returned.
But don’t forget, that if the first version is not to your taste. That you can post process, so that it becomes acceptable to your individual taste.
On May 10, 2026 at 6:15 pm Garry Gramm wrote:
I totally agree with Alfred. I don’t want to pay for a lot of stuff in MAX I don’t use or will ever need. Restore AI is something I would like to have if I need it which might be very rarely. As a long time On1 customer I believe that this is another tool in the tool
box that should be accessible when needed. If I have to wait for it to be included
the basic Photo Raw is the next update immol with that as thy will give development time to work out any problems that may occur.
Currently on 2026.3.
On May 10, 2026 at 11:01 pm David Price wrote:
I have PR 2026 MAX on my Windows 11 laptop, and I can assure the doubters, that provided your PC exceeds ON1’s Minimum Recommended Spec for running PR 2026 MAX. That PR 2026 MAX runs, and runs well.
The AI masking only struggles when asked to select small objects, such as a person in the distance. But, AI masking is mainly very impressive. It is also capable of selecting things, that I can’t believe that it was trained to recognise. Such as human and animal shapes, in statues constructed from scrap metal, such as horseshoes and/or engine parts.
All of the other filters, layers, transform tools, etc, run faultlessly on Windows 11. Yes, most of my images are stored on plug in drives. Both Windows 11 and PR 2026 MAX cope fine with this.
So, too does No Noise AI, which has repeatedly been improved. I am now very happy to routinely shoot at ISO 6400. Because even though my camera is very old and micro 4/3rds, (which have notoriously noisy sensors), No Noise AI produces clean and detailed results.
Restore AI will appeal to those who need to restore old images. So, as we get older, that could well be most, if not all of us. I myself have inherited some negatives from the 1950’s, which were not properly stored, and are in a very poor condition. Being able to get a little more detail out of them, sounds good.
I have also never failed to upgrade, and I don’t want to see a subscription. But, I always look forward to the new things that ON1 launches.
On May 11, 2026 at 7:28 am Carolyn A Woodard wrote:
Interesting……the final product should be awesome!!
On May 11, 2026 at 9:01 pm andysae wrote:
Amazing
On May 13, 2026 at 7:22 am Peter Busuttil wrote:
Apart from ON1 2026, I paid to have the latest Luminar Neo thus, there’s Restoration AI in it. So, I will DEFINITELY not purchase the MAX edition!