ON1 released the first update to Photo RAW yesterday. If you already own the software, this update is free for you. I updated my systems last night and am eager to explore the features and improvements.

Under usual circumstances, I would have played with a pre-release. However, the last two weeks have been less than normal for me for two reasons. First, I was out in Death Valley teaching a workshop, and I make it a point not to update my software just before an event like that. (I held off on the ON1 pre-release as well as Lightroom updates.) Second, I've been pretty darn sick since returning and have done little else than recover. 

Nevertheless, I have been waiting for several features in the Photo RAW 2018.1 release. The features and improvements I'm looking forward to most are:

• Metadata Templates – Add metadata to a group of photos using presets. This allows you to choose and save only the information you want applied to your photos. Think copyright and contact information. :-)
• Debayering – The algorithms have been improved to increase the amount of micro detail while reducing aliasing, yielding photos that are noticeably crisper with less color artifacts.
• Faster Cataloging – The thumbnail and preview generation of images is now faster. Searching photos has also been improved. I'll take speed increases anytime.
• Import – Get photos from your camera to your computer, choose where you want the photos to go, assign metadata, and more. Although I don't expect I'll use this feature, this will be a welcome addition for those needing help offloading images from their memory cards, all within ON1. And... leverage Metadata Templates to make sure all your photos start your workflow right.

There are a bunch of other improvements and features, too. Improved HDR, Auto-Advance is back(!), Batch Renaming, Editing Capture Dates... you can read the whole list at ON1's product page.