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ACD Systems Unveils Privacy-First AI for Photographers with ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2027

VICTORIA, BC (September 17th, 2026) – ACD Systems today announced the release of ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2027, the newest version of its flagship photo software, designed on a simple principle: powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI) should never come at the cost of privacy. The release introduces new generative AI tools alongside expanded AI-powered organization, while maintaining ACD Systems’ focus on giving photographers greater control over their images and data.

“Photographers want the creative freedom generative AI offers without giving up control of their images,” said Frank Lin, CTO of ACD Systems. “That’s why every other AI feature in ACDSee Photo Studio runs locally, on-device—from face detection to image similarity. For our new cloud-based Generative AI tools, including Image Generation, Fill, Edit, and Remove, prompts and images are encrypted and securely routed through our own servers, then deleted after seven days. Privacy remains paramount, no matter which AI tool you use.”

Privacy-First AI

ACD Systems has long taken the position that AI should serve the photographer, not the other way around. Many of ACDSee’s core AI capabilities, including AI Keywords, AI Face Detection & Facial Recognition, AI Image Similarity, AI Super-Resolution, AI Masking and AI Face Edit, process images locally on the user’s device. No images or facial data are ever sent to a remote server, and results are generated in real time.

What’s new in ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2027:

• Generative AI Tools: Create new imagery from a text prompt, preset visual effect, or reference images with AI Image Generation; fill empty space seamlessly with Generative Fill; make natural-language edits with Generative Edit; and erase unwanted objects without a trace with AI Remove.
• Auto-Stack: Automatically group photos by GPS location, capture time, image similarity, or a combination of all three, with tunable thresholds and savable presets.
• Custom Stacking and Reject Tag: Give photographers more control over high-volume workflows by manually grouping related frames and quickly identifying images to remove during review.
• AI Reverse Image Search: Select any photo and instantly find every visually related shot in a library, powered by a new AI Image Similarity engine that indexes photos automatically in the background.
• Group By AI Image Similarity: An enhanced Group By tool clusters visually related photos, surfacing near-duplicates and hidden favorites across folders or search results.
• Improved AI Face Edit: Refined slider controls for eyes, eyebrows, skin, shadows, and lips, plus AI Hair for one-click hair edits, bring pro-level portrait retouching to Ultimate’s editor.

Ultimate 2027 also introduces enhancements to Activity Manager, Develop Presents, Auto-Migration and exporting, along with updated RAW camera support.

The release builds on ACDSee’s established digital asset management, non-destructive RAW development and layered editing capabilities, giving photographers one platform for organizing, developing and editing large image collections.

Pricing and Availability

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2027 is available now for $179.99 USD, including 20,000 AI Credits for Generative AI tools and 200GB of cloud storage free for one year.

Customers can choose between a one-time purchase or from our subscription options, while owners of previous versions of ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate are eligible for loyalty pricing when upgrading.

For more information or to pre-order, visit: www.acdsee.com/en/products/photo-studio-ultimate/

About ACD Systems International Inc.:
Founded in 1993, ACD Systems is one of the world’s leading independent digital image editing and management companies. With a commitment to delivering innovative and intuitive software solutions, ACD Systems serves millions of consumers, small businesses, and corporate customers worldwide.

Media Contacts
Nikky Saini
Magnolia Communications
nikky@magnoliamc.com