I’m still here (and still faithfully using ON1, though I’m still on the 2023 version)!
Start with one of ON1’s presets (the 1200px JPG to Desktop one will work well). I’ll walk you through how each of these work, though your problems are likely in File type, Resize, and Sharpening.
Naming
By default, ON1 has it set to keep the file name. If you want to rename the images as they are exporting (so that way instead of saying something like IMG_0002, they’ll be something like sweet-wedding_01, you can do that here). There should be a dropdown that says “presets” right next to it, and I’d recommend using one of those (like Custom Name-Sequence) to get you started. After you pick one you can tweak it however you’d like.
Destination.
This is where ON1 will save your images. If you’re following along from the 1200px preset, it should say “Desktop.” Set this to wherever you’d like. I have mine set up to “Save to Current Folder” and then I have the “subfolder” turned on and named “Edits”. This is good if you have a system of organizing all your RAW files. If you’re a little more creatively disorganized, you can select it to say “Ask When Exporting” and then you’ll just have to pick every time where the images go.
After Export:
I have mine set up to open the folder where it dropped the images after it’s done exporting. Leave the other options unchecked if you don’t know what they are.
File Type
This needs to be JPEG, 99% of the time. If you’re uploading to social media, or sending to a printer, JPEG is your friend as it can be viewed on just about anything without weird apps and things. Set the file type to JPEG, and set the Quality slider to 95%, and your color space to sRGB. After you do that, you can forget about this box for a long time.
Ideally, you’re not running these files again through Photoshop or something, but if you need to, they can handle going through another editing software once without super noticeable drops in quality. If you’re planning on running a file through Photoshop later (like you need to put a Dinosaur in the background or something), and it absolutely NEEDS to have as much quality as possible (the bride wants to make a museum piece out of it), you’ll want to export as a TIFF, run it through Photoshop, and then export it as a JPEG out of Photoshop.
Resize: I uncheck this box, and ON1 exports the image at the original size. This is best for most printing and sharing. An image can always be downsized later for social media or the web.
Sharpening: I use this when I plan to print. If I’m not printing, I would recommend leaving this off. Almost no one prints images these days, and most people will be looking at your images digitally… so if it looks good on your screen, it will be fine for most people.
Metadata: I have this unchecked… though I’ve never really thought about why. Metadata is data that computers can read about your image. Data like shutter speed, what type of camera you have, where you were when you took the picture (if you have a fancy camera with a GPS that is) is stored inside the image file and can be read by some computer software.
Watermark: You can play with this later, but for your purposes (giving these photos to the bride, I assume?), leave this unchecked.
TLDR: Check over your naming, check over your destination; set your file type to JPEG, quality 95%, profile sRGB; uncheck Resize, uncheck sharpening, uncheck metadata, uncheck watermark.
Let me know if that works for you!