Photo Editing Workflow: Integrating AI Tools for Faster, Smarter Edits

As a photographer, editing is one of those tasks that feels either super rewarding or downright overwhelming. Whether you love tweaking every detail on your photos or just want to get through it quickly, an efficient photo editing workflow is the key to saving time—and maybe a little sanity.

Let’s be honest, we’ve all spent way too long on a single session, adjusting the same settings over and over, or trying to find that one image in a sea of files. But it doesn’t have to be that way! With a few simple tweaks and adopting new tools, you can streamline your photo editing process and get more done in less time.

In this article, we will show you how you can integrate AI tools to simplify and improve your photo editing workflow.

Before we get started, these are the questions we are all wondering —-

What photo editing tool should I use?

Choosing the right photo editing tool can feel overwhelming with so many options out there. But the good news is, that the "best" tool really depends on your needs, skill level, and editing goals. Almost all photo editing tools have basic adjustments available for free. For instance, you can use Canva or PicsArt to do the basics. But for advanced editing, Lightroom, Photoshop, or Capture One are the industry standards

Many professional photographers have also started using AI photo editing software to streamline their photography workflow and save time.

Is there an AI for editing photos?

Yes, there are several AI-powered tools available for editing photos! These tools leverage artificial intelligence to automate various aspects of the editing process, making it faster and more efficient. Some popular AI photo editing software include Adobe Photoshop, Aftershoot, Imagen, Capture One, Luminar AI etc.

If you are wondering which AI editing tool is best for you, check out this article on Aftershoot vs Imagen or Capture One vs Lightroom

Manual vs. AI-Powered Photo Editing Workflows: Which One is Right for You?

There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all "best" photo editing workflow. What’s most important is finding and applying the workflow that suits your unique style and needs, rather than simply trying to replicate someone else’s approach.

Traditionally, editing has been a manual process that requires attention to every detail. But now, AI-powered tools for photographers are changing the game, making it easier to edit with precision and speed. So, how do these two approaches compare? Let’s break it down.

Manual Photo Editing Workflow

A manual workflow gives you complete control over every element of the editing process. It’s the classic approach photographers use to make precise adjustments to exposure, contrast, color, and other image attributes.

Let's take an example

Sarah is a wedding photographer who follows a structured manual editing workflow to ensure her images reflect her artistic vision while maintaining a high level of detail and quality.

Step 1: Import raw images

Sarah imports her raw images from a wedding shoot into Adobe Lightroom. After importing, Sarah quickly reviews the thumbnails and uses star ratings to identify her favorite shots.

Step 2: Cull images

She removes any duplicates or blurry images, narrowing down to the top 300 shots from the original 1,200. A time-consuming process that takes her all-day

Step 3: Basic Adjustments

She does all the basic adjustments like crop, straighten, white balance etc 

Step 4: Colour correction

She enhances colors by increasing vibrance for more natural-looking results without oversaturating.

Step 5: Detail enhancements

She applies subtle sharpening effects to enhance details in the bride’s dress and the groom’s suit or noise reduction to clean up graininess in low-light reception photos.

Step 6: Retouching

She uses brushes to selectively brighten the couple’s faces and darken distracting backgrounds and remove small distractions, like stray hair or unwanted objects in the background, using the clone tool. And this step is happening in yet another tool, right?

Step 7. Creative edits

Sarah wants to stand out of course so she’ll apply some creative edits. Sarah applies a light filter for specific images to create a dreamy effect that matches the couple’s style. She uses dodging and burning techniques to add depth and dimension to key elements in the images.

Step 8: Comparing the edits

After a few hours, Sarah takes a break and returns to her edits with fresh eyes for a final review. She compares each edited image side-by-side with the original to ensure enhancements look natural and cohesive.

Step 10: Export and Review

Sarah selects appropriate export settings for both high-resolution prints and web-optimized versions. She applies her watermark to images intended for online sharing.

And lastly saves the final images to a dedicated folder for easy client access.

Step 11: Backup photos

After exporting, Sarah backs up her original and edited files to an external hard drive and cloud storage for safekeeping.

So an 11-step process to get all of these done, switching between multiple tools to finally make her images ready for clients. And how much do you think this takes? According to our photography industry trends report, the average time taken to deliver photos to clients is between 2-4 weeks.

And 13.4% of people deliver it within a week. That’s it!

There’s gotta be a better way right? Tell you what — there is. So let us introduce you to the best photo editing workflow you’ll ever try. Feel free to make adjustments because the best editing workflow is the one that works best for you

How to get started with an AI-Powered Photo Editing Workflow?

An AI photo editing workflow is all about speed and efficiency. Tools like Aftershoot use artificial intelligence to analyze your images and make automated adjustments based on predefined settings or learned behaviors.

AI-powered workflows are ideal for photographers who need to process large volumes of photos quickly without sacrificing quality

When you’re bogged down with 10,000 photos to edit, AI-powered editing is here to save the day. Here’s how you can integrate AI into your photo editing workflow and streamline your entire process. In this example, we will walk you through how to use Aftershoot to improve your editing workflow 

Step 1: Organize your files

We see all the questions out there — “how do I set up a photography workflow?”, “how do I get started?” Well, this is the most crucial step before you start your photo editing process.

Here's one of the most important photo editing workflow tips: A well-organized file system. If you’re constantly hunting for images or struggling to remember where you saved that amazing shot, you’re wasting valuable editing time.

Start by creating a clear folder structure that makes sense to you and is easy to navigate. Many photographers like to organize their files by date, project name, or client name. For example, you could have a main folder for each year, subfolders for specific shoots, and within those, separate folders for raw files, edited files, and exports.

Here’s an example of how you can do it

Note:  Don’t forget about backups. Invest in an external hard drive or cloud storage solution to ensure you always have a safe copy of your photos. Using tools like Adobe Lightroom’s built-in organization features or other DAM (Digital Asset Management) systems can also help keep everything organized, searchable, and accessible from any device.

Once you’ve organized your files, let’s open Aftershoot to start editing our photos.

Step 2: Import your Photos 

Once you've opened the Aftershoot tool, you can start by importing your photos (RAW, Jpeg) on the dashboard. On the Aftershoot Home Screen click on + New Album or on Create New Album.

Step 3: Cull Your Photos

To get started, just click on the Cull tab at the top of your screen. Next, hit Start Culling, choose the type of Cull you want to run, set up your preferences, and click the Start Culling button again.

You can choose between two preferences - AI-automated culling and AI-assisted culling

With AI-automated culling, Aftershoot analyzes your images and selects the top ones for you to review. If you prefer more control, you can choose AI-assisted culling, where you make the selections yourself but get support from Aftershoot’s features like duplicate grouping, Key Faces Detection, and Image Scores to streamline and speed up the process.

You can also cull and edit your images in a single go, by opting for One-click Cull & Edit in the upper right corner.

You’re all set!

Step 4: Train your AI Profile

Ready to create your very own Personal AI Editing Profile that captures your unique editing style? It’s super easy! 

Now what is an AI profile? It is a personalized editing profile that learns your photo editing style and applies it to your photos.

Just click the + Create New Profile button and drop in at least 2,500 of your edited images to train your profile. Learn more on how you can train your profile here 

What if you don’t have 2500 images to train your profile? We’ve got you covered

Use a pre-built AI Style or Creator Style to edit like your favorite photographers. Just scroll through the list and download the one that catches your eye! You can even use the Compare toggle to see them side-by-side for easier picking. Want to dive deeper? Head over to our Marketplace to explore

Step 5: Filter and Select the Images

Next, it’s time to select the images in this catalog that you want to edit! By default, your imported catalog will show the images in Folder View. But if you prefer, you can switch to Collection View by clicking the icon in the screenshot below. 

Then, further, choose which images to edit within the selected collections and folders by applying filters. Click on the Apply Filters button, to bring out the Filter selection drawer.

Here you can choose to filter images inside a catalog by Image Type, Star Rating, Color Label, Flags, and Camera.

Step 6: Select your edit preferences

We are almost done..!

In this step, select all your editing preferences on Aftershoot and click edit. Sit back and relax and let Aftershoot handle it for you!

Note: Keep in mind that Personal AI Editing Profiles trained in Lightroom Catalogs can only be used to edit Lightroom Catalogs. The same logic applies to Profiles trained on Capture One catalogs.

Step 7: Export and Review

Once your edit is done you will receive an in-app notification, as well as an email. To start reviewing your images, just click on Review in Lightroom or Capture One or “by”, and it will reveal a list of your preferred apps, ready for you to make any tweaks or adjustments. If you’d rather do it manually, you can always export the images and go through them at your own pace!

And voila, we are done!

If you need more help, here’s an in-depth guide for you to edit on Aftershoot

Now here’s some interesting news. Aftershoot is launching its AI retouching tool, making it easier than ever to remove stray hairs and wrinkle lines. And the best part? You won’t have to waste time switching between apps!

Be one of the first to try our newest AI retouching tool!

Simplifying Your Photo Editing Workflow

As AI continues to evolve, even more advanced features will likely become available. AI-powered photo editing workflows are not about replacing photographers but enhancing their abilities, allowing them to work faster, smarter, and with more creative freedom. 

I mean who doesn’t want the tedious parts of editing to just magically go away right? 

AI gives photographers more time to do what they love.

Ready to streamline your photo editing workflow? Try Aftershoot 30 Days for FREE