September UPDATE:
I bit the bullet and bought ON1 RAW 2018.5, during a recent US$72 (upgrade price) promo whereby I will receive the next major update free, plus receive some presets free. This company seems to think that their tutorial/training videos are worth a lot of dosh, so they add dollar values in to the before-and-after discount ads. Real users just use Youtube to get tutorials free anyway.

I use this product as a free standing tool. 2018.5 seems to be faster than my previous 2018 version for reasonably basic editing in layers. It compares favourably with Lightroom and PS Elements for speed on my desktop computer now. That was the crux of my problem. Other software ran OK in terms of speed, so regardless of the state of my computer, ON1 RAW was a bust. I have not experienced any crashes on Windows 7, but I haven't yet pushed it very hard. Adjustment brushes now work reliably and quickly. The "fix" clone stamp is a little slow. Rendering and merging layers can be slow.

I will try out more demanding processes in the next few weeks, now that I have the patience to use it and learn it.


P.S. I have discovered why the discount promo was launched this month. The "2019" version of ON1 RAW is due in November, so the next major upgrade is not far away. It's not as if I have future proofed myself to a great extent. Of course, if that was my priority, I would be subscribing to PS CC.

See the launch announcement here:
https://www.on1.com/blog/an-all-new-...photo-raw-2019

The main features appear to be an ability to migrate work more effectively from Lightroom with existing edits preserved and more processes available in raw rather than jpeg, plus layer improvements. It is of course, billed as (insert fanfare here) an "All new photographic experience"

[top]