Migrating from Lightroom to ON1 Photo Raw

I finally did it! I migrated my Adobe Lightroom CC catalog to ON1 Photo Raw 2019 over the weekend. I have always been a user of Lightroom since the beginning, but I have been feeling like I needed more. This is where ON1 Photo raw 2019 comes in. Yes, I can "develop" my photos like Lightroom inside Photo Raw, but I can also go further with Photo Raw. Photo Raw offers Layers and Effects and a Portrait section, things that Lightroom does not offer. I can stay in Photo Raw and add textures and more without having to switch to another application or plugin. These days you need to add a little POP to your photos in this Instagram world where people apply some effect to their photo to make it stand out.

ON1 Photo Raw 2019

But Photo Raw is missing a few things that Lightroom has. One is that in Lightroom, I can upload photos directly to my SmugMug site or upload to Facebook. This of course does require some thinking and additional steps. Photo Raw does lack uploading to web except for Dropbox or GoogleDrive. Also missing, it the ability to import your photos as DNG files, something I been doing for many years. Photo Raw does recognize your DNG files but you can not create DNG files inside Photo Raw. Also, I use Lightroom Mobile to share photos to for example Instagram. ON1 Photo Raw I believe has a mobile app which I have not check out yet, but it requires you to have a storage site like GoogleDrive for which to upload to.

So, how did the migration go? It went pretty smooth but took hours, 8 hours is about right. But I do suggest before using the Migration Tool in Lightroom, prepare your Lightroom catalog first. ON1 has a list of things they suggest you do before proceeding with the migration. Validate DNG files, make sure catalog photos are synced, and so on. I spent roughly two hours preparing my Lightroom catalog for the migration. But, I did have issues the next day. Photo Raw kept crashing but after open a ticket with ON1 support, they emailed me a fix the next day. So far, the crashes seem to have gone away and Photo Raw is now usable. HURRAY!

Bottom line, if you are like me wanting to go beyond Lightroom or are tired of paying a monthly fee, ON1 Photo Raw 2019 might be for you. But while Photo Raw might be a replacement for Lightroom, it is not a replacement for Adobe Photoshop...yet. I do find myself using Photoshop for a few things. If you do not like Photoshop, Photo Raw will work with other photo editors like Affinity Photo. So, ON1 Photo Raw 2019 might be the application to make you take a leap from Lightroom, for me it is!

Starting the migration from Adobe Lightroom CC using the Migration Tool.

#on1photoraw #adobelightroom #migration