If you already had an older version of ON1 Photo RAW 2019 installed, you were recently greeted with this exciting dialog:
And moments later, you had your FREE update to version 2019.5!
Today, ON1 is making this update available to everyone. If you do not currently own Photo RAW, you can download a free 30-day trial and check it out. The trial works for both Windows & Mac. Using the trial will not leave an ON1 watermark on photos. The trial period only begins the first time you launch the software. Previous owners will also receive discounted upgrade pricing from ON1 versions prior to 2019.
Regarding this update, the press release states, “ON1 continues rolling out valuable features in ON1 Photo RAW at breakneck speed making it the leading alternative to the Adobe® Photography Plan subscription. ON1 Photo RAW is currently the only solution to utilize AI-powered algorithms to transfer and display Lightroom edited photos in Photo RAW. The transferred photos and settings remain non-destructive and re-editable inside ON1 Photo RAW, so photographers do not lose years of work from Lightroom.
“For photographers not interested in making a switch, ON1 Photo RAW 2019.5 is also a world-class plug-in for Lightroom and Photoshop making it a compelling tool for any photography workflow. The latest version, ON1 Photo RAW 2019.5, includes powerful new features to increase productivity, additional organizing benefits, a ton of feature and performance enhancements, and new camera support.”
Here’s look at the interface as you browse your photo archives:
And again as you begin editing:
So what’s new in version 2019.5?
Dual Mode — Easily undock the Browse Module from the Edit Module, use a second display, or make sales or client presentations on a projector or TV.
Edit History — A full edit history is presented when working on photos. Each editing step is viewable, along with the ability to roll-back and compare adjustments.
Settings Applied Info — Quickly view which modules, tools and filters are applied to a photo. Double-click on a setting and jump straight to it in a non-linear fashion for further adjustments.
Selective Sync — Enhanced granularity in which settings to apply when syncing your settings (or pasting and saving a preset). Drill down and only apply a white balance adjustment. The ability to sync cropping, retouching and brush strokes between photos is also included.
Hierarchical Keywords — The master keyword list now supports nesting keywords inside of other keywords. Organize keywords as you see fit. Import a list of nested keywords from other apps like Adobe Lightroom®.
Apple® Photos® Extension Enhancements — Integration with Apple Photos now supports the full raw data, improving adjustments to tone and color. It also supports re-editable non-destructive editing and more native ON1 Photo RAW features like layers, crop, and text.
First Launch Experience — If it is your first time using ON1 Photo RAW, there are new walkthroughs to help you learn the basics.
Tool Tips — Tool tip animations improve the usability and shorten the learning curve for each tool.
ON1 has been been working diligently on improving performance in many specific areas that include zooming, panning, brushing, and exporting to make the entire editing process more fluid and fun. VP Product, Dan Harlacher states “The latest update gives us a significant boost in quality, performance, and an abundance of new features and enhancements. The ON1 community drove a lot of this via their contributions to the Photo RAW Project.”
Additional Enhancements in Version 2019.5:
Layers Enhancements — Create a new canvas of any size or change the size of the existing canvas.
Text Tool Enhancements — Add a background color to a text box and control its opacity. Easily control the character and line spacing. New options also will allow photographers to duplicate and change the order of text boxes and automatically insert text from a photo’s metadata.
Performance Improvements — Zooming, panning, and brushing are now much faster. A new preview quality option can help increase performance on lower-end and integrated video cards as well. Export is now up to 10x faster when resizing or exporting a photo or photos already edited.
Local Adjustments — The Local Adjustments tools will be faster to brush and adjust.
Windows High-DPI — Support for high-dpi displays on Windows will be dramatically improved. The scaling of the fonts and controls will work much better, especially on 4k displays and laptops.
Keywording — Keywords will be easier to search, add, delete, and modify. Also, keywords are now case sensitive.
Soft Proofing in Resize — The soft-proofing feature will also be available in ON1 Resize (Genuine Fractals®).
Drag and Drop from Film Strip — Drag and drop photos from the film strip to add them as new layers.
Increased Thumbnail Size Range — The range of thumbnail size will be increased, so photographers can go all the way up to two giant thumbnails or down to tiny thumbnails to survey an entire folder.
Default Photo Location — Now control the default photo location in Browse. This is where ON1 Photo RAW will look to find photos instead of the Pictures folder.
Preview the Resize Algorithm — When using the Genuine Fractals algorithm, photographers will be able to preview the resulting quality at 100% zoom to more accurately adjust the options and sharpening.
Persistent Crop Preset State — The crop tool settings will be persistent and remembered across photos.
Search by Adjustments Added — Search for photos based on specific adjustments applied such as cropped, retouched, etc.
Update to Lightroom Migration — The Lightroom Migration tool will now migrate the pick and reject flags.
Added for Support New Cameras and Lenses
Many other under-the-hood bug fixes and performance improvements.
What’s Ahead for ON1
ON1 continues to work on expanding their existing application into a complete photography workflow ecosystem. Several internal projects will be introduced to the market within the year. These include solutions for photographers using mobile devices in their workflow, localization of the application and website into multiple languages, incorporating more AI-powered features to streamline browsing and editing as well as improved printing and publishing. Additional features and functionality for customers who are shooting video as part of their photography process are also coming.
“The next year will be the biggest in our company history. A lot of these internal projects we’ve been working on will finally get introduced to the market. There is a lot to be excited about for our customers and our industry, and it all starts with Photo RAW 2019.5,” says Craig Keudell, ON1 President & CEO.
For more information, click here.