ON1 just released a big update. ON1 Photo RAW 2017.5 has got a bunch of the features we've all been eager for. They have also added a few new features, two of which I find particularly exciting. I'll get to all those goodies in just a minute.

Before I do, I have also updated my book ON1 Photo RAW Essentials to include the new features in the 2017.5 release. This update is free if you already own the book. Check your inbox for an email from me on how to download your free update. If you bought my book through ON1's store, the free update will be in the "product history" section of your account with ON1. If you bought the book on iBooks, the update should appear on your device in a few days.

Now, let's talk about all the stuff in the 2017.5 release. First up, the press release, straight from ON1:

Portland, OR – June 7, 2017 – ON1, Inc. announced ON1 Photo RAW 2017.5, the latest update to their all-in-one photo organizer, editor, raw processor and effects app for macOS® and Microsoft® Windows®. Version 2017.5 adds powerful new features optimized for performance and ease of use.

ON1 Photo RAW 2017.5 Enhancements Include:

• LENS CORRECTION – The new Lens Correction pane will automatically detect supported lenses and reduce distortion, chromatic aberration and peripheral fall-off
• COMPARE MODE – Select a series of photos (up to 15) and zoom and pan each of them all at the same time
• DETAILS PANE – Sharpening and Noise Reduction are improved and have been merged into a new Details Pane in Develop for global corrections tailored for raw photos giving better results in both areas
• IMPROVED SEARCH – Search using a variety of metadata fields and decide if the search must match all or any of the search criteria
• CLONE STAMP – The powerful clone stamp retouching tool from Layers is now inside Develop and Effects as part of the non-destructive workflow
• STACKING PRESETS – The Insert Preset command is now available to stack presets in Effects 
• IMPROVED PRESET MANAGEMENT – Delete and rename preset categories as well as export categories for sharing and back-up
• LIGHTROOM® MIGRATION ASSISTANT – Migrate photos, their metadata and collections from Lightroom to ON1 Photo RAW 2017.5
• CAMERA UPDATES – Apple iPad Pro 9.7, Canon EOS T7i/ 800D / Kiss X9i, Canon EOS M6, Canon EOS 77D / 9000D, Fuji X100F (compressed), Huawei Mate 9, Panasonic LX10, Olympus Pen F, Panasonic DC-ZS70 / TZ90, Pentax KP, Olympus E-PL3, Sony NEX5n, and Sony Alpha ILCE 9
• UPDATES AND BUG FIXES – Several more performance upgrades and bug fixes including reduced memory footprint, increased stability and fixed user-reported issues

Price and Availability
ON1 Photo RAW 2017.5 is available today with an introductory price of $99.99, regularly $119.99. Previous owners of ON1 Photo (or Perfect Photo Suite) can upgrade for just $79.99, regularly $99.99. For a limited time, ON1 Photo RAW 2017.5 is bundled with some excellent training materials. Four ON1 Photo RAW 2017.5 Master Courses by industry leading educator Matt Kloskowski and Director of Product Dan Harlacher are free with purchase. Also included is activation via user account for up to five computers. A full-functioning 30-day free trial is also available for download from the ON1 website.

Alright. That's a lot of stuff. Good stuff. ON1 is also hosting a live event tomorrow, June 8th at 10am Pacific Time to show off the new features. What's got me excited? There are three items that I am really happy are part of 2017.5.

Lens Correction: YES!!! Many of us have been waiting for this. A crucial item for any RAW editor. In case you don't know what lens correction is... most every lens has some level of distortion or fall-off (darkening at the corners). Lower quality lenses can also introduce chromatic aberration (that green or purple fringing on high contrast edges). 

Lens corrections allow you to, well, correct for these types of issues. ON1 Photo RAW auto-detects the lens make and model from the EXIF data in your RAW files and applies a correction. This happens in Browse as well as in Develop. That's cool - you see the corrections while browsing your photos. There are loads of lens profiles already in Photo RAW. You can, of course, manually change the profile or create your own style or preset to suit your particular taste.

Lens corrections are not automatically applied for non-RAW files (JPG, PSD, etc.). Why? Photo RAW can't know if a lens correction has already been applied to a non-RAW file. Photo RAW won't "double dip" on lens corrections. :-)

Clone Stamp: Another YES!!! Bringing Clone Stamp into Develop and Effects gives me all the retouch tools I need into the modules I use most. No more popping over to Layers just for a cloning job. Why is Clone Stamp useful? Retouching when complex patterns are involved. The Perfect Eraser and Retouch Brush are great tools, however they have limitations. Sometimes you need a pixel-by-pixel copy to remove a distraction.

I have a full video course on retouching entitled Removing Distractions From Your Photos (and it's on sale right now). The course explains the various retouch tools, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to use them together to remove any unwanted object from your photo. I use an older version of ON1 software to demonstrate the techniques in the course, yet the tools and techniques are 100% applicable to Photo RAW.

Preset Improvements: Insert Preset is back! Photo 10 has the ability to add a preset to your photo without removing prior adjustments. And now that feature is back in Photo RAW. This opens up the opportunity to stack presets. Also, to craft presets to specifically take advantage of preset stacking. For example, I can envision a set of Split Tone presets as a finishing touch to a photo. Here's a tip... press and hold the Option/Alt key and the thumbnails in the Preset Browser update to show a preview of your existing adjustments plus the preset.

Have you ever wanted to create your own preset packs? It's super easy in Photo RAW 2017.5. You can now export an entire category of presets and Photo RAW creates an ONPreset bundle for you. Share your best presets with the world. You can also use them as a backup method or to easily transfer presets across your desktop and laptop.

Of course, I appreciate the new Compare View and know I'll be using that in my seascape work looking for that perfect wave. The addition of more search criteria in the Browse filter pane is great. And I'll always take bug fixes and performance improvements. I have not experimented with the Lightroom Migration Assistant, but I have watched the video ON1 released a few times. This tool will certainly be useful to maintain collections if you are making the move from Lightroom to Photo RAW.