ON1: Testing The Haze Slider

The Develop Module inside ON1 Photo RAW 2019 is the programs main engine. Under its Develop Module, there is a HAZE slider, located under the “Overall Settings” tab.

After adjusting other settings, moving the Develop Module Haze slider gives you two intriguing options. You can slide it to the RIGHT (+ plus numbers) to add Haze and a misty, dreamy look to your image. Or, you can move the slider LEFT, (- minus numbers), to clear up a low contrast fogged image or enhance the look of skies.

Testing

How effective is the Haze slider for photographs? To test its range of subtle to dramatic effects, I used the Haze slider images from the remote Bahamas. First, Haze was moved to the left. For another option, the Haze slider was moved right to add a touch of high key dreaminess to a picture of a little girl at a parade, at the end of this article. 

An abandoned basement in a lighthouse keepers’ home on a remote island. While the details were well-exposed, there was too much light coming through the doorway. The Haze slider took about 3 seconds to non-destructively edit and correct this. No other edits were done to this picture.

Most online tutorials show how to apply the HAZE slider to outdoor landscapes, but because the ON1 functionality is versatile, I first wanted to apply it to interiors by sliding it to the LEFT (-minus) to decrease haze and improve exposure. Sliding Haze to the left makes a picture clearer in a subtle way.

TIME: 2-3 minutes.

TOPIC: Improving images using the ON1 Haze slider.

LEVELS: Beginner and Intermediate.

SOFTWARE NEEDED: ON1 Photo RAW 2019 or 2018 is needed. If you download a free trial from ON1.com, you’ll need to import your photos from your device into the ON1 editor, before you can use the Haze slider in the Develop Module.

Decreasing Haze: The Steps

While most online tutorials show how to apply the HAZE filter to outdoor landscapes, the first test here was for interiors. Of course, you can remove low contrast haze or fog outdoors with this slider, but here we can see that  it works with interiors as well. Some more examples follow. They show what this versatile ON1 slider can do for you.

Steps In Brief:

1. Import a photo. Open ON1.

2. Select the Develop Module.

3. In the Develop Module, select the tab marked Overall Settings; be sure you do not have the Local Adjustments tab selected.

Look down to the Haze Filter. Slide the filter left, into the minus range, to cut haze, boost color and improve tones in just one step.

Above, a scene of a lighthouse window shows the Haze filter (-minus) improving color saturation outside a window without overly saturating the interior. Below, the HAZE slider (-) was applied to a RAW image of broken lighthouse tower glass leaning against a rough dark wall.

Adding Haze

As we can see in the following “Before & After” comparison, sliding the Haze slider right adds (+plus) a bit of a dreamy look to your image. First, here is a picture of a girl with no edits.

For the “after’ picture above, the Haze slider was moved the far right at (+80). The high key dreaminess may prove too far from reality, overly pictorial, but my point was to show what the Haze slider can do.

Final Thoughts

If you have ON1 Photo RAW, give the Haze slider a try. Download a trial. Even if you are new to ON1, you may have Photoshop, and you might discover how these two programs work synergistically. After a couple of years editing in ON1, I believe that its workflow enhances the power of PS to such an extent that the two programs combined form an effective and smooth workflow. ON1’s Haze slider is a fun instrument in your post processing tool set.

All written content (and most images) in these articles are copyrighted by the authors. Copyrighted material from Apogee Photo Mag should not be used elsewhere without seeking the authors permission.

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