Check out the new ON1 Photo RAW 2025 Update

[@brianstott8773]

Great update Chris, I find the Ai generative fill absolutely hopeless and would to remove it from the tools if I could, the only Ai I find useful is the mask options other than that Ai is beginning to spoil On1 for me.

[@FreeWillPhotos]

I can understand the frustration with the generative AI tools in ON1. It really is hit or miss with the generative ai removal tool. My hope is that it does get better, but I do see ON1 spending a lot of time and money on developing that feature because they are trying to keep up with the other companies. Im not sure how often I will use the generative AI tools in my own photos, but we will see where they go. I think they can get the masks a little bit more refined as well, but we will see what the future holds with ON1.

[@rc8368]

Another excellent video. Personally, I have a complex relationship with ON1 Photo Raw. While I acknowledge the industry’s shift towards AI and ON1’s efforts to incorporate it, I believe they should prioritize enhancing the program’s performance and resource efficiency. My Mac Studio M2, equipped with 64 GB of RAM, experiences a significant temperature increase from 98° to 145° upon launching ON1. Furthermore, the 2025 update has rendered the 2024 Apple Pro Res (DNG) captured using the iPhone 16 Pro camera incompatible with the program. When I inquired about this issue with support, they indicated that they were unable to decipher Apple’s photo algorithm. Despite this, they are simultaneously developing new AI capabilities.

[@FreeWillPhotos]

Wow that is a complex relationship you have. I have also experienced in the past my CPU running hot, but that was with the first versions of 2024. This version averages around 112 degrees with my M1 mac mini running 16GB RAM. I know the Apple Silicon chipset is new for the software industry, and the technology advances almost faster than the designers can keep up. This is not my expertise, but I imagine ON1 address those matters behind the scenes. I do hope they get these issues resolved for you in future updates.

[@rc8368]

@@FreeWillPhotos I am a subscriber to your channel, and your latest video provides further evidence to support my argument. When you launched the Generative AI tools in your demonstration, you made the decision to refrain from cutting away during the process. This allowed me to witness the painstaking and slow process that your Mac was experiencing. Furthermore, the inability of ON1 to process DNG Raw files from the 16 Pro series iPhones is a significant oversight on their part. I have consistently captured photographs using iPhones since the 13 model, and ON1 has consistently been able to edit these images. However, it is concerning that they are now claiming to be unable to resolve this issue for the iPhone 16 Pro.

[@mkwalk2385]

Hi Chris, another great video as usual. My experience with this update is less than positive. The first time trying to use It with Generative Erase caused issues with my video card - made the PC crash. Happened twice in a row. I had to uninstall and reinstall the video card drivers both times. I contacted ON1 support and basically they blamed it on my video card not being able to handle AI due to its age (manufactured before 2019). Prior to this update, ON1 ran fine, even using Generative Erase. I did buy a new video card but haven't installed yet. Another issue I noted was with how much disk space ON1 takes up. I've been using ON1 since 2021, so that's 5 versions. The ON1 folder in User/AppData is over 150gb. Some files do get overwritten or deleted when upgrading but not the cache folders and you currently can't assign them to other drives.

[@FreeWillPhotos]

Thanks for the feedback, and I also ran into that issue with ON1 a few years ago. I found a way to offload the cache files on a Mac to an external hard drive, and I have not had an issue with the cache ever since. I am not sure if the process would work the same on a windows based computer, but in the preferences I just selected different folders on a separate SSD. I just checked those folders and they are less than 100KB. To change the preferences, you may be able to select the cache folders under System and then move those to an external drive. Im sorry to hear that this update has caused issues with your video card, and that previous versions worked just fine. I do hope the next versions resolve this issue for you.

[@rexhoss]

Downloaded and installed to my Mac Mini. While I didn't get as many, of the NSFW warnings, I still got them. When it did actually do some generation, the results were indeed a teeny bit better than the original version of Generative Erase. But still pretty useless. For example I was trying to remove a softbox from a picture and it basically replaced it with a different and weirder version of a soft box. I just want the softbox GONE and to have it fill in the background with the same colors/textures as the nearby background (a grey paper with some color gels on the light. Anyway, kudos for On1 "trying" to make this better. But honestly, it's not even BETA software in my humble opinion. It's Alpha at best and certainly shouldn't be included in a paid for, version of software. Back to the drawing board On1. I had such high hopes for this new tool since the Perfect Eraser tool is pretty useless filling in similar areas. With it, I at least get somewhat similar background fill-in. But the results are blocky and pixelated. So that's pretty useless for any quality work. Guess it's export to something like Afinity Photo which does a much better "content aware" fill type process and works 1,000% better, but requires extra steps of exporting and reimporting. Oh well maybe On1 2026, or 2027 or who knows! Very disappointed in what should be a wonderful and useful tool.

[@gvagear]

Agreed.

[@FreeWillPhotos]

Yea the results do leave us desiring a little bit more, and I agree Affinity does have a great inpainting tool for removals as you mentioned. I think ON1 will get better, but this tool is in its infancy. I could see an argument being made that this tool should have been added into a paid version of ON1 given the varying results users are getting on their images.

[@randydietmeyer5883]

As far as new features I'd love On1 to add something like "Legacy Effects" under there effects module which would include things like their previous 'Adjust' filters and even 'Simplify' and others. I have their software going all the way back to Phototools (when there were OnOne) and still use them.

[@FreeWillPhotos]

Wow that is impressive you have software going back that far. It would be nice to see some of the legacy tools get a tag of some sort, but I understand why they may not get rid of them completely since some people likely have presets that use those older tools. Thanks for sharing.

[@marklaurendet1861]

for that auto hide tool bar. If they made the height that the "Presets" heading is a little larger or the tool bar a little thinner then the tool bar would not need that auto hide option as both would take up the same space so to speak

[@FreeWillPhotos]

That is a good design catch. I think if the tool bar stays how it is right now, it could be worth while to see the presets tab resized.

[@stevejacob4375]

thanks for the 'heads up' on the latest update. I too had the same experience as you when using the Generative AI. On the first time of running it there was a long delay in getting the data and I thought that the program had frozen and had to force it to quit and tried again and this time being more patient I let it 'do its thing' after a very long wait it worked, I must admit that this was just the initial running of the tool. Now when I use it it still takes some time to achieve a result but not as long as the first run. Hope that this helps others using the is great program.

[@FreeWillPhotos]

Thanks for this comment. You are correct the initial rendering takes a long time because ON1 has to install the AI components on the computer. I find that odd since it should just install when the software is installed since we don't have to accept any terms of usage when we click the Generative AI Tools. But once the ai components are installed it usually works faster. The results still need some work on some images, but it is nice to see them investing in the AI space and hopefully improving on it in the future.

[@peter.j.svensson]

Besides a better version of the perfect eraser, I would like to have an improved version of the panorama feature. It's not working very well (especially when compared to Photoshop).

[@FreeWillPhotos]

The panorama tool could certainly use some updating, and I think the community would love to see that happen. I know many people have been asking for updates to tools that are already in ON1, and that would be really cool to see improvements on the Panorama tool. When it comes to the perfect eraser, I think the tool is meant to be used in combination with the healing brush along with the clone stamp. I think the generative erase tool is supposed to be the simple tool to really correct things, but it is in its infancy. hopefully we see this tool get more accurate and the results are a little better. Thanks for sharing.

[@peterbusuttil9533]

I tried using the Generative AI this morning by simply removing a pole set against a blue sky. At first, I thought it worked but after magnifying the image, I saw that instead of the pole, ON1 created a somewhat faint mesh. So I hit the Undo button and used the tried and tested method of cloning to get rid of the pole.

[@FreeWillPhotos]

The generative AI tool does return a lower resolution result and that seems to be normal with most AI generated tools right now. The resolution of most images will always be higher than the generative AI tools. With that said, think of the generative AI tool as a canvas prep tool and then try using some of the other retouching tools to really lock in a good look. I am going to make a video show casing what I am speaking of soon.

[@andreaabout]

Thanks Chris, good to know On1 release small updates to fix things. I just got the latest update now. Generative AI is in it`s early stages so hopefully it should improve over time. It is great to know they are constantly improving.

[@FreeWillPhotos]

Yea this is the first release with this tool and I like to think that the team at ON1 is still working on ways to make this better. I think over time we will see the generative tools improve, but it make take some time to see that.

[@DannyFyffe]

Chris: You are right these are earth shattering updates, but they are quick updates. This shows that ON1 is listening and wants us to be happy with all they offer. I have always been happy with them. They do listen, they want to help, and they are making editing raw photos easier and easier though it is still a challenge for some of us. I appreciate you showing what they did and giving your thoughts. I have no clue what this nswf stuff is and I probably don't want to. Thanks as always.

[@FreeWillPhotos]

Danny great to hear from you, and I think ON1 really does want to provide valuable content and software to their customers. They do listen and try to respond, but they are a small team and have to prioritize their actions. When it comes to NSFW, it means Not Safe For Work. These are usually images of nudity, violence and other things that would likely not be appropriate for the work place. It seems the AI model ON1 is using is pinging a lot of images that may not actually fit into the NSFW category and it is upsetting a lot of people because they can't use the headline features on their images after making a purchase. I personally have not ran into this warning, but I can see this being an issue for some photographers. Especially those that shoot boudior style images.

[@evsbichon]

Thanks Chris for the update - very helpful. I'd be interested in knowing how long it took the software to process the generative AI objects removal? It must have taken awhile because you needed to fast forward.

[@FreeWillPhotos]

Thanks for the comment, and it took less than 60 seconds, but your KZbin I try to speed things up since it is not very interesting to watch that load. I think it will perform differently on other computers depending on the hardware.

[@TC_Conner]

Hi Chris! Haven’t been here in a while brother. I haven’t used ON1 at all since the last time I visited, as a matter of fact I uninstalled and deleted the software. Hope you and the family have been well my friend! 💜

[@FreeWillPhotos]

Hey brother good to hear from you, and I know you moved on to LRC and Photoshop, which are great programs. I still really enjoy using ON1 for its base features, not so much the new ones, but I know a lot of people are looking for information on the new features so I just provide it. The family is doing well, and I wish the same for you and yours!

[@TC_Conner]

@ Just to clear things up for ya, I only use LrC for event photography like weddings and such, I use Lr Desktop for all other photography, and recently decided to use Lr Web for photos I can share in a web browser. Heavy lifting is done in ACR and PS.

[@MurrayBogart]

like so many on one upgrades full price for half product

[@FreeWillPhotos]

I can see how the current state of ON1 can be frustrating, but my hope is that the software improves overtime. I don't know what goes into their R&D meetings as they develop the software, but I do hope they keep working on the software to make it better.

[@blackislepeastoo]

Really timely, memory management seems to have improved.

[@FreeWillPhotos]

Thanks for the comment and note on the memory management. I have not looked into that, but I will now that you mentioned it.

[@conehead210]

Loaded the upgrade today to my MAC version...... It did not work using local AI...just gave a warning to retry. The fly out menu has a green button for generate and a blue button to accept. A simple highlight of the area I wanted removed did not happen... Using Monterey on 2.8 Intel Mac 64g memory. Thx for any advice

[@FreeWillPhotos]

That is interesting, because the new update does not have a green button any more. if you are getting a blue Retry button at the top of the screen, then it is working properly and that should give you what you want. If you are still seeing a green button with a wand in it, then you may not have the update installed, and I would recommend clicking on the help menu at the top of the screen, and then select check for updates.

[@conehead210]

@@FreeWillPhotos Thx Chris.....I thought it had updated, but appears not to have. So I fired up the ON1 today, a message said new update to 19.0.2......It went thru the install motions and now I have tested it on jpeg and raw images....It creates copy layer and fills the selected delete with a grey as the shape on the RAW file and on the jpeg gives the warning msg cannot complete......even on something as simple as a watchband.....computer says NO....Frustrating....I'll watch their review in a few days to see what happens. Cheers

[@FreeWillPhotos]

@@conehead210 That is interesting you are having issues with the generative erase. I would recommend contacting the ON1 support team to see if they can take a look at the problem for you.

[@joaquinparchment5986]

Excelente...

[@FreeWillPhotos]

Thank you!

[@andrzejossowski5771]

It would be great to be something like follow. Write what you wish to be generated.

[@FreeWillPhotos]

That is coming in a future update according to their previous road map. We will likely see that in the 2025.5 update.

[@GMBaker-p6q]

Hi. I tried to print for the first time in 2025 and got the message error 1116? Do you have any idea what this means. I tried to print in 2024 and had no problem. Thanks for any help you can give me.

[@FreeWillPhotos]

Thanks for the question, but sadly I am not sure what this error message is in reference to. You would have to contact support to ask them what is going on. Does this happen on all images you try to print or just a specific image?

[@FreshnessStudio1]

It's obviously not ready for a public release... Shame

[@FreeWillPhotos]

It is not the best, but there are ways to use the tool and still get good results. It will just require some additional tools to be used.

[@gvagear]

I wanted to erase a watering can from a family picture just as a test, because no matter how many times I've tried the original 2025 version swapped the watering can with different kinds of dogs, so I tried it with this version. It produced the same alert window over and over about NSFW content, and when I clicked on the Retry button, the same pop up window came forward. And because the size of the can is smaller than a baby I just can't figure out what pervert thing the generative eraser whant to put on the place of the watering can. A dwarf with a large penis, or what? There are people on the picture for size reference, so I don't understand. But I totally regret to buy this new version, and the generative features are just baits. I will be happy if I could achieve the blurry slur what you could achieve on this picture, but I couldn't even get there.

[@FreeWillPhotos]

That is frustrating, and I would recommend sending the information to the ON1 support team to see why that image is generating an NSFW warning. When you get results like that I can understand being upset about the generative AI bait. With that said, have you tried using the perfect eraser, or the clone stamp tool to remove the water can? That could be a good work around for this image. I don't think you should be getting the NSFW warning for a family photo if there isn't any NSFW content in the image, and ON1 should really be notified of that warning for your image. Im sorry to hear you are having this issue on something that is not an NSFW type of image.

[@peggybee-ej5tl]

Still a tremendously slow software interface. It's like a joke.

[@blackislepeastoo]

I guess that depends on many factors as I don't see that. I do tend to run DxO Photolab @ the same time as ON1 and have Chrome open (but limited to 5 tabs as it is a resource hog) as well as a file manager, text editor and VLC I do have 96GB memory an i5 Intel ser 13 processor and a nVIDIA 2060 graphics card with 8GB memory. If you have Windows, you can set graphics performance so it gives some preference to your card.

[@terrycarver3218]

Go back and start from scratch, step by step the old way. It will take much longer, and if you don't like results that way, you'll have to undo, undo... with this new version, you can just click Generate again for a second try... MUCH FASTER

[@FreeWillPhotos]

That is interesting, because I only experience slowdowns on my computer when I am running multiple programs or screen recording software. I do know the system requirements are demanding on some computers, but I have found this version of ON1 to move faster than some of the other releases.