Lightroom CC 2018
It’s Lightroom CC, but not as we know it, as Lightroom heads for the cloud
the new Lightroom CC is a bold move by Adobe. For years we have dreamed of having all our photos available everywhere at full resolution, and editable on all our devices, but Lightroom CC now makes this dream a reality.
Cloud synchronizing is possible in the old Lightroom, now rebranded as Lightroom Classic, but only up to a point. In the Classic version, you can share lower-resolution DNG versions in Collections chosen for cloud synchronization, but your full-res images remain on your local disk drives. Any editing you do on other devices is synchronized back to your desktop as processing instructions, but you can’t access your full library remotely, or full-resolution images. (See overleaf for a review of the new Lightroom Classic and more background information on what Lightroom does, how it works, and how to use it.)
Life in the clouds
Lightroom CC follows the same broad principles as Lightroom Classic, but its approach to image storage and organization are completely changed. Here, your original photos are automatically uploaded to Adobe’s online storage to be made available everywhere. You can also opt to store them on local disk drives too, but their real home is in the cloud.
Obviously this is going to require quite a lot of cloud storage capacity, so Adobe has introduced 1TB storage as part of its new range of subscriptionbased Photography Plans (see the comparison table, overleaf, for more). If that’s not enough, we’re told it will be possible to upgrade at a cost of $9.99 per month per TB of extra capacity.
The other issue is how practical it’s going to be to migrate an existing catalogue via a regular domestic Internet connection. You could swap to
Lightroom CC’S cloud storage going forward and leave your existing images where they are, though this would involve a tricky crossover between Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic. We’ll have to see how this plays out, but it may not be straightforward. Lightroom is smart and neat, but also very different.
Lightroom CC’S new interface might also prove controversial. The first thing to say is that compared to the fussy, rather complex interface in Lightroom Classic, it’s a revelation. The organizational system is simpler, the editing tools have a much more straightforward layout, and both side panels collapse to a narrow vertical sidebar with clear and simple icons.
But some tools and features have gone. The Tone Curve panel is missing, which is strange given that it’s in the Lightroom mobile app, and there’s no Split Tone tool. The Library and Develop modules have been merged into a single interface, which is good, but the Map, Book, Slideshow, Print and Web Modules are gone. This will definitely be bad news for those who use Lightroom for presenting/ publishing their work – though you can publish online galleries and portfolios.
Sensational Sensei searches
Adobe’s new Sensei machine-learning tagging system, like the new interface, is also something of a revelation. It can find images according to the objects they contain, so if you’ve always hated manual keywording (or could never be bothered), this could change everything. It works brilliantly, but only while you have an Internet connection. Lightroom CC gives users a tricky choice between desktop and cloud storage and simplicity versus features.