Meet Dan Harlacher: VP of Products at ON1 & Passionate Photographer | Discover ON1 Photo RAW 2024
Fellow Photographers,
I want to introduce myself. I’m Dan Harlacher, the VP of Products at ON1. You may recognize me from some ON1 announcement videos if you have been with us for a few years. My role at ON1 is guiding the design and development of ON1 Photo RAW and the rest of the photo editing software product line. I’ve been with ON1 since the beginning, eighteen years now. Only a few people in technology get to work most of their careers for the same company these days. For me, ON1 is more than my employer or company; it’s my team and family. Many of the original team members are still with us, and we have grown up and raised our kids together. It’s a fantastic place to work because of our passion for photography.
I started photography in middle school, shooting film on a Canon FTb. I was the photo editor for my high school newspaper and yearbook. I went to college, quickly changed my major to photography, and started assisting a well-known commercial photographer to build my skills. In college, I was an early adopter of digital photography and was the first student to use ink prints for assignments. Remember, this was in 1996. After college, I started my portrait and wedding studio with a friend. However, the call for digital photography pulled me to the big city, where I integrated systems and trained professional photographers transitioning from film to digital in the early 2000s. Then, on a chance meeting on an airline flight, I made the move into software product management, and well, here I am.
When it comes to photography, I have shot just about everything: Portraits, weddings, boudoir, pets, babies, special events, racing, airshows, sports, commercials, and even a live nuclear reactor core while standing on top of it. However, when it comes to what I love, it has always been landscapes and fine art. Photography is a great excuse for a hike, and I will take it whenever possible.
What I love the most about my job is that I can combine my love and deep knowledge of all things photography with my problem-solving skills. I know first-hand where photographers struggle in post-processing. I know and use every tool out there, and it’s part of my job to understand the competition. Even though I have access to every app under the sun, I use Photo RAW daily for my photography. That’s as it should be; I designed it for photographers like me, so I know it can do everything I need well. If you have ever heard the old expression “eat your own dog food,” I firmly believe in using what you make. Sure, it isn’t perfect; no app is, but there are dedicated people like me listening to users like you to make it faster and better all the time.
If you haven’t heard of ON1 or Photo RAW 2024, please give it a try. You can use it for a full 30 days without limitation, and it won’t watermark your photos in trial mode. We have made it a ton faster, and I know even more dramatic improvements are coming soon. The new user interface is much cleaner and easier to use. The new Brilliance AI is my new starting point whenever I open a photo to edit it. It gets me 90% done just by turning it on. I spend that last 10% using Super Select AI to fine-tune and mask the subject matter and apply the new on-trend presets with today’s styles.
As the guy who designs it, we have some fantastic stuff up our sleeves that we are already working on. We will continue on our usability, performance, and stability mission and bring you new and improved features in the coming months and years. I hope to see you in the ON1 community soon! We have a ton of free training on using our apps, just like our friends here at KelbyOne. We appreciate your support and trust.
