Originally posted by jcdoss Thanks for your review of ON1... I've been intrigued by it for quite a while, and with the new developments from Adobe, I'm now considering switch. Question for you as an experienced user; are the updates typically vital and worth the upgrade price? For LR, I usually updated every-other version until it went to subscription, for example.
G'Day Jason,
To answer your question about whether the updates are worth it I'll give you some background. I was using Lightroom from v2 to v6. I picked up On1 PPG 6 approx 5 years ago to be able to access one component for enlarging. The program had more than the enlarging module and as each year or so there was an update I updated it as well as my version of Lightroom. The On1 program was a handy plug-in but to be honest that was it's real forte back then jumping in and out from LR or PS. However, the final evolution of the On1 program before Photo RAW 2017 was a huge improvement over the earlier versions and could easily operate as a stand alone product. This meant that my workflow for 2016 started in Lightroom, jumped to On1 as a PSD then returned to Lightroom to finish and export.
In it's current form, Photo RAW 2017 On1 have created an alternative to Lightroom, better in several ways, yet lacking some features from Lightroom. But with the 2018 version there's not really a gap in capability, just a different approach. On1 will be adding auto elements I've been missing like panorama stitching so I'm glad they're adding this type of tool as it was one of the few LR advantages.
To leave it there though is not telling the whole story about the On1 program. Unlike Lightroom, On1 has the ability to work with layers and the masking tools are streets ahead of anything in Lightroom, especially with the additions in the new version releasing at the end of October. In many ways the program is now really slotting into a capability between Lightroom and Photoshop.
Looking at where On1 has come from and is now, it's a program that has really only matured in the last couple of years, so to say that an update is not worth it on recent experience I would have to say no because of the steep development path they've taken. However, that's history and the 2018 version is coming from a fully developed 2017 program and it might be a case of not needing to update to their 2019 release allowing you to adopt a similar approach to how you updated Lightroom.
I suggest you let them roll out their 2018 version then take up the 30 day free trial offer and test the water that way. If you do go with the trial I recommend focusing on the masking tools in Develop and FX as the new control options look really good.
Tas