Experiences with ON1 Photo RAW 2018?

cayenne said:
So far, I LOVE On1 RAW 2018.

I too have been using LR5 for years and do not want to pay Adobe "rent" for the foreseeable future.

I have enjoyed On1 RAW 2018, the extra features it has, like luminosity masks, and layers and such that LR does NOT have are really valuable to me so far.

The only drawback I found at first with first release of 2018 version...was not having quite the import ease of LR, with being able to set meta data, have it move off my card to main working drive and backup drive, and rename, etc.

HOWEVER, it appears the just released (today?) new version of On 1 RAW 2018.1 version, will address a LOT of those last concerns.

I've not had a chance to do the free update, but if it does as advertised, I think it will end all questions of me maybe buying LR6 before it disappears....and I may just go full on with On1 RAW.

Here's the import features the latest .1 version offers:

https://www.on1.com/products/photo-raw/

Scroll down and see the first video about "Import"....this looks like it will do what I need for LR replacement.

I do need to look a bit more into how On! differentiates between regular folders and "cataloged" folders...which I think the latter offer the same database type access that LR offers.

The thing is, with On1 RAW...you have a choice if you want things database'd or not.....

If this works, it could for me solve any complaints I have had.

As soon as I get the 2018.1 update and have time to play with it, I'll try to remember to come back here and update this thread with my findings.

If you're doing the free trial, you might see if you can update to the .1 trial version....it looks at this point as if this .1 version might be the 'great equalizer'.

cayenne
Is it reasonably easy to make the colours look realistic and natural with ON1 Raw? With Lightroom the colours in the RAW file always look pale and bleached compared to the JPEG that the camera produces. Is there an easy way of telling ON1 Raw to make the colours match those in the JPEG or does it involve spending hours adjusting each colour independently as with Lightroom?
 
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tarntyke

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Ian_of_glos said:
Is it reasonably easy to make the colours look realistic and natural with ON1 Raw? With Lightroom the colours in the RAW file always look pale and bleached compared to the JPEG that the camera produces. Is there an easy way of telling ON1 Raw to make the colours match those in the JPEG or does it involve spending hours adjusting each colour independently as with Lightroom?
To get Lightroom to produce colours similar to the jpeg you need to change the camera profile it uses. In the latest version of classic 7.3 this is in the basic panel. In previous versions it is hidden in the calibration panel I think. You can change the profile to one specific to your camera, set up a preset which you can use each time you import to Lightroom.
 
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stevelee

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Talys said:
I am definitely in the minority, but I have a soft spot for CorelDraw over Illustrator (mostly, it's just that I prefer their Bezier mechanism over Adobe's, but there are some minor things like what I think is a superior area select mechanic).

I much preferred the interface in Freehand to Illustrator of the same vintage. With the latter it seemed I was always having to spend time figuring out which of seven versions of the same tool was needed to do what I was trying to accomplish. When I would choose the wrong one, I would usually get a message on the screen explaining why I couldn't do that, and that I should pick another tool. Sometimes it would tell me which one. That annoyed me. If the program knew what I was trying to do, why didn't it just doing rather than giving me a lecture?

Freehand seemed to read my mind. There weren't so many flavors of tools, and I'd pick one and try to do something, and usually it would do it, whether it made sense of not to a purist.

I've got more used to Illustrator now, and maybe they have made it less user hostile.

And then there was the time when the leader of the Illustrator team said everyone should switch to Windows because their new Mac version of Illustrator was pretty bad. I decided it was just easier and cheaper to skip that version.
 
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haggie said:
Therefore I would like to know if anyone has used ON1 Photo RAW 2018 to such an extend that he or she can tell something about its usefulness and limitations.

Thanks in advance!
:)

I've been using ON1 PR 2018 for several months and absolutely love it. It's not quite to the point to where I'm willing to give up the LightRoom Classic Subscription yet. I'm more often going from Lightroom to ON1 instead of Photoshop a lot more now and love the capability ON1 has in effects, masking, layers etc.

I could for all means actually get by with just using ON1 as a stand alone editor only but am waiting for certain fixes and improvements in ON1 before making a final decision to actually cancel my LightRoom subscription. I paid for the Pro Version and will get the Fall 2018 upgraded and improved next version free so I'll make a decision then if that Version has the upgrades/fixes I am looking for.

Anthony Morganti started a free Youtube ON1 Photo Raw 2018 Tutorial that is really great and shows what ON1 is capable of and how to use it in an easy understandable way, I would recommend checking his Video's out.

Mastering On1 Photo RAW 2018
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLllFqBuTM0WK6GWAbIngdllQ0C6PVDPIQ
 
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cayenne

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Durf said:
haggie said:
Therefore I would like to know if anyone has used ON1 Photo RAW 2018 to such an extend that he or she can tell something about its usefulness and limitations.

Thanks in advance!
:)

I've been using ON1 PR 2018 for several months and absolutely love it. It's not quite to the point to where I'm willing to give up the LightRoom Classic Subscription yet. I'm more often going from Lightroom to ON1 instead of Photoshop a lot more now and love the capability ON1 has in effects, masking, layers etc.

I could for all means actually get by with just using ON1 as a stand alone editor only but am waiting for certain fixes and improvements in ON1 before making a final decision to actually cancel my LightRoom subscription. I paid for the Pro Version and will get the Fall 2018 upgraded and improved next version free so I'll make a decision then if that Version has the upgrades/fixes I am looking for.

Anthony Morganti started a free Youtube ON1 Photo Raw 2018 Tutorial that is really great and shows what ON1 is capable of and how to use it in an easy understandable way, I would recommend checking his Video's out.

Mastering On1 Photo RAW 2018
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLllFqBuTM0WK6GWAbIngdllQ0C6PVDPIQ

I'm using ON1 RAW myself....I opted for it, rather than getting LR6 which was the last non-subscription version.
What features are you looking for with regards to dropping LR?

Just curious...

TIA,

cayenne
 
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I'm using ON1 RAW myself....I opted for it, rather than getting LR6 which was the last non-subscription version.
What features are you looking for with regards to dropping LR?

Just curious...

TIA,

cayenne

Hi, I would like to see ON1 have a better import and organization system but for the most part I'm just waiting on them to fix a few bug issues especially with effects, masking, and layers which is causing some major slow downs in processing.

I've also had a few issues with ON1 sidecar files and also with some heavily processed photos looking different after exporting to my desktop as Jpegs.

All in all ON1's a great program and I'm just being a bit nit-picky as Lightroom has it's quirks too. (I'm also having a hard time weaning myself away from LightRoom)

I actually don't use photoshop all that much but with ON1 I find myself masking and using layers more often because of it's simplicity.....

Jumping back and forth from Lightroom and ON1 is getting old though and I'll probably end up using ON1 as a stand alone editor later this year when they release there next version....
 
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snappy604

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Jan 25, 2017
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good to read some of the comments here. I'm always looking at alternatives.. thought Affinity photo might work for me, but it's really a photoshop alternative, not an LR alternative.

I find its too complicated for volume processing which is what I want to do (really I'm just too lazy to research all it's capabilities, it's a good product).

thanks for the comments, I always value individual comments over a reviewer's as sometimes they sometimes appear to be always 'this is great great great' about every product. I imagine it gets them something, but it doesn't help me :)
 
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cayenne

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Mar 28, 2012
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Durf said:
I'm using ON1 RAW myself....I opted for it, rather than getting LR6 which was the last non-subscription version.
What features are you looking for with regards to dropping LR?

Just curious...

TIA,

cayenne

Hi, I would like to see ON1 have a better import and organization system but for the most part I'm just waiting on them to fix a few bug issues especially with effects, masking, and layers which is causing some major slow downs in processing.

I've also had a few issues with ON1 sidecar files and also with some heavily processed photos looking different after exporting to my desktop as Jpegs.

All in all ON1's a great program and I'm just being a bit nit-picky as Lightroom has it's quirks too. (I'm also having a hard time weaning myself away from LightRoom)

I actually don't use photoshop all that much but with ON1 I find myself masking and using layers more often because of it's simplicity.....

Jumping back and forth from Lightroom and ON1 is getting old though and I'll probably end up using ON1 as a stand alone editor later this year when they release there next version....

Do you have the latest 2018.1 update?

They did do a lot of work on the import process....I watched the videos and then have been trying it and is pretty nice, I can now do many of the things I did in LR....I import from card, and also rename and send copies to backup NAS drive, key word...etc.

I set up Presets for this and I gotta say, its just about what I was doing with LR.

If you don't have the latest version, do an update, and then look at the On1 RAW latest videos that show importing and organizing....pretty cool stuff!!

HTH,

cayenne
 
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cayenne said:
Durf said:
I'm using ON1 RAW myself....I opted for it, rather than getting LR6 which was the last non-subscription version.
What features are you looking for with regards to dropping LR?

Just curious...

TIA,

cayenne

Hi, I would like to see ON1 have a better import and organization system but for the most part I'm just waiting on them to fix a few bug issues especially with effects, masking, and layers which is causing some major slow downs in processing.

I've also had a few issues with ON1 sidecar files and also with some heavily processed photos looking different after exporting to my desktop as Jpegs.

All in all ON1's a great program and I'm just being a bit nit-picky as Lightroom has it's quirks too. (I'm also having a hard time weaning myself away from LightRoom)

I actually don't use photoshop all that much but with ON1 I find myself masking and using layers more often because of it's simplicity.....

Jumping back and forth from Lightroom and ON1 is getting old though and I'll probably end up using ON1 as a stand alone editor later this year when they release there next version....

Do you have the latest 2018.1 update?

They did do a lot of work on the import process....I watched the videos and then have been trying it and is pretty nice, I can now do many of the things I did in LR....I import from card, and also rename and send copies to backup NAS drive, key word...etc.

I set up Presets for this and I gotta say, its just about what I was doing with LR.

If you don't have the latest version, do an update, and then look at the On1 RAW latest videos that show importing and organizing....pretty cool stuff!!

HTH,

cayenne

I've got the latest version with the latest updates. It's an awesome program and will most likely replace Lightroom and Photoshop for me.

Once you get more in to it and start using a lot of effects, masking, and layers, you'll see why I'm a bit hesitant to jump ship with Adobe.....ON1 still needs to work a few bugs out and do some fixes. They are suppose to have a pretty thorough repair patch and possibly some additions in June I believe....I'm patiently waiting.

I'm actually using ON1 right now for most of my image processing......
 
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cayenne

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Mar 28, 2012
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Durf said:
cayenne said:
Durf said:
I'm using ON1 RAW myself....I opted for it, rather than getting LR6 which was the last non-subscription version.
What features are you looking for with regards to dropping LR?

Just curious...

TIA,

cayenne

Hi, I would like to see ON1 have a better import and organization system but for the most part I'm just waiting on them to fix a few bug issues especially with effects, masking, and layers which is causing some major slow downs in processing.

I've also had a few issues with ON1 sidecar files and also with some heavily processed photos looking different after exporting to my desktop as Jpegs.

All in all ON1's a great program and I'm just being a bit nit-picky as Lightroom has it's quirks too. (I'm also having a hard time weaning myself away from LightRoom)

I actually don't use photoshop all that much but with ON1 I find myself masking and using layers more often because of it's simplicity.....

Jumping back and forth from Lightroom and ON1 is getting old though and I'll probably end up using ON1 as a stand alone editor later this year when they release there next version....

Do you have the latest 2018.1 update?

They did do a lot of work on the import process....I watched the videos and then have been trying it and is pretty nice, I can now do many of the things I did in LR....I import from card, and also rename and send copies to backup NAS drive, key word...etc.

I set up Presets for this and I gotta say, its just about what I was doing with LR.

If you don't have the latest version, do an update, and then look at the On1 RAW latest videos that show importing and organizing....pretty cool stuff!!

HTH,

cayenne

I've got the latest version with the latest updates. It's an awesome program and will most likely replace Lightroom and Photoshop for me.

Once you get more in to it and start using a lot of effects, masking, and layers, you'll see why I'm a bit hesitant to jump ship with Adobe.....ON1 still needs to work a few bugs out and do some fixes. They are suppose to have a pretty thorough repair patch and possibly some additions in June I believe....I'm patiently waiting.

I'm actually using ON1 right now for most of my image processing......

I find my main problem for now is, I seem to overdo things a bit more than I do in LR for some reason.

I'm not entirely sure why, but I seem to....and once I develop things, and step away, I come back and have to back off things a good bit.

Maybe it is just getting used to new software....

C
 
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cayenne said:
Durf said:
cayenne said:
Durf said:
I'm using ON1 RAW myself....I opted for it, rather than getting LR6 which was the last non-subscription version.
What features are you looking for with regards to dropping LR?

Just curious...

TIA,

cayenne

Hi, I would like to see ON1 have a better import and organization system but for the most part I'm just waiting on them to fix a few bug issues especially with effects, masking, and layers which is causing some major slow downs in processing.

I've also had a few issues with ON1 sidecar files and also with some heavily processed photos looking different after exporting to my desktop as Jpegs.

All in all ON1's a great program and I'm just being a bit nit-picky as Lightroom has it's quirks too. (I'm also having a hard time weaning myself away from LightRoom)

I actually don't use photoshop all that much but with ON1 I find myself masking and using layers more often because of it's simplicity.....

Jumping back and forth from Lightroom and ON1 is getting old though and I'll probably end up using ON1 as a stand alone editor later this year when they release there next version....

Do you have the latest 2018.1 update?

They did do a lot of work on the import process....I watched the videos and then have been trying it and is pretty nice, I can now do many of the things I did in LR....I import from card, and also rename and send copies to backup NAS drive, key word...etc.

I set up Presets for this and I gotta say, its just about what I was doing with LR.

If you don't have the latest version, do an update, and then look at the On1 RAW latest videos that show importing and organizing....pretty cool stuff!!

HTH,

cayenne

I've got the latest version with the latest updates. It's an awesome program and will most likely replace Lightroom and Photoshop for me.

Once you get more in to it and start using a lot of effects, masking, and layers, you'll see why I'm a bit hesitant to jump ship with Adobe.....ON1 still needs to work a few bugs out and do some fixes. They are suppose to have a pretty thorough repair patch and possibly some additions in June I believe....I'm patiently waiting.

I'm actually using ON1 right now for most of my image processing......

I find my main problem for now is, I seem to overdo things a bit more than I do in LR for some reason.

I'm not entirely sure why, but I seem to....and once I develop things, and step away, I come back and have to back off things a good bit.

Maybe it is just getting used to new software....

C

Yes, you can quickly over do an image in ON1, LOL, it's way more powerful than Lightroom in my opinion.

Plus what's cool about it is that I can do what I normally do in Photoshop right in effects and layers and not have to transfer images back and forth from lightroom and photoshop while processing.

Once I win my inner psychological battle I'm having right now concerning totally getting away from Lightroom I'll be doing all my processing in ON1 only ;)
 
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stevelee

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Overdoing seems to come naturally, at least for me.

I don't do ON1 or Lightroom regularly, but open RAW files in ACR, because that's what I'm used to and don't need to do batches. I appreciate the light touch that ACR gives, and the ability to go back and tweak what I did, which you can with Lightroom and I assume ON1 (which I haven't tried in a while, so I don't recall).

But I find that when I use the equivalent filter in Photoshop, I tend to overcorrect. I immediately invoke the Fade command and move the slider around to see what looks best. Often about 75% of what I did with the filter is about right. I use Fade a lot otherwise for similar reasons (sometimes changing blend mode, and sometimes invoking the filter twice using different blend modes and small amounts each time).
 
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cayenne

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stevelee said:
Overdoing seems to come naturally, at least for me.

I don't do ON1 or Lightroom regularly, but open RAW files in ACR, because that's what I'm used to and don't need to do batches. I appreciate the light touch that ACR gives, and the ability to go back and tweak what I did, which you can with Lightroom and I assume ON1 (which I haven't tried in a while, so I don't recall).

But I find that when I use the equivalent filter in Photoshop, I tend to overcorrect. I immediately invoke the Fade command and move the slider around to see what looks best. Often about 75% of what I did with the filter is about right. I use Fade a lot otherwise for similar reasons (sometimes changing blend mode, and sometimes invoking the filter twice using different blend modes and small amounts each time).

Yes, with On1 RAW through most of the modules, you are still working with the RAW files and is purely non-destructive. When you get to the layers portion of On1, then you are in a comparable zone you would be in PS, in that you are then working on a rendered copy....although I "think" On1 either has or is working on a "smart object" analogous type container so you could still go back and change the rendered copy....?

That I'm not sure about yet....

But yes, I often correct and then I play heavily on each with the opacity level to dial it in.

Anyway, I think it is just new software I'm getting used to...the sliders in On! RAW do seem to do a LOT more at the extreme ends, than their equivalents in LR seem to do, and likely that is contributing to my overdoing adjustments.

I do with I had keyboard ways to "nudge" slider values by smaller values that I can do with my pen or mouse.....

C
 
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eml58

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I've been using On1 since inception, and upgraded each time to the latest version, like Cayenne I paid the extra and have the Pro version of RAW, the tutorial content and free access to downloadable content is absolutely worth the extra.

I still tend to go from LR (due to the excellent file management) out to PS and On1 RAW, currently I do most of my image changes in On1, then save back to LR.

The 2018 version may change my view on this process, I'm actually finding On1 RAW to be as a good a file management system as LR.

My only minor beef at present is that I'm tending to process my images in Photoshop Actions quite a lot these days, and On1 as yet do not have that similar capacity to Photoshop (although I do know On1 are looking to support this ability in the future), neither does LR for that matter.

I started using On1 as it offered Layers and in a much simpler system than PS, and I've continued to be extremely impressed with the whole On1 environment, I think the guys that put this software together and continue to grow and support the system are a breath of fresh air.
 
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cayenne

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eml58 said:
I've been using On1 since inception, and upgraded each time to the latest version, like Cayenne I paid the extra and have the Pro version of RAW, the tutorial content and free access to downloadable content is absolutely worth the extra.

I still tend to go from LR (due to the excellent file management) out to PS and On1 RAW, currently I do most of my image changes in On1, then save back to LR.

The 2018 version may change my view on this process, I'm actually finding On1 RAW to be as a good a file management system as LR.

My only minor beef at present is that I'm tending to process my images in Photoshop Actions quite a lot these days, and On1 as yet do not have that similar capacity to Photoshop (although I do know On1 are looking to support this ability in the future), neither does LR for that matter.

I started using On1 as it offered Layers and in a much simpler system than PS, and I've continued to be extremely impressed with the whole On1 environment, I think the guys that put this software together and continue to grow and support the system are a breath of fresh air.

Yep, it is very interesting.

I'm trying my hand at using On1 RAW in conjunction with Affinity Photo.....so far, working pretty darned well...still trying to get my keyboard short cuts memorized or altered to fit what I'm used to in PS and LR, and then occasionally, having to stop and research to see how something I did in PS is done in Affinity, usually just called something else (different name)...etc.

For example, today in On1 RAW, I was trying to set up my own preset adjustment for "Iris Enhance" like in LR. I couldn't really find the clarity...a little research and finding that with On1, the Structure slider is the close equivalent of Clarity.

I explored further and saw that maybe making a preset based off the Dynamic Contrast could maybe be something to look at too...etc.

Anyway..if nothing else, it is fun to try new things and learn new things. I'm still finding really cool ways to use all the masking in On1 RAW.

I'll be shooting Jazz Fest 2018 here in New Orleans the 2nd weekend, and this will be the first extreme test of doing a workflow sans Adobe, using On1 RAW and Affinity.....I'm shooting the 2nd weekend, Thurs-Sunday, and I think last year I shot close to avg 1000 images a day covering my two stages....

So, that will be a LOT of images to import, sort, cull, develop, and all.....a major test of On1 and my patience with doing something new.
:)

I shoot a lot of the gospel tent, and there well, it often tends to have a LOT of people on stage, and last year I had good results shooting some of them in a quick pano. So, I'll be working that aspect out of the tools too.

Anyway, I'll likely update here with results.

cayenne
 
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cayenne

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Jack Douglas said:
cayenne, really appreciate your thoughts and any suggestions that come from your experience. I don't have Photoshop background so in many respects it's more challenging but at least there isn't unlearning going on.

Jack

I've actually not had much a chance to play with the "photoshop" like section of On1 RAW...the "layers" area.

I've been having such a neat time learning how to do so many things in the RAW workflow, that are new to me and stuff that isn't in LR.

I prefer to do absolutely as much as possible with the RAW image....non-desctructive and easily altered if needed.

As a matter of fact, I just discovered that the latest version of On1 RAW has soft proofing.
I just played with that a bit....a simple example, but just to send some images to costco for 4x6 prints to send to my Mom from Xmas.

I downloaded the color profiles of the printers from Costco...and was interesting to see with soft proofing, the difference in what will be printed vs what I have on my screen. I will use this in the future, to make copies and adjustments to those copies that are specific for THAT printer....again, with RAW, easy to do without information loss.

I pretty much only use PS or Affinity Photo for PS type "heavy lifting"...like compositing images, or playing with painting effects, difficult touchups, erasing objects and reconstructing background, or just being weird for a day and seeing what I come up with.
:)

But it appears you can do some of that stuff in On1 RAW with the layers portion. I will try to find time to play with that, but right now, on a bit of a schedule, and I'm pretty sure that the On1 RAW layers area, while powerful, won't be nearly as complete as PS or Affinity Photo are....so, likely will just go to those when I have images that need heavy lifting processing.

Anyway...it is interesting.

C
 
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