On1 Photo RAW 2020 vs Lightroom Which is BETTER?

If you're reading this in Spring of 2020, On1 Software is currently having a spring sale -- you can save up to 50% on On1 Photo RAW 2020. Click the link below for more info:

In this tutorial, I do a feature by feature comparison of On1 Photo RAW 2020 and Lightroom. Hopefully this comparison will help you decide which post processing application is best for you.

Checkout my Low-key portraiture video that I made for On1 Software that is free to everyone:

Please follow me on Instagram:

For the Luminar to Lightroom comparison video and all of the others, watch the playlist here:

If you're interested in Photoshop, Lightroom, Adobe Stock, and the Creative Cloud, you can find more info here:

If you're interested in Luminar, get it here:

and use my Promo Code AM16 to save a few dollars.

My recommended gear list:

I use this software to record my screen:

Unsure of how to price your photography? Check the 2019 Guide to Pricing Your Photography:

All links shown are my affiliate links. Please read my Code of Ethics Statement:

Thank you!!

[AnthonyMorganti]

If you're reading this in Spring of 2020, On1 Software is currently having a spring sale -- you can save up to 50% on On1 Photo RAW 2020. Click the link below for more info:


In this tutorial, I do a feature by feature comparison of On1 Photo RAW 2020 and Lightroom. Hopefully this comparison will help you decide which post processing application is best for you.

Checkout my Low-key portraiture video that I made for On1 Software that is free to everyone:


Please follow me on Instagram:


For the Luminar to Lightroom comparison video and all of the others, watch the playlist here:


If you're interested in Photoshop, Lightroom, Adobe Stock, and the Creative Cloud, you can find more info here:


If you're interested in Luminar, get it here:


and use my Promo Code AM16 to save a few dollars.

My recommended gear list:


I use this software to record my screen:


Unsure of how to price your photography? Check the 2019 Guide to Pricing Your Photography:


All links shown are my affiliate links. Please read my Code of Ethics Statement:


Thank you!!

[philipzwick]

There is a radial filter on On1 Raw under the gradient selections. I believe it is edges. And don't forget that On1 Raw has a clone stamp tool that is missing in LR.

There is so much more that can be done in On1Raw without creating a new large PSD file in Photoshop, all non-destructively. A tremendous workflow advantage.
Exporting is slow but you can select to do it in the background so one can continue working.

[briangibson]

I was a long term Lightroom user, with occasional visits to Photoshop to do things I couldn't do in Lightroom.
I have now switched completely to On1, since I believe it produces better results than Lightroom, and with the addition of masks and layers, I can do things that I previously would have needed Photoshop for.

[maxmillion]

Hi Anthony, I have been using on1 photo raw for two years now and I love it. Just a quick mention about export. If you are only exporting one image just go up to file in the menu bar or shift, command, S. You will find a quick export button, this is much faster and it has options to choose from.

[HalixCH]

Coming from Aperture, which was the first software of this kind of not-destructive post processing software, I had to switch to Lightroom when Apple killed Aperture. Lightroom always felt like a big step back, with sluggish editing and cumbersome workflows compared to Aperture. I then switched again - to ON1 - as soon as it was fully non-destructive (when it got the "Photo RAW" in the name) and have never looked back. It has a few rough edges and bugs, but so does Lightroom. The editing workflow is extremely flexible and feels a lot like Aperture did, with fast switching between browsing and editing and masking that's so much more powerful than Lightroom that I don't even find adequate words for it. For example you can add as many instances of the same effect as you like, which allows you to edit areas of a photo very selectively.
You mentioned that Lightroom relies heavily on Photoshop for more than the basic editing, but that makes the workflow even more cumbersome *and* you lose all the advantages of fully non-linear editing. In ON1 I can develop an image, add almost infinity effects, masks, blending modes, … all while keeping the possibility to go back to develop any time and apply changes there that will be instantly applied to the full stack of effects.
You didn't mention the AI mask, which is really very effective for fast and precise masking. And the magic brush really does wonders when removing elements in a photo and is way more flexible than Lightroom very limited retouching possibilities. I tested this for fun by removing hundreds of persons on a crowded beach and ended up with an absolutely empty beach that still was totally believable to anyone who didn't know the original. Things like these can be done in Photoshop too, of course, but in ON1 I keep full undestructive editing possibilities even after such extreme retouching.
And the best part: you pay once and can keep the software forever, not like Adobes protection mafia money scheme of monthly fees.

[Jayblaynz]

The red eye remove tool-is under portrait tab in edit pane, the cicular brush is under brush options at top of screeny

[gosman]

Many of us love Lightroom and the powerful features you mentioned. I love being able to use add-ons like On1 and Luminar 4. So a nice video would be how to use On1 and Luminar 4 and their features as an add-on, not the main program. Lightroom rules and I will stay with it. But I'm using more and more of other add-ons instead of even Photoshop.

[lucbeliveau]

Thanks Antony. I swichted from LR to On1 Photo Raw 2 years ago and I don't regret it at all except for the Print module which is far more advanced in LR. On1 Photo Raw offers more creative tools and use it with Luminar 4 as a plugin for specific tasks like sky replacement, IA enhancement tools.

[leonardwertheimer]

I switched from Lightroom to On1 several months ago.

I first tried Luminar but became disenchanted when the program wasn't working properly and I discovered that Luminar support was not very responsive. I hope and expect that Luminar has improved its support.

I have been very pleased with On1. It is a robust editing program. In addition, the fact that it has layers and powerful masking and local adjustment functions adds a dimension that I was unable to access in Lightroom, because I find Photoshop too complicated to use.

I also find the On1 import system much easier to use than Lightroom's. I have been frustrated several times trying to locate files and folders that I had inadvertently lost in Lightroom's system.

[martinphilipps]

@20:04 : No, ON1 Photo Raw does have a radial filter just as light room.

[HarryCartner]

You said there was no Red Eye Adjustment in ON1. There is, it's under the Portrait mode. There's a button for Auto Red Eye Removal.

[Londinense]

As someone who has cancelled his LR subscription, to take effect in early July, I ended up purchasing both Luminar 4 and On1. On the whole, I think On1 is the better programme, although I have used sky replacement in Luminar on a lot of my old JPGs where the sky was completely blown out.
However, neither has a proper slide module and On1 doesn't even allow you to run photos one by one with a proper black surround. This is a disadvantage as I like to show my pictures on my Apple TV. That might change when the promised iOS version + syncing is released some time soon.
There are two issues you need to address with On1, Anthony. One relates to its ability to import edited photos from LR. This is more than any of the other programmes can do, but it's very hit and miss. Give it a try and make a video of your experience.
The other relates to speed. I had no success running On1 on my MacBook Pro, which only has 8GB of RAM. Folk on the On1 user forum recommended I put all my photos on a separate external drive, as well as having another SSD to be used as a scratch disc. This works for me, but it might not for everyone and it's an additional expense. Your comments would be welcome. Judging by the On1 Mac forum, there are plenty of people who gave upon the product because of this limitation. Anyone who has any doubts should download a trial before actually purchasing!

[fxk]

A little late to the game, but this video did exactly what I needed, and more. This product compare/contrast turned out be what I was looking for in an "ON1 user guide for Lightroom power users" type of video. One thing I liked about Lightroom was the strict import structure - photos never got away from me. ON1 touted the flexibility of editing where it was, and being part of a library or not. It seemed too loosey-goosey to me. I have not found written material that describes the browse and import functions of ON1 in the way you've done. It settled that final fear of the photo organization I love about Lightroom. ON1 can do it! Now I'm finally comfortable enough to give up Lightroom six. Many thanks! (better than On1's videos)

[ralfkrahe]

I am still learning and going back and forth between Lr Classic and ON1 Raw ... What has me come back to Lr is the Import function that seems to work better in Lr for my personal workflow in terms of flexibility and the History function that still seems underdeveloped in ON1 Raw compared to Lr. Perhaps those features will be addressed in future ON1 Raw updates. I find comparative videos like this one very useful for exploring differences, strengths and weaknesses. Thanks.

Thanks for this video which is helping me to find a path out of the stranglehold of Adobe. I was originally on Apple Aperture and once that was killed, I had to move to something and choose Lightroom. Then Adobe abandoned the option to pay once and switched to a subscription only model, which is not ok with me. So I have kept using the last version of Lightroom that was not offered as a subscription. However, that version of Lightroom is a 32-bit program (at least partially) which has kept me stuck on a very old version of Mac OS/X. I now feel that I can't live with that old version of Mac OS/X any longer, and have to move on, and then this video basically tells me that On1 Photo Raw is the way forward for me. Thanks a lot!

[AlergicToSnow]

It would be worth updating this. On1 2021 has added a lot of new features that further separates it from Lightroom.

[stangordon]

Your title is On1 Photo RAW 2020 vs Lightroom Which is BETTER?
So why all the comparisons to Luminar?

[Eigil_Skovgaard]

Actually there is a radio-gradient filter in On1 Photo Raw 2020. Chose Local and the mask bug =, number 2 from the left in the top menu, and select Shape Center. Then left-click on the image to position the filter. It can be tricky if you are working in a seriously cropped image. Apparently the default size doesn't adapt to the smaller size of the crop, so the center and rotate buttons seem to be connected to nothing. Just move the center button towards the nearest corner, and the middle peripheral ring becomes visible within the opposite corner, and the filter can be resized to fit on the crop. At least I get the impression that this behavior is unintended (with an extreme crop, the periphery may not be reachable). In general I have been positively surprised with the stand alone application from On1. I used the On1 Suite years ago, and it was fine with a great number of presets and the advanced face editing - but it was also extremely slow. So I got Captured by another One. Now On1 Photo Raw 2020 seems to surpass a number of raw converters, Lightroom, Capture One and Luminar, even ACR and Photoshop, for the editing of 95 percent of all my images due to layers with blending modes and luminosity mask options. Except for the ability to open a smart object in Photoshop and return with the ACR filter - and when the export process soon gets faster, this "raw converter" has it all. No need for a Photoshop subscription. I can make content aware replacements in my good old CS5. Did you get that - Adobe!

[MultiDavidellis]

Your videos are always great and spot on. My suggestion for a video would be negative to a positive from capture to edit. Several years ago you did excellent conversion videos that were very helpful to me. I use a macro lens but I still cannot fill the frame with the negative and I am never satisfied with the focus, manual or automatic. Thanks again. I am sure all of us appreciate your videos more than you appreciate us watching them.

[jmacdono]

If you're bulk exporting in On1 PR, you can have it done in the background. Don't you notice there is a arrow up button next to Export. But you're right - it takes a while.