ON1 Photo RAW 2024
So here it is, the 2024 version of one of my favorite image editing, management, and development programs:
Hailed as faster than the previous version in almost every respect, expectations are high.
Let’s see if the marketing claims hold up and to what extent ON1 PhotoRaw delivers in practice.
Installation
Unfortunately, the initial release could only be installed or launched if the add-ons were installed in the default directory on drive C. If they were installed on a different drive, ON1 wouldn't launch at all. To be honest, I have no idea how something like this could have been overlooked during testing.
Unless, of course, they were desperate to meet a release date at all costs. In that case, “bugs” like this can sometimes slip through the cracks.
Fortunately, a first update was released fairly quickly, which fixed this and several other bugs.
Let’s cut ON1 some slack.
Speed
At first glance, the program doesn't feel any slower than its predecessor when navigating in Browse mode. It's noticeable that the PC's fans kick in from time to time—more on that below.
The transition from the Browse to the Develop module feels faster. The wait time until the image finishes loading also feels shorter, and the same goes for the sliders and effects. Compared to the 2023 version, the experience feels more polished.
However, to create this sense of speed—or to live up to the marketing buzzwords—ON1 PhotoRAW pulls a few tricks out of its bag.
For example, the RAW file previews rely on the embedded thumbnail—which is very fast but, unfortunately, often looks completely different from the RAW file itself.
The same applies to the preview quality itself—as in previous versions, the setting is set to “Fast” rather than “Accurate.”
Fortunately, these settings can be changed quickly, and once the previews have been generated, scrolling through the image collections is very fast.
Resource Consumption
If you haven't cataloged any folders yet, resource usage (CPU and RAM) is on par with the previous version.
When I start cataloging larger folders, usage naturally goes up, but it should go back down once cataloging is complete.
But that’s exactly what isn’t happening with my installation. Even when idle, ON1 2024 is using a good 25% of CPU power and more than double the amount of RAM.
After running a few tests, I figured out that it’s due to the AI keywords. If these are enabled (regardless of the settings) for the cataloged folders, ON1 PhotoRAW continues to consume a significant amount of resources even in idle mode, which doesn’t really make sense to me.
For now, I’ve solved this for myself as follows:
Once all folders with KeywordAI enabled have been cataloged, KeywordAI remains active only for the folder containing the images imported from the camera.
This way, I now have the automatically generated keywords listed in the Browse module even for the archive folders. However, ON1 no longer uses any resources for this. For newly imported images that haven’t been tagged yet, the AI is welcome to take over.
Ultimately, though, this should be fixed with a bug fix.
Other annoyances
Be careful right now if you have the "Show subfolder contents" view enabled.
If you enable this option only after opening a folder with a large number of subfolders and images (in my case, 30,000 images), the images appear almost instantly.
However, if I click on the same folder when the “Show Subfolder Contents” option is already enabled, it suddenly takes several minutes for the images to appear.
Furthermore, it’s noticeable that ON1 doesn’t always reliably free up memory.
One example is switching from Browse to Develop. RAM usage then increases slightly—but it doesn’t always drop back down when switching back to Browse mode.
During a longer session, RAM usage keeps climbing higher and higher. The same applies when frequently switching between thumbnail and filmstrip views.
This issue also needs to be addressed urgently.
While we’re at it, the display of the color bar in the “Color Balance Effect” could also be corrected—it doesn’t display colors correctly. If you set the sliders below the color bar to 100, you’ll often end up with “Red” as the color.
High-Level Complaining
Many of the points listed are, in fact, just nitpicking. All in all, the 2024 version runs smoothly for me. When it comes to the available effects and filters, ON1 is in a league of its own, in my opinion—I don’t know of any comparable program.
It’s just fun to play around with the filters and effects.
The results it produces meet even professional standards. And even if BrillanceAI sometimes goes a bit overboard, it’s a good starting point for further customization.
Furthermore, you now get a TB of cloud storage if you subscribe to “Anything Plus,” which corresponds to the previous ON1 Plus subscription.
In my opinion, ON1 PhotoRAW 2024 is a program that’s in a class of its own when it comes to RAW editing. For me, further editing of RAW files in another program is only necessary in absolutely exceptional cases.
The program really doesn’t need all the marketing hype.
I assume that most bugs will be fixed in one of the upcoming updates—just as was the case with previous versions.
As far as I know, the next update is scheduled to be released by the end of 2023.
Nils: on 27.01.2024
Ralf Kerkhoff: on 27.01.2024
"komisch" trifft es ganz gut. Die Übersetzung ist manchmal beinahe schon lustig. Da fast alle Tutorials/Videos in englischer Sprache sind, nutze ich in der Regel die englische Oberfläche.