Lightroom ... It's Officially Dead as a Standalone

Lightroom 6 is the last Adobe standalone app …

I still run LR 5.7. Since Win 10 should be around awhile, I figure I’m good for quite a few years yet. :slight_smile:

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I have LR - but use it as rarely as a hen’s teeth are seen by a dentist!

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I’ve just uploaded the new Lightroom ‘Classic’.

It’s the same old Lightroom without significant changes as far as I can tell, it is just as slow and it still will not handle files out of Studio. My Adobe contract runs out next year and I do not want to renew it. Adobe are moving away from traditional photography so I think it is time to say bye-bye.

I am trialling the Mac version of ACDSee as a possible replacement. It’s in Beta and it is free for Mac at the moment. I’d be interested in hearing of anyone else who is using this as a file manager.

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I never use LR - which I have as part of the Adobe CC Photography Bundle. I am finding Affinity Photo does mostly as much as Photoshop can do; so I too may be dropping CC altogther as well. I use Bridge and Picasa to catalog.

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There is a very informative video by Julieanne Kost The All-New Lightroom CC: An Overview - YouTube which explains the what why where and how of Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic - the two new updates for Lightroom.

Does it explain why the only option is subscription?

They say that the Lightroom Classic will continue to be updated and as far as buying an individual copy - Adobe decided a long time ago that this was not the path for them. The same as Topaz have decided that individual plug-ins will not be udpated, only from within Studio - their software, their decisions.

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I’m really happy that I decided way-back-when to stick with the 5.7 desktop version rather than switch to CC. I’ve ZERO problems on the LR side of things regarding upgrades to various plugins nor any issues with LR, plugins, and Windows updates. Even upgraded from Win7 to Win10 while switching to an SSD with no LR/plugin issues.

They claim that the vast majority of their customers subscribe rather than buy outright. They have kept LR (6?) available as a standalone but it doesn’t sell enough compared to the subscribers to maintain it.

I believe that they will provide camera/lens updates until end of 2017.

Also here is a summary of the new product … and not from me :slight_smile:

Lightroom Classic CC and Lightroom CC seem to be very different programs. Lightroom Classic CC is geared towards those with a desktop workflow while the new Lightroom CC looks like it’s mainly for those who want to use a mobile photography/Adobe cloud based workflow. Also any future version of Lightroom (Classic CC & CC) will not be available outside a subscription model.

  • The new Lightroom CC is only available as a subscription and will no longer be available as a perpetual license
  • The new Lightroom CC is not an upgraded Lightroom Classic CC. Lightroom CC is a new service that gives you access to your photos in the cloud you can then pull down and edit through a new and limited desktop app or in the browser based app
  • There are now three different subscription plans for Lightroom CC
  • There are many features lacking in the new Lightroom CC (HDR, pano, print to name a few)
  • 20GB of cloud storage in the CC Photography Plan ($10/mo) is not enough storage for serious photographers so you will likely need to pay more for extra storage
  • The new Lightroom CC does not support plug-ins

And, the inevitable unanswered questions …

  • Do I have to store all of my photos in the Adobe Cloud and pay for all of that storage space in order to use Lightroom CC?
  • Will Lightroom Classic CC (or Lightroom 6) be updated any further?
  • What will happen when I need to update my operating system and Lightroom 6 no longer works?
  • When will they add more features such as HDR, pano, print, etc to Lightroom CC, will it ever match what I can do in Lightroom Classic CC?
  • Will there ever be a perpetual licensed version of Lightroom again?
  • How does one migrate current Lightroom catalogs from Lightroom Classic to the new Lightroom CC?
  • What happens to my photos if I use the new Lightroom CC and decide to cancel my Adobe subscription?

Some (or most) of these questions appear to be answered in a DP REVIEW article that was posted yesterday.

My understanding is that both Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic CC will continue to be developed under the auspices of the Adobe Creative Cloud program. Lightroom CC (version 6) should have an update later this year, and both the standalone and CC versions of Lightroom 6 will no longer be supported after 2017.

Matt Kloskowski opined in a recent blog:

"The newer Lightroom CC doesn’t mean that it’s better or a better program for you if you’re a Lightroom user. It doesn’t mean your version of Lightroom is now not as good – and that you should switch because the other one is new. It’s a different program. One that was created for a different audience (the mobile/cloud based workflow). There is an audience out there for it, even if that’s not you (and right now, it’s not me by the way).

If you’re a DSLR photographer, who heavily bases their workflow and organization on folders and hard drives (like me), Lightroom CC is not the program for you. Your existing Lightroom (now Lightroom Classic) is the program you should continue to use."

I like the fact that you can work on iPads, laptops and desktops and get to your full resolution files for editing in Lightroom CC. I must say Lightroom Classic feels a bit more robust to me. I really like the new masking tools. I believe they were modeled from the Topaz layer masks. They are quite powerful. There is to much of a tug and war between Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic. There is good and bad in each. Just to many choices and it really all comes to a stand still. I wish Adobe would make up their mind and go one way or another. As far as I can tell at this point there is no way to print from Lightroom CC unless you download and pull it into Lightroom Classic or Photoshop. I think Adobe need to slow down and think these things through before they start putting out all of these editing solutions. Sorry for rambling.

I don’t think Adobe envisage Lightroom CC as being anything other than a computer based software package which can be opened on all of your internet based devices and anything you need to use on various devices would be stored in the cloud. If you are an ‘earth’ based photography who wishes to adapt, develop, print, their work then Lightroom Classic is your work horse, and if you are a photographer who likes to show his/her customers the full size preview of the work done for them it can be shown using any device through Lightroom CC, even displaying it on their devices. It is like a portable catalogue of your work. For me Lightroom CC will probably never be used. I do not have customers and my photography is purely for my own enjoyment, but I can see the usefulness of CC for someone who uses photography, graphics, textual displays both at work and in the field. To me it makes a lot of sense. And Lightroom Classic is just a development of Lightroom - probably would have been easier for folk to understand if they had named the ‘Lightroom CC’ slightly differently.