The third and final post in a three-part series from ON1 Founder and President, Craig Keudell. View part 1 here, part 2 here.
As we celebrate 15 years of ON1 photography with new releases of ON1 360, ON1 Photo RAW 2020.5, and ON1 Photo Mobile, we wanted to share a little bit about what’s ahead in our product roadmap. Where do we see ON1’s focus a year from now, two years from now? As good as our software solutions are today, we believe the best is yet to come.
Since the beginning, we’ve been designing and building software applications for photographers. The early days were all about making plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop, then Lightroom and Apple Aperture. Since then, a few have come along to compete with the old guys, like Capture One and, of course, ON1.
ON1 has always been about working where photographers work, as a plug-in, or standalone. In recent years, more of our focus has been on making our standalone products better. That’s about to change this fall as we get back into creating solutions that fit the photographers’ workflow. We will put the photographer first.
Whether it be standalone, plug-in, desktop, mobile, type of photography, or videography, we feel ON1 will fill any gap that exists in your workflow or complete your entire workflow. Solutions that deliver professional quality photography at a very high value price point. This approach won’t replace our existing strategic plans with ON1 Photo RAW. It will significantly enhance and expand our ability to solve critical needs for photographers, software solutions that save them time, regardless of their workflow.
Outside of Adobe, there isn’t a great workflow for photographers wanting to sync and edit with more advanced features across multiple computers and mobile devices. There certainly isn’t one that offers as many choices and freedoms as ON1.
You will always have a say in the products we develop, how you purchase, options for where you store your photos, and flexibility for your workflow. With ON1, you maintain control of your photography and are never locked in a closed system. Our customers like it this way, and we think you will too.
Again, the best of ON1 is yet to come. We are one company of photographers, designing software for photographers, and that won’t change. ON1 will deliver new photo and video products for all workflows and all levels of photographers, providing an integrated creative workflow. We will always put photographers first.
All the Best,
Craig Keudell
President
Take Photography Further.
72 comments on “The Best Is Yet To Come”
On July 26, 2020 at 9:58 am Domingos Rodrigues wrote:
Thank you guys and girls of course.
On July 27, 2020 at 1:12 am David Hirst wrote:
Sounds promising but it would be a great help for On1 to have a tethering ability for Sony. I could then just use one platform across the board. Keep up the great work regards David
On July 27, 2020 at 6:17 am Michel replied:
I want tethering for Pentax and Olympus.
On August 5, 2020 at 4:25 am Catherine Tremerryn replied:
Yes please, Olympus seems to get left out.
On July 28, 2020 at 8:31 am Craig Keudell replied:
Thank you David!
On July 27, 2020 at 2:24 am Roger Carver wrote:
Good to hear but can you also keep a Standalone and non 360 version please.
On July 27, 2020 at 10:18 am Chris Grover replied:
I agree. I get a little concerned when they say, “ON1 has always been about working where photographers work, as a plug-in, or standalone. In recent years, more of our focus has been on making our standalone products better. That’s about to change this fall as we get back into creating solutions that fit the photographers’ workflow. We will put the photographer first.”
I’m concerned they won’t continue to fix the things that still don’t work in the newest version of ON1 PhotoRaw…printer module, occasional slowness, and especially the keyword list. This is a GREAT product, but I’d really like to be able to find my photos from the keyword list and without having to run through a bunch of keywords I didn’t put into the list and without an ability to delete them in any way.
On July 27, 2020 at 12:39 pm Travis Butler replied:
Yes, that phrase about ‘standalone products’ bothered me as well. I’d rather see them polish the current products than introduce something new – Photo Raw’s biggest problem for me has always been its unfinished feel as a piece of software, compared with either Lightroom or Capture One.
Speed is still a big issue. Glitchy behavior like what you describe – or having the Filter > By Lens option show duplicate entries in the lens list, or having no pictures show up when you pick a lens. I feel like the entire application could use a top-to-bottom review and polish, to get a solid foundation to build the next round of new features.
On July 27, 2020 at 12:46 pm Yvan replied:
I fully agree with this comment! With the latest version 2020.5, there are new bugs (ex. loosing edits, crashes), the print module is worse than v.2019 in a pro setting with large printers, and it is still slow when you have a certain number of edits with brushes. I have invested a lot of time since the launch of PhotoRaw, I was almost happy with v. 2019 but version 2020 makes me looking at alternatives. Robustness and speed for existing functions are more important to me than new functions. I still have to rely on other raw editors and RIP software to do my work in some cases.
On July 28, 2020 at 8:32 am Craig Keudell replied:
We have no plans, ZERO, to go away from our standalone versions.
On July 27, 2020 at 2:27 am JeanMaurice wrote:
would love to see a ruler (inches and cm.)
Just upgraded to 2020.1.5. which I run on my I Mac with plenty of ram..!16 gig. and a 3 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i5, with a Radeon Pro 560X 4 GB graphic processor.
I found the the software is rather slow to process the images. compared to the previous version. Any suggestions as to how I may correct that?
Thank you.
On July 28, 2020 at 8:33 am Craig Keudell replied:
Please expect to be contacted by our team regarding the recent problems with 2020.5 slowness, brushing issues, or other related performance issues and we will be addressing them as soon as possible.
On July 28, 2020 at 12:42 pm Tieme Pool replied:
Can’t wait for those issues to be solved 🙂 I face them too. Meanwhile I brought the resolution for my monitor down drastically which helps.
Good to hear that you won’t move away from stand-alone, and good job!! On1 Raw 2020 really helped me getting more active as a photographer, because editing photos is fun again 😀
On July 27, 2020 at 2:33 am Robert Benyon wrote:
All a bit vague, but here’s hoping! I also would like a non360 version and some speckled brushes to help blend mask edges.
On July 27, 2020 at 10:28 am Chris Grover replied:
I’m with you on the non-360. I know I don’t have a need for it, but it will be useful for some, I suppose.
YES with regard to speckled brushes. It’s a small addition I’ve been looking for in the last few editions, without luck so far. I really like some of the new features, especially the AI Quick Mask. It’s worked every time for me so far.
I do wish they could create a keyword module that records ONLY keywords input by the user. And then allow the user to delete current keyword module and reinstall the new keyword list module. In other words, leave it up to the user as to whether they want to re-input their keywords again. Barring that, then let it be known well in advance that a new version is coming out with a Keyword module that allows Users to control all the words that go into the list AND make them aware they will have to rebuild their lists.
On July 27, 2020 at 12:48 pm Yvan replied:
I agree with the issue with keywords, it is unusable as is.
On July 28, 2020 at 10:24 am Charles Rodgers replied:
Agreed – keywords function is unusable as is. Needs keyword editing and DELETING function.
On July 28, 2020 at 10:26 am Craig Keudell replied:
You can right click on a keyword today, and edit and/or delete it.
On July 28, 2020 at 11:24 am Charles Rodgers replied:
Thank you. Clearly I need to apologise on that one – my apologies.?
Before I go off on one again, is there a way to colour sample RGB values?
On July 28, 2020 at 12:47 pm Charles Rodgers replied:
…and to be clear by that I mean pick and compare multiple different samples on the same image, with RGB comparisons side by side?
On July 27, 2020 at 4:43 am Jim Misch wrote:
Absolutely love what you are doing with ON1. No problems on my MacBook Pro “0”.
360 even in its infancy has been an incredible feature. Is there a bug here or there? Sure but nothing that gets in the way of using the program.
Looking forward to the future and what it brings.
Thank you for all you and the On1 staff do to get the best to us!
….. Jim
PS…. My Mac is a 15″ MBP running the latest beta of Big Sur.
On July 28, 2020 at 8:39 am Craig Keudell replied:
Thanks for the feedback Jim!
On July 27, 2020 at 5:02 am Robert Shrader wrote:
Would love to see ON1 Photo RAW revised to better cooperate with external DAMs, allowing launch of an image in ON1 from the DAM with correct saving strategy.
On July 27, 2020 at 5:32 am noni engstrom wrote:
I just love the FREEDOM of choice On1 gives me and I am happy with just On1 Photo Raw 2020 and the possibility to BUY an update IF I WANT TO.
Your web seminares and various tips and tricks are highly appreciated.
Thank you all!
On July 27, 2020 at 5:52 am Neil Shapiro wrote:
On1 PhotoRaw has always had a lot of promise…so I’ve purchased every release so far. But the honest truth is it never really fulfilled its promise of being as good of a DAM as Lightroom (or as promised better than), and more importantly, being faster than Lightroom at importing as Lightroom (if you index in On1, it’s slower). I’m still waiting…I’m not unhappy about supporting the cause with my purchases, but perhaps sadly, I’m still using LR and not using On1.
At least from my point of view, the cloud focus of the new On1 was the opposite direction I (personally) wanted On1 to take. I don’t use Adobe’s, and I can’t see using On1’s either. It may make sense for some customers, but not this one. I have too many photos–over 300,000…it’s hard enough to manage them in a LR library. I have other cloud services (Dropbox, Backblaze) for backup, and my own websites. Backblaze is unlimited.
Anyway, that’s my honest opinions and feedback so far. I will keep my eye on On1 and hopefully someday I will find I can use it.
On July 27, 2020 at 12:30 pm Jürgen Herr replied:
Although I would really appreciate a good sync with mobile, I could have done with my OneDrive account. I very much fear, that this attempt to be everything for everybody will be too much for ON1 resources. I would prefer them to focus on Photo Raw.
On July 27, 2020 at 12:50 pm Yvan replied:
I fully agree with these last two comments. Well said!
On July 28, 2020 at 8:41 am Craig Keudell replied:
Hi Neil, We aren’t going to be abandoning the non-360 version of Photo RAW. There is zero chance of that and also zero chance we will over move to subscription-only software. We promised long ago we would never do that and intend to keep that promise.
On July 27, 2020 at 6:00 am Margo and Scott Noreen wrote:
Another vote to keep a Standalone and non 360 version! The very reason I left Adobe LightRoom was because of being forced into a subscription model (and not an inexpensive one either…). I had 10+ years in LR catalogs and tried to hold onto the last desktop version for a long time, but it wasn’t being updated and was obviously at its end. I was VERY happy to discover ON1 and how much of my invested learning in LR went into it. I have been so impressed with the improvements (for the most part… there are definitely hiccups here and there… like now…) along the way. I love all the Tutorials from Dylan Kotecki, making it even more learnable, approachable.
Please keep a non-subscription, standalone version available and supported!
On July 27, 2020 at 12:42 pm Travis Butler replied:
Same here; I no longer use Lightroom because of the subscription requirement. I moved to On1 because it was a standalone product; if it goes subscription-priority, I’ll start looking for a replacement again.
On July 28, 2020 at 8:42 am Craig Keudell replied:
Here’s my vote too! Don’t worry, we aren’t going to a subscription only model. Zero chance. A big part of our plans is to keep developing ON1 Photo RAW standalone, fixing issues, and adding new features.
On July 27, 2020 at 6:04 am Jim Varrone wrote:
Agree on the reduction of performance. I have been anxiously looking forward to cutting the Lightroom cord for some time. Of all the other products I’ve looked at ever since LR went subscription, ON1 was the most promising as not only an LR replacement but also an improvement over LR. However, since this last iteration and the introduction of ON1-360 it appears ON1 isn’t going in the right direction. I have been using ON1 products since its inception as a plug-in.
In my mind, there is an audience of thousands upon thousands of users who would love to get free of Lightroom. We are a much larger market share than convincing people that they need and want to keep their photos in the cloud so they can edit them on their mobile devices.
On July 28, 2020 at 8:43 am Craig Keudell replied:
An ON1 team member should be reaching out to you regarding the performance issues. Thanks for being a customer!
On July 27, 2020 at 6:09 am Daniela Paletti wrote:
Now that you have also localized it in my language, I appreciate it very much, I have updated to the latest version, I hope I can love it a little more as soon as I will update my Mac, for the moment … thank you very much
On July 27, 2020 at 6:35 am Glen A. Fox wrote:
My concerns focus around DAM and use as a browser. I’d love to see you add the capability for code replacement in keywording. Before you put a lot of effort into developing the latest and greatest, please put the efforts into perfecting the latest version. I totally agree with other comments. Lets make the current version glitch free first. I have been using your products from the beginning.
On July 27, 2020 at 6:38 am John Reed wrote:
I sure hope someone at OnOne is paying attention to all the foregoing comments, especially the one about fix what you’ve got and stop worrying over promised bells and whistles. They are right on target…still can’t compete with LR for asset management, slow and clunky, really don’t care to have bundled with 360. I’m also not much interested in mobile either. Maybe I’m just too fussy but no way can I edit with precision to the degree I feel is necessary on a small laptop, iPad, or smartphone.
On July 27, 2020 at 6:38 am Patrick Whalen wrote:
I h as be enjoyed On1 over the years as an editing add on to Adobe. However, I think you are going too far. I do not want all the fluff thrown at me to purchase. Tutorials on how to use On1 are fine. Just slow down wit everything else.
There is one thing that really bugs me. The expression, your photo our look, in my opinion is very condescending.
I have been selling my photos juried art shows for thirty years. It’s bad enough hearing art these photoshopped all the time. I don’t need your company reinforcing it.
Anyways, On1, in its original carnation is fine. I think you are going too far.
On July 27, 2020 at 6:39 am daveclarkret1983 wrote:
I have been a user of your products since the plug-in only days and like 2020, Raw but do not like all the crashes and agree with others that .5 is slower. I will join the chorus in requesting that you maintain a stand-alone version and fix the bugs before moving on to other features.
On July 27, 2020 at 12:53 pm Yvan replied:
Well said!
On July 28, 2020 at 8:44 am Craig Keudell replied:
Hi Dave, I will make sure an ON1 team member reaches out and helps to address your issues.
On July 27, 2020 at 7:07 am Patrick Whalen wrote:
On1 was great when it was a plug-in. It will never replace Photoshop or Lightroom. I have been using program for a long time. I remember on many occasions calling tech support and talking to Nathan.
When you started the, My photo your looks, campaign I decided it was time for me to do my photo my looks.
On July 27, 2020 at 7:29 am james welsh wrote:
I agree with much of the above, fix the bugs, leave the cloud for others. Please concentrate on desktop app. Most of us semi-pros do not use 360, it’s for the iPhone users.
In this latest version, I frequently have heavily edited images never return to the browser. A few reappear, but many do not.
On July 27, 2020 at 12:58 pm Yvan replied:
Exact! I’m a pro photographer and feel On1 is abandoning us for profit with the larger crowd of phonographers. Developing new capabilities for phones + cloud while not improving the core PR robustness and speed is an indication that pro and prosumer photographers may not be their primary target anymore. From a business point of view, it may make sense. From my point of view, I have to decide if I stay with On1 or move to CaptureOne or DXO PhotoLab.
On July 28, 2020 at 8:47 am Craig Keudell replied:
Hello James, we will make sure someone reaches out to you immediately regarding the missing edits. Apologize for this. Also, we have zero plans to stop developing a non-subscription version of Photo RAW and going subscription only. Zero. Years ago we promised our Photo RAW customers that we will NEVER FORCE YOU INTO A SUBSCRIPTION.
On July 27, 2020 at 7:56 am Richard Wise wrote:
I have 360 and it’s a nice addition, however, ON1 2020 is my bread and butter program. I find that retouching needs a lot of work. I have had a problem when I use the clone stamp the image reverts back to the original before cloning. The only way around this is to convert the file to a PSD using Resize and then working on the cloning. I know that there have been a number of other people who have had the same issue. I agree with others that the masking is slow. I hope ON1 addresses the issues mentioned above and the one I mentioned before creating a new version. By the way, Dylan’s videos are great and he is a great asset to the company.
On July 28, 2020 at 8:48 am Craig Keudell replied:
Hi Richard, I will make sure an ON1 team member reaches out to diagnose your issue and get it fixed asap
On July 28, 2020 at 9:53 am Chris Grover replied:
I’m curious. You’ve mentioned this to several people that have specific issues, however these issues are probably being experienced by many users–I know I’m having issues with the clone stamp. Will these fixes come to the rest of us through more frequent updates?
On July 28, 2020 at 10:11 am Craig Keudell replied:
We need to make sure we understand the issue first, but yes if we determine it is wide spread. We will fix it.
On July 27, 2020 at 10:06 am Jürgen Herr wrote:
I have been using Photo RAW since the first version. However, for me the „focus“ of On1 today is less clear than ever. You are focusing on „ON1 Photo RAW“ as standalone and Plugin, 360 and „On1 Photo Mobile“ and maybe the upcoming video solution as well.
I would very much appreciate, if you would be more clear about your focus:
Will the desktop app be prioritized or rather 360 or mobile?
Will usability and bug fixing be prioritized or new features?
Of course, ist is easier, to promise everything, but in reality that is not possible.
Therefore, I at least would prefer a clear communication where you are heading.
On July 28, 2020 at 8:49 am Craig Keudell replied:
The desktop version will always be our top priority. Unless photographers suddenly stop using computers of course. Bug fixes and quality are also a top priority of ours.
On July 27, 2020 at 10:33 am Chris Grover wrote:
Although I don’t need 360 or the mobile applications I really like this program. I’ve used it for several years and each year it gets faster and there are more usable applications within the program that make my workflow much easier and much more efficient…the AI Quick Mask for instance. Keep improving ON1 PhotoRaw for those of us who create photographs while outdoors or in our studios and who process them indoors at our desktop computers.
On July 28, 2020 at 8:50 am Craig Keudell replied:
Will do!
On July 27, 2020 at 11:12 am David Price wrote:
In my case ON1 and Photo Raw has replaced Lightroom, and I don’t have any reason to miss Lightroom.
This is because, Photo Raw is fundamentally so good. There was and is, nothing that I could do in Lightroom, that I cannot now do in Photo Raw. Photo Raw is a very flexible and capable package, and more than earns it’s keep. Think about it, where else can you, (in a single package), combine a really good raw processor, with a top of the class effects package, aided by clever masking tools, and also be able to create compositions in layers. Once that you learn the UI, it is a quick and easy to use package, with surprising depth. Also, working in a totally non-destructive environment is fantastic.
I think that 360, and the new Mobile app, are potentially products that will do very well, and could well draw in a wider range of photographers, to the wonderful world of image processing. i.e. the mobile phone generation.
However, judging from other’s comments, (as made above), 360 has introduced a wide range of problems. However, I don’t seem to be suffering from any of the complained about problems. Mind you, I have not yet synced my copy to 360.
My copy of Photo Raw is pretty near stable. (Let us be honest now, even MS Word crashes every now and again. And, I would say that my copy of Photo Raw crashes at about the same frequency as my copy of MS Word. i.e. crashes are relatively rare events).
So, I will wish all at ON1 the very best, and hope for another fantastic 15 years.
On July 28, 2020 at 8:50 am Craig Keudell replied:
Thank you for being a customer David!
On July 27, 2020 at 11:25 am Dave Viklund wrote:
On1 is one of my favorite editing tools but I find myself stepping away from it more and more. I keep having problems with it crashing as well as seeming buggy at times. I like the program well enough I live with those times. My biggest problem is I would like to see the ability to “round trip” a layer with other software like Affinity Photo, Topaz, Nik etc.. Since I can’t seem to do that I end up skipping On1 in my work flow when I know I am going to use one of those other tools. Since I use Topaz denoise on most of my photos, I end up skipping On1 more often than not in favor of a program I can round trip to denoise in. Sad since, for most of my editing, the results I get with On1 are the results I am usually the most happy with.
On July 28, 2020 at 8:51 am Craig Keudell replied:
Hi Dave, Integration with Affinity is something we are planning on. So hopefully, ON1 can fit into your workflow once again. Also, someone will be reaching out to you regarding the issues you are encountering.
On July 27, 2020 at 11:26 am James Lassoie wrote:
Craig et al.
As I’ve said elsewhere I’m a dedicated ON1 user (going back to your plug-in days) but do occasionally bounce into and out of PS. I’ve found ON1 fits my type of photography that usually involves post-process for effect/interpretation often using Photomorphsis textures (which are a class act.). In keeping with the tone of earlier comments about continuing to work on ‘bugs’ and downsides, please give some careful attention to the print mod in ON1 2020…I find it very difficult to use and it often leads to unexpected disasters! Hence, I print from PS, Epson, or Silverfast PrinTao. It needs attention to better match the quality I expect from ON1.
On July 28, 2020 at 8:52 am Craig Keudell replied:
Appreciate the feedback, we are on it.
On July 27, 2020 at 12:15 pm Jim Varrone wrote:
Please don’t discontinue “Your Photo Our Look!” Some times, even many times, the iterations don’t suit my taste. But, some, even many have taught me something I didn’t know or thought of. Even if I didn’t like all of the modifications to the particular photo under review I often learn of things I can apply to my other photos.
On July 27, 2020 at 1:18 pm David Price wrote:
When it comes to Plus and the Blog, yes ‘Your photo, Our look,’ can be excellent. And being challenged by something that we would not normally do, can be a source of serious, rut breaking, inspiration. So too are the critiques, and the occasions where Hudson has re-edited our raw files, and taken them in sometimes completely unexpected directions. The other Guru’s including Scott Davenport, have also been inspirational.
Plus Membership, year after year, has been worth every penny!
On July 27, 2020 at 4:35 pm walter ballard wrote:
I would like to see additional effort on plugin support; e.g., we use to be able to export multiple photos and take advantage of all ON1 capabilities like layers and functions like photo stacking.
On July 27, 2020 at 8:21 pm Dolores wrote:
Please, please perfect ON1 2020 Photo Raw. I, too, have been with ON1 since plug-in days. ON1 has done some fantastic work, but a major flaw of the company is that they almost never perfect any program before they move on to newer and “better” things. I find that very, very disappointing.
On July 28, 2020 at 1:57 am rumblebird wrote:
I am very happy with Photo Raw since I purchased it in late 2017. Adobe with its monthly fees never was worth a thought for me so I looked around and tested different software. Photo Raw was perfect for me as an amateur photographer.
Craig’s Blog is in my eyes the announcement that the standalone version is going to die in a forseeable future. This makes start again and look for alternative software.
Instead of “the best yet to come” I would prefer that you maintain the standalone version, fix the bugs, provide us with a usefull interface for keyword management and, at best, enhance DAW functionality.
On July 28, 2020 at 8:27 am Craig Keudell replied:
There are ZERO plans to go away from the standalone version of Photo RAW. Years ago we promised our Photo RAW customers that we will NEVER FORCE YOU INTO A SUBSCRIPTION. That is still and will always be the case, period.
On July 30, 2020 at 6:02 pm Arlene Dalasinski replied:
Stand alone software – Yes! So sorry to see the rolling squelching trend in other places. So glad I found this software. Thanks for all you do here.
On July 28, 2020 at 11:36 am William Adamski wrote:
Overall I like the program. I do,however, have a minor suggestion. Some of the splash screens are good and some are not. Why not give us the option to turn them off completely or, in the alternative, give us a choice of three or four that we could choose from.
On July 28, 2020 at 7:05 pm Chris Grover replied:
Or, as one last alternative…we’re all photographers, maybe we could have the opportunity to use our own photos on the splash page.
On July 31, 2020 at 5:04 pm Riche Rifknd wrote:
Absolutely loving the software, best thing I’ve ever done since becoming Photographer, becoming an On1 user. Craig Keudell I hope soon that you are able to start hinting about On1 Video 2020. Videos are becoming a part of my workflow as much as Photos.
On August 7, 2020 at 12:53 pm termarl wrote:
I posted a comment to this blog 3 or 4 days ago, where I listed a number of annoyances with ON1 PR that apparently were considered abusive or unfounded or over the top or hit too close to home? I mention this because today I decided to revisit the blog and I find my comments not included in the thread.
On August 12, 2020 at 10:19 pm Martin wrote:
Why can’t you refine the existing version and make it as fast and as bug free as you can? Surely a stable, fast product garners more people towards On1 rather than releasing a new version every year that we know is going to get the regular ‘fixes’ update. (Still bummed that smart albums got buried under Advanced Search for no apparent reason.)
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