Understand cloud processing and its requirements

What you will do

Use Cloud mode to create a Heal retouch preview for one portrait. You will check which photo and tool are selected, review the upload and credit confirmations, then compare the preview with the original.

Cloud processing uploads the selected images to Retouch4me servers. You therefore need an internet connection, a signed-in account with cloud processing available, and enough retouch credits for the operation shown in the confirmation.

Before you start

These steps were verified on Windows in Arams 1.11.0-dev.3, using the English interface and an account with existing retouch credits. Cloud Heal was available and the preview completed successfully.

• Import your photographs and wait for their thumbnails to appear. The example uses maxine-01.jpg and maxine-02.jpg, both full-resolution 6064 × 4040 JPEG portraits. Keep the original resolution for facial detail.
• Use photographs that you can upload for processing, and read the Cloud processing notice before agreeing.
• Check the retouch credit counter in the top bar. Hover over it to see Credits for cloud retouching. The separate AI counter is not the counter used in this example.

The example processed only maxine-01.jpg, using Heal at 100. The second photo was imported but not processed. Other tools, batch costs, offline recovery and file export were not verified here.

Steps

Select Cloud and one photograph

1. Click maxine-01.jpg in the photo grid.
2. Check that the counter shows 2 photos / 1 selected and the selected filename is maxine-01.jpg.
3. Click the magic-wand icon at the far right. Its tooltip reads Retouching.
4. Click Cloud at the top of the right panel.
5. Click All below Presets to show the tool list used in this example.

Choose Cloud in the Retouching panel for the selected photograph. Arams 1.11.0-dev.3 · Windows · English

Choose the tool for the preview

1. Clear any checked tools so that you can verify exactly what will run.
2. Check Heal under Plugins → Human. Leave its value at 100 for this example.
3. Check that Cloud remains selected and Retouch preview is available.

Choosing a mode or checking Heal prepares the request. You still need to create the preview to see the processed image.

Enable Heal alone before creating this preview. Arams 1.11.0-dev.3 · Windows · English

Review the upload and credit confirmations

1. Click Retouch preview.
2. If the Cloud processing notice appears, read it. It explains that selected images will be uploaded to Retouch4me servers and that processing may use retouch credits.
3. Click I Agree to continue if you accept the notice. This notice appeared before the credit confirmation in the verified session.

Read the upload notice before accepting cloud processing. Arams 1.11.0-dev.3 · Windows · English

4. Review the credit confirmation. For this one-photo Heal preview, it reads 1 retouch credits will be deducted. Continue? Your confirmation is the place to check the amount for your request.
5. Leave Render Dust unchecked to match this example.
6. Click Create to start the confirmed operation.

The dialog also states No additional credits will be deducted for exporting. That is the message shown for this request; these steps do not perform an export or establish costs for other operations.

Check the credit amount, leave Render Dust off for this example, then click Create. Arams 1.11.0-dev.3 · Windows · English

Wait and compare the result

1. Wait for the preview to finish. In this example, Retouch preview becomes unavailable while Heal stays checked.
2. Hover over the unavailable preview control. The completion tooltip reads Preview is already available for all active plugins.
3. Double-click maxine-01.jpg to open the photo viewer.
4. Inspect the face in the displayed preview. The viewer in the example shows 100%.

The completed Heal preview is displayed in the photo viewer. Arams 1.11.0-dev.3 · Windows · English

5. Press and hold the before/after control near the lower-right corner of the image area to see the original.
6. Release the control to return to the retouched preview. Compare the skin detail while keeping the same photo and view.

Hold the before/after control to inspect the original; release it to return to the preview. Arams 1.11.0-dev.3 · Windows · English

Check the result

The selected portrait should display a finished preview, Heal should remain checked, and the completion tooltip should confirm that previews are available for the active tools. Holding and releasing the before/after control lets you inspect the actual change instead of relying only on a disabled button.

In the verified example, the retouch credit counter changed from 999 to 998, matching the one-credit confirmation. The original and preview showed visible differences in facial skin detail. Those numbers describe this session, not a required starting balance or a guarantee of the same result for every portrait.

The preview is ready to inspect inside Arams. Saving a processed file with Export is a separate task.

If it does not work

• The tools are hidden: open Retouching, choose Cloud, then All.
• The wrong photo is selected: check the filename and selection counter before clicking Retouch preview.
• The preview button is unavailable: inspect its tooltip. Only the completion message above establishes the completed state used in this workflow; an unavailable button alone is insufficient.
• Cloud, Heal or the required credits are unavailable: this example requires those account capabilities. Do not assume that changing tool settings creates a cloud preview.
• Processing does not complete or an error appears: keep the exact message for troubleshooting. Recovery from a network, server or insufficient-credit error was not verified in this workflow.

Related topics

• Sign in to Arams
• Import photos
• Select and deselect photographs
• Choose retouching tools and settings
• Inspect a photograph and zoom in