FIRST EXPOSURE
each workspace is a tool palette, and next
to the tools is a panel appropriate to the
selected module. The center of the screen
is dominated by a large preview image
that you can quickly change to a view of
the original. To the right of the preview is
another panel appropriate to the module
selected and at the far right are icons used
to switch between modules. Along the
bottom of the interface are intuitive icons
for selecting different viewing options as
well as icons appropriate to the module
you are in. I rarely needed the menu bar at
the top of the interface. Photoshop users
will appreciate that the keyboard shortcuts
are, for the most part, identical.
WHAT WE LIKED
Photo RAW’s new functionality
worked largely as expected. It is certainly
capable of processing RAW files, and
the ease of making local adjustments
by masking with the Perfect Brush is
very welcome when compared with
the difficulties sometimes encountered
making local adjustments in other
software. The revised look to the interface
makes it easy to navigate through Photo
RAW, with all of the modules presenting
themselves without major redraws of the
screen. And the ability to copy and paste
only certain adjustments is a nice feature,
although Capture One does this far better.
WHAT WE DIDN’ T LIKE
While the new Develop module
includes sliders for all essential
adjustments, the range of adjustments
is fairly limited. Noise reduction is
particularly weak even though I like the
option of applying it to shadows or mid-tones without applying the noise reduction
to highlights. The Skin Retouching pane
softened portraits more than I would
have liked even when using its lowest
setting. And when using the white balance
eyedropper, I would have preferred to
have a read of the color temperature value
or at least see the slider move to a new
position.
As for the speed increases in Photo
RAW, I did find it faster than Photo 10,
but switching between modules in
Photo RAW was not as instantaneous
as I expected. Adjustments sometimes
needed to be rendered before switching,
and the browser would occasionally
introduce artifacts into my RAW files from
older Nikons that are not there in Bridge.
Unfortunately, these artifacts carried into
the Develop module too.
As for the final exported TIFF output,
I found it on par with Adobe Photoshop/
Camera Raw and Lightroom, but still not at
the level of Capture One, which remains
my gold standard.
HOW IT COMPARES
For photographers unwilling to
accept the Adobe subscription model or
the cost and learning curve of Capture
One, ON1 Photo RAW 2017 represents an
excellent option. This is especially true if
your image processing involves the use of
presets, which, while not new to Photo RAW,
are available in abundance, along with the
ability to create and save your own custom
presets. There are functions that Photo RAW
does not offer, but if those functions are
not part of your workflow, you have a much
cleaner interface to deal with. All in all, if
you need an image-processing program
for RAW, TIFF or JPEG captures, ON1 Photo
RAW 2017 works quite nicely.
Stan Sholik is a photographer based in
Santa Ana, CA, specializing in still-life and
macro photography. His latest book, Shoot
Macro, for Amherst Media is available now.
ABOVE: Final output using the skin-retouching
tools, exposure adjustment to darken the
background, and cropping and resizing.
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