ON1 Photo RAW

[pat3pee]

I have just received the final version of On1 photo Raw and I am very thrilled with what it offers. It's basically all of Adobe Bridge + Raw / Lightroom and Photoshop in one place. It has even some improvements to Photoshop but lacks some others. The great thing is that you can process RAW photos for everything and still keep the RAW format ( jpegs etc. can also be processed) and stay within one program.

I would like to hear comments from CiC members, maybe I am too optimistic ?


Cheers / Patrik

[DanK]

I've never tried it. Having everything in one package sounds nice; it can be a pain to keep track of things when one is going back and forth between programs. LR also allows you to keep raws, jpegs, and TIFFs together and to edit any of them. However, For several years, I have rarely kept jpegs, and I never edit them. I don't see any reason to. I do all of my editing in other formats--primarily parametric edits of the raw file and edits of TIFFs created by other software--and when I need a jpeg, usually to post on the web, I export from one of those. LR keeps a line in the history tab showing where I exported, so I can easily re-create one if necessary. I print directly from TIFFs or edited raw files.

[Manfred M]

Patrik - I had a quick look at the specs on the OnOne website - I would have to suggest that you are overly optimistic when you suggest that the new package is a competitor to the Adobe products you list, especially Photoshop, Bridge is something I use all the time, but as I use the full Adobe Creative Cloud suite, I use it for software like Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Audition, etc, and OnOne has no products that compete with these tools.

Likewise, there is virtually no overlap with Photoshop as they stress OnOne Raw is a lossless (i.e. parametric) editor rather than a raster editor like Photoshop.

It seems to be a reasonable replacement for Lightroom, if you don't use some of Lightrooms more specialized functionality like tethered shooting or the geolocation function (GPS mapping).

I would consider buying it if it was a superior raw convertor to the other ones that I use, but that is something there seems to be very little information on right now.

[NorthernFocus]

If you don't/won't use the cataloging functions of LR and can truly use ON1 as a single solution then your optimism is well founded. I suspect all of us would be happy to be able to use a single software package for all of our processing/storage needs.

Prior versions of ON1 have filled all my editing needs. But since I am committed to the cataloging function in LR and since ON1 already works seamlessly as a plug-in, the new RAW conversion feature isn't so attractive to me personally. I will likely upgrade simply for other improvements they've made but will give it a few weeks for any issues to surface and get addressed.

[davidedric]

If you don't/won't use the cataloging functions of LR and can truly use ON1 as a single solution then your optimism is well founded. I suspect all of us would be happy to be able to use a single software package for all of our processing/storage needs.

Prior versions of ON1 have filled all my editing needs. But since I am committed to the cataloging function in LR and since ON1 already works seamlessly as a plug-in, the new RAW conversion feature isn't so attractive to me personally. I will likely upgrade simply for other improvements they've made but will give it a few weeks for any issues to surface and get addressed.

Exactly my sentiments!

[NorthernFocus]

I thought I'd update this thread since I've now upgraded to On1 RAW and have had a few hours of use on it.

My advice is to wait a while before upgrading. IMO this newest version wasn't ready for release. The reason I say that is because some of the features that were very useful in prior releases aren't in RAW and other features are broken. For example, the very useful automatic masking brush is not there. It is on the list of "upcoming features". Which is odd since it's been in every prior release.

An example of something that's broken is the overlay that lets you see the mask. The overlay does not show how the mask is feathered. Very annoying.

I only played a bit with the RAW converter and it seems to be OK. Also they brag in the advertising that there is no need to "import" photos. Technically true I suppose. Obviously there has to be a method of getting pictures "into" the software. They call it "indexing". Again I only poked around with it a bit. It does seem to be fairly straight forward but I haven't really used it yet in detail.

It's unfortunate that On1 did this to themselves as I've been a fan so far. I'm fairly confident they'll get these issues straightened out. But it's frustrating that they had so much press about the release and then it is half baked.

[Mike Buckley]

It's unfortunate that On1 did this to themselves

That's a great way of putting it. I haven't used On1 but I've experienced so many companies, not just software companies, that pump up the status of their products and services to the point that the information they provide has remarkably little correlation with reality. Worse yet, they don't seem to realize that their customers and potential customers are smart enough to recognize this, instead thinking that they can lie to the customers and that nobody will notice.

[davidedric]

Or perhaps Marketing 5, Engineering 0

It's always a battle, but this time Marketing really seem to have shot themselves in the foot.

Dave

[Manfred M]

That's a great way of putting it. I haven't used On1 but I've experienced so many companies, not just software companies, that pump up the status of their products and services to the point that the information they provide has remarkably little correlation with reality. Worse yet, they don't seem to realize that their customers and potential customers are smart enough to recognize this, instead thinking that they can lie to the customers and that nobody will notice.

It seems like another unfortunate case of where the "hard date" promoted by the marketing department did not match the developer's ability to produce the final product. Having a product that is late to market is never a good thing, but shipping one that is not ready can do even more damage.

[NorthernFocus]

One thing I forgot to mention that's significant. One of the big things they've been dinged food in the past is that their software is a resource hog and slow. A big part of the advertising was that this version going to be MUCH faster. Epic fail. If anything it is running slower on my laptop. Only saving grace is that the install gives you the option of leaving the old version in place.

[bje07]

For information from ON 1 site:

New Update: Photo RAW 2017.0.2 Now Available!

The complete photo organizer, editor, raw processor, and effects app all-in-one just got a whole lot better. The update includes support for over a dozen new cameras, improved processing results, updated support for Fujifilm camera files, better highlight recovery, and other performance tuning and bug fixes.

Just try it.

[NorthernFocus]

For information from ON 1 site:

New Update: Photo RAW 2017.0.2 Now Available!

The complete photo organizer, editor, raw processor, and effects app all-in-one just got a whole lot better. The update includes support for over a dozen new cameras, improved processing results, updated support for Fujifilm camera files, better highlight recovery, and other performance tuning and bug fixes.

Just try it.

This update only fixes bugs from premature release. Tools from prior versions still missing. Promised but still AWOL.

[davidedric]

Its odd. Threads in other forums seem to be desperate to excuse On1

Can you imagine the furore had this been an Adobe product?

I know nothing of On1's financial structure, but they can't be deriving much revenue from this, their only product.

As a user of Photo10, I do hope they pull through, but they have taken on a huge challenge.

Dave

[PhilT]

I upgraded, but took long time before using it.
The results are not so bad, but still not working lightfast as they said.
Have some problems to open from LR5 (the version I still have), some of the modules fail to connect (too old LR version???).
One bug I have is when I open from On1 RAW a JPEG pict that was exported previousely from LR after some adjustments, it is monstruousely pixelized. Do someone know why?

[NorthernFocus]

...after some adjustments, it is monstruousely pixelized. Do someone know why?

Not enough info to offer an opinion as to why. Was the image resized on export? Have you tested the same editing steps in prior versions to see if same result? Did this happen after basic editing or after using effects filters?

[pat3pee]

Having started the thread I will tell how I find the On One Raw useful. I always start in (ADOBE) Bridge and make the big adjustments in ACR, then go to Photoshop for some small adjustments. From there I often go to ON Photo Raw Effects module where there are a number of good filters. The one I use most is Dynamic Contrast which sharpens small/medium/large objects separately. You can also click on the cog wheel and choose to apply highlight/midtones/shadows separately. There is also a very refined edge detection whilst using masks with further possibility to adjust color threshold or transition ( but built on color information) . Here you can see a short demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VWrzDKW2as These are some of the refinements BUT it is not as stable or complete as Adobe's programs (photoshop or lightroom) and the rendering time is a lot slower than promised.
I suppose improvements will be done . I find it quicker to use a combination of these two programs using advantages in both systems.

Cheers
Patrik

[PhilT]

Not enough info to offer an opinion as to why. Was the image resized on export? Have you tested the same editing steps in prior versions to see if same result? Did this happen after basic editing or after using effects filters?

Most of the pictures are +/- cropped but not resized. It happens after LR basic editing only, no filters. The original picture is RAW (NEF), the one I want to open in On1 Raw is from the folder of LR exported JPEG files after editing. If I'm opening from the original RAW (even original JPEG if not edited) I don't have this problem, but then I loose the LR adjustments I made (I'd prefer to begin my workflow with LR's adjustments). I don't remember for sure, but it seems that there was no problem of this kind in previous version.

[Brev00]

I bought the new raw system at pre-release. The developers were clear that the new software would be incomplete upon release and thy would be adding needed features going forward. The software did not even have a histogram in the first release. So, some patience may be required if one has a need for a specific missing feature.

I have been using the software part-time. I am really in a testing and comparing stage. I edit some pics both in onOne and in Elements and see what happens. I am creating presets in onOne for different cameras and circumstances. Trying to even equalize results with a preset or two if I can.

In terms of comparison, there are pluses and minuses but the minuses tend to decrease as I play with the software more and more. I do not consider it an all in one system as I find my other plug-ins (Nik, Topaz, DxO Filmpack 5) are still quite useful to me so I have to jump back into Elements to use them. One specific advantage I have noticed is that onOne raw seems to have an inherent ca correction tool as the ca's are much less apparent in my onOne raws. Since Elements does not have a ca tool at all, this is very helpful. I also like the way one can work on the different filters in the Effects set without leaving the filter one is adjusting. There is also a selective tool that is brand new to onOne that is very nice. Again, Elements does not have this feature. I suppose Lightroom does so this may not be a specific advantage for those users. However, one can clone, mask, erase, layer, etc. with onOne. I still need more time with the new software to reach any definite conclusions. But, even as just a new Effects program, it is certainly greatly improved from the onOne 10 Perfect Effects program. It is potentially a far richer raw/editing combo than Elements but I suspect it will never fully replace it. I am so comfortable with Elements I can process pics in my sleep.

[JohnRostron]

I also bough OnOne Raw at the pre-release, and have upgraded it. I have also followed their free videos from Nicolesy. Having bought it I subsequently tried the beta of Affinity Photo, and subsequently the full version for less that a third of the price of OnOne. Since then I have not given OnOne a second glance!

John