# Adobe Announces the December Update to Lightroom



## Canon Rumors Guy (Dec 12, 2017)

```
<strong>From the <a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/adobe-announces-the-december-update-to-lightroom/">Lightroom Journal</a>:</strong></p>
<p>Today we’re proud to release updates to the entire <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom.html">Lightroom CC</a> ecosystem, including for Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and the web, as well as updates to Lightroom Classic CC and Adobe Camera Raw. We’ve added support for new <a href="https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/kb/camera-raw-plug-supported-cameras.html">cameras</a> and <a href="https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/kb/supported-lenses.html">lenses</a>, and added some great new features.</p>
<p>Please note that we are moving to a new blog home.  Check it out <a href="https://theblog.adobe.com/creativity/photography/">here</a></p>
<p><strong>New Auto Settings, powered by Adobe Sensei</strong></p>
<p>Auto has been completely reworked to create better results, every time. Using an advanced neural network powered by <a href="http://www.adobe.com/sensei.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adobe Sensei</a>, our artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning platform, the new Auto Settings creates a better photo by analyzing your photo and comparing to tens of thousands of professionally edited photos to create a beautiful, pleasing image.  The new Auto is available ecosystem wide, including in Lightroom CC, Lightroom CC for iOS, Lightroom CC for Android, Lightroom CC on the web, Lightroom Classic, and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).<!--more--></p>
<p>The December update includes other great features across the ecosystem:</p>
<p><strong>Lightroom CC on Desktop</strong></p>
<p><strong><em>Tone Curve</em><i>

</i></strong>The Tone Curve is one of the most popular tools used by photographers for advanced control over the tonality, contrast, and color balance of an image. You can use either the Parametric Curve or the Point Curve modes to tune the tonality and contrast of the image, and the Red, Green, and Blue modes to adjust the color balance and stylize your image. The Tone Curve lives next to the Auto button in the Light panel — check it out and let us know what you think.</p>
<p><strong><em>Split Toning</em><i>

</i></strong>Split Toning allows you to stylize your photo through color tints in the highlights and shadows of your image. You can use the Split Toning tool to simulate traditional black and white tints and toners like sepia or selenium toners, simulate printing on colored paper, or create a modern stylization on color images. Split Toning lives in the Effects panel.</p>


<p><strong><em>Change Capture Time</em><i>

</i></strong>Lightroom CC now enables you to adjust the capture time, for both single photos as well as a set of photos, providing relief for those times that you forgot to change your camera’s time or time zone settings. Select a photo (or series of photos) and use the pencil icon in the Info panel to change capture time. Lightroom CC will update the capture date and make sure that your photos show up on the right day and time in the organize view, making it easier to find your photos when you need them.</p>
<p>View your photos in full screen by using either the F key or by navigating to View-> Detail Full Screen.</p>
<p><strong>Android</strong></p>
<p>In addition to the new Auto described above, we added the following to Lightroom CC on Android:</p>
<ul>
<li>App Shortcuts — For Android Nougat and later devices, tap and hold on the app icon to quickly launch the app into popular modes.</li>
<li>More control for managing storage.</li>
<li>Resolved an issue that prevented some Huawei customers from importing images.</li>
<li>Resolved an issue that caused a crash for some Pixel 2 customers on export.</li>
<li>Resolved a problem that prevented some Samsung customers from installing the previous version.</li>
<li>Bug fixes and speed improvements.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>iOS</strong></p>
<p>In addition to the new Auto described above, we added the following to Lightroom CC on iOS:</p>
<ul>
<li><i>Watermarking on export — Create and customize a text based watermark for use when exporting your image from Lightroom CC on iOS.</i></li>
<li>Improved quality to HDR capturing.</li>
<li>Bug fixes and speed improvements.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Lightroom Classic and Adobe Camera Raw</strong></p>
<p>In addition to the new Auto described above, we’ve made a refinement to the Color Range Masking tool.  Based on your feedback, we’ve made it easier to remove individual sample points. You can do this by holding down the Alt (Win) or Option (Mac) key while using your mouse to select the sample point.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lightroom Classic CC</a> also now supports tethered capture with the Nikon D850 camera.</p>
<p>An update to Lightroom 6 for perpetual licensed customers for new camera support will be available on December 19th.</p>
<p>We’ve excited about the December update, and can’t wait to hear your thoughts and feedback.</p>
<span id="pty_trigger"></span>
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## bergstrom (Dec 12, 2017)

But still no stand alone download, so this doesn't affect me.


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## bereninga (Dec 12, 2017)

Does anyone actually use the CC version instead of the Classic?


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## Chaitanya (Dec 12, 2017)

bereninga said:


> Does anyone actually use the CC version instead of the Classic?


I am on standalone, not sure if any Standalone users have even moved to CC yet.


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## slclick (Dec 12, 2017)

Stand alone here, works well enough and who needs another monthly payment for well, anything?


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## Click (Dec 12, 2017)

slclick said:


> Stand alone here, works well enough and who needs another monthly payment for well, anything?



+1


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## RGF (Dec 12, 2017)

Interesting change to adjusting the image time. In Classic you can set adjust the capture time in the meta data.


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## Graphic.Artifacts (Dec 12, 2017)

Sadly I now read every Adobe PR release with nothing but trepidation. Lightroom was always convenient if not particularly robust or efficient but I can’t see how it’s worth the development uncertainty going forward . Going to set aside some project time this winter to explore some of the alternatives. Photoshop remains the gold standard for me for multi layered editing but I think I’m getting off the Lightroom train at the first convenient exit. Can’t see the value in investing any more energy into a database with an uncertain future. A cloud based solution is not something I am interested in pursuing and the idea of Adobe’s image bots rooting through my catalogs makes my skin crawl.


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## bwud (Dec 12, 2017)

“ the new Auto Settings creates a better photo by analyzing your photo and comparing to tens of thousands of professionally edited photos to create a beautiful, pleasing image.”

Well hot damn, just what I’ve always wanted: pictures which look like tens of thousands of other pictures.


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## Talys (Dec 12, 2017)

Graphic.Artifacts said:


> Sadly I now read every Adobe PR release with nothing but trepidation. Lightroom was always convenient if not particularly robust or efficient



The latest version of Lightroom is much faster than any other product out there that I've tried in image load times of 30-40MB RAWs, and in the time it takes between picking a image and being able to manipulate it. It's also by far the best application for printing, in my opinion.

There are plenty of nice features in other RAW processors not in Lightroom, but it seems to me that every other RAW processor is missing something pretty major, or does something important to me really poorly (like catalog management or printing). That's not to say that there aren't plenty of LR features that I think are pretty worthless, like the entire Web, Slideshow, and Book areas.

I know it's an unpopular sentiment amongst some here to support a monthly-fee product, but I've actually grown to like Lightroom a lot more in the last while. If you absolutely refuse to support a product that's only available as a subscription, that's perfectly within your rights. However, I would suggest that to say that Lightroom hasn't improved or added genuine improvements and useful features is just bashing a product that you haven't tried. There are many great Lightroom features that are now only available in the subscription version, such as the new masking features and improved speed; and previewed, the new machine-learning subject selection features.

Keep in mind also that Lightroom CC Classic is not a cloud-based application. It's the same sort of desktop program that every version of Lightroom for Windows or Mac that came out before it was. It's just how you pay for it. No different than Photoshop CC is the same type of application as Photoshop CS. There's nothing particularly cloud about any of these.

Personally, I'm fine with a subscription, because whether I use C1, DXO, or Lightroom, I'd buy all the updated versions anyhow -- if for no other reason than that I keep buying cameras and lenses, and I need the new profiles to support my new gear. Plus, all of these pieces of software do add genuine improvements and new operating system support with most versions. I'm also fine with it because it happens to be a cheap way to license Photoshop, which I would otherwise be buying at least 3 copies of.

I think that I'm ok with subscriptionware as long as the pricing model per year less than about a third to two thirds of buying the software without expiry (depending on how frequently I'd update it, because there are some applications I use that I skip on some years). Realistically, for me, there are very few major software applications I use that I don't upgrade within 3 years.


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## AUGS (Dec 12, 2017)

bwud said:


> “ the new Auto Settings creates a better photo by analyzing your photo and comparing to tens of thousands of professionally edited photos to create a beautiful, pleasing image.”
> 
> Well hot damn, just what I’ve always wanted: pictures which look like tens of thousands of other pictures.



Precisely. You hear all too often - make a point of difference between yourself and others - stand-out by being different. This just killed that option out of the box - if you choose to use it, of course. I use standalone, so this wont affect me.

The only addition I was hoping for was an update to the Book module to allow for layflat option with Blurb. I hope this is in the rollout. The rest doesn't really appeal to me at all.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Dec 12, 2017)

AUGS said:


> bwud said:
> 
> 
> > “ the new Auto Settings creates a better photo by analyzing your photo and comparing to tens of thousands of professionally edited photos to create a beautiful, pleasing image.”
> ...



You have to enable the auto feature, they have merely updated it, its there in the standalone. I just tried it on my iphone with a difficult photo and it looks pretty good. Dark areas lightened without blowing out bright ones. From there, its much less work to tweak the exposure.


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## Graphic.Artifacts (Dec 12, 2017)

Don’t think I said anything about the subscription model although the increased
earnings from subscriptions may be what is driving adobe to look for a way to squeeze more
revenue out of Lightroom. I don’t have a crystal ball or any inside Info but I think the “classic” version of Lightroom is on the way out. If Adobe thinks their earnings will benefit from you being on their cloud based platform than that’s the only platform they are going to offer. It’s just that simple. If it works well for you now as a RAW converter that’s great. I don’t want to invest a lot of time into the data base (keywording etc) of a program with a hazy future. This is not my first time to the rodeo. 

I think Adobe’s vision is Lightroom as a sort of instagram on steroids and not a tool for photographers. Time will tell.


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## bwud (Dec 12, 2017)

Graphic.Artifacts said:


> I think Adobe’s vision is Lightroom as a sort of instagram on steroids and not a tool for photographers. Time will tell.



I think you’re completely off with that assessment. Adobe sees Lightroom as their primary tool for photographers, one in which they are incorporating some easy to apply settings for certain users/uses.


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## YuengLinger (Dec 12, 2017)

bwud said:


> “ the new Auto Settings creates a better photo by analyzing your photo and comparing to tens of thousands of professionally edited photos to create a beautiful, pleasing image.”
> 
> Well hot damn, just what I’ve always wanted: pictures which look like tens of thousands of other pictures.



So you don't use AF or AE because you want to be different?

True artists never settle for convenience!


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## bwud (Dec 13, 2017)

I updated. The new build is reeeeeeally slow and uses a ton more memory. I hope there is a big fix update.



YuengLinger said:


> bwud said:
> 
> 
> > “ the new Auto Settings creates a better photo by analyzing your photo and comparing to tens of thousands of professionally edited photos to create a beautiful, pleasing image.”
> ...



Not sure how you arrived at that. I don’t use AE because I prefer to control things. I do use AF when appropriate, but I tell the lens where to focus as best I can. Neither of those mimic prior images.


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## LDS (Dec 13, 2017)

bwud said:


> “ the new Auto Settings creates a better photo by analyzing your photo and comparing to tens of thousands of professionally edited photos to create a beautiful, pleasing image.”
> 
> Well hot damn, just what I’ve always wanted: pictures which look like tens of thousands of other pictures.



Well, I'm afraid it's what many others actually want <G>. Soon they will add "styles", I guess, so one will be able better to copy the fashionable style of some photographer.

Anyway, Auto was already there - it's just been improved. I seldom use it, and always just like a starting point only. This one is no different.

But the old Kodak motto "you press the button, we do the rest" it's what sold well in the past, and will sell well in the future.. just soon cameras will press the button also, Google already shown one...


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## albron00 (Dec 13, 2017)

Standalone... Probably gonna move to Capture One later....


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Dec 13, 2017)

The old auto exposure feature was generally useless, the new revised one brings most images close to where I like them. I tried it on already edited raw low light photos that are difficult to edit, and almost half of them did not change at all, about one third of them were improved, and the rest still suffered. That is a huge improvement.

I'm almost tempted to turn it on while importing images. When you need to edit a couple thousand, getting them close is a time saver. The auto white balance feature still ruins more photos than it helps. The issue is that many theatrical images are captured under colored lighting and I wish to keep the vivid colors and not balance faces to white. The auto white balance does a good job now of balancing skin tones to white light, but it ruins photos captured with colored lighting. I won't be turning auto on there.


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## bergstrom (Dec 13, 2017)

Chaitanya said:


> bereninga said:
> 
> 
> > Does anyone actually use the CC version instead of the Classic?
> ...



There is no standalone as far as I can see

http://www.adobe.com/ie/products/photoshop-lightroom-classic.html

and by standalone, I mean, once off download, NO cloud, NO subscription. Nothing.


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## LDS (Dec 13, 2017)

bergstrom said:


> There is no standalone as far as I can see
> http://www.adobe.com/ie/products/photoshop-lightroom-classic.html
> and by standalone, I mean, once off download, NO cloud, NO subscription. Nothing.



It's not easy to find, but you can still buy LR6 standalone:

http://www.adobe.com/products/catalog.html?filters=cd_252Fphotography&page=2#

Don't know for how long.


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## bergstrom (Dec 13, 2017)

ah thanks LDS.


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## BillB (Dec 13, 2017)

LDS said:


> bergstrom said:
> 
> 
> > There is no standalone as far as I can see
> ...



It's also on Amazon


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## snappy604 (Dec 14, 2017)

Like many others, I won't be migrating my LR6 to CC whatever annoying cloud / subscription variant they offer. Its not about cost for me, but about the ability to retain control over my data.

anyone use Affinity Photo from Serif? it tempts me, but I don't see any trials to test with. Curious if it's a decent LR or CS replacement.


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## bwud (Dec 14, 2017)

snappy604 said:


> Like many others, I won't be migrating my LR6 to CC whatever annoying cloud / subscription variant they offer. Its not about cost for me, but about the ability to retain control over my data.



What do you mean by that? Nothing about the CC forces you to relinquish control of your data. You can use their cloud if you want to, but I sync nothing.


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## snappy604 (Dec 14, 2017)

"What do you mean by that? Nothing about the CC forces you to relinquish control of your data. You can use their cloud if you want to, but I sync nothing."

hmm your question made me do a bit more homework and I see adobe did some work towards what I thought would occur (you retain access to the library/non-destructive adjustments you've made, just the develop module ceases to work).. cool, but I still dislike subscription models. I'd like to retain control to continue to edit even if I don't want to upgrade. I don't like being controlled with things like perpetual rent. I don't tend to lease vehicles either, I purchase. 

There's also aspects about data collection when you're on cloud based services. There was a lovely incident with them a few years ago where a lot of user data was leaked.

Fine they changed their model... fine I'll change my choice of editing software  it's the lovely thing about choice. No issues if you want to remain on that model, I do not. The question still stands, anyone use Affinity Photo that can give any insight if it's a decent value or not?


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## YuengLinger (Dec 14, 2017)

Finally got to take the new update for a good test drive. To me, faster and with less slider lag than ever, even with lots of local adjustments. Seems very stable.

And, yes, the AUTO feature actually works very well now, providing a good starting point in sunny day pics (so far). And I noticed that the VIBRANCE and SATURATION sliders are also involved in AUTO now.

AND, this is the best news, the update seems to have fixed a scary problem where my backup of a catalog started on an older computer was getting corrupted. Phew! (The problem started happening right after I updated to Windows 10 build 1709.)


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## Talys (Dec 14, 2017)

YuengLinger said:


> Finally got to take the new update for a good test drive. To me, faster and with less slider lag than ever, even with lots of local adjustments. Seems very stable.
> 
> And, yes, the AUTO feature actually works very well now, providing a good starting point in sunny day pics (so far). And I noticed that the VIBRANCE and SATURATION sliders are also involved in AUTO now.
> 
> AND, this is the best news, the update seems to have fixed a scary problem where my backup of a catalog started on an older computer was getting corrupted. Phew! (The problem started happening right after I updated to Windows 10 build 1709.)



If you use sidecar XMP files instead of storing changes in the catalog, you'll protect yourself from corruption (as long as you back up both the image and xmp).


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## jedy (Dec 15, 2017)

The main issue with Lightroom CC (apart from the monthly cost) is the forced upgrades that will likely contain bugs (and may not work perfectly with my OS version) and future forced updates will eventually no longer work with my computer. Standalone version for me.


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## privatebydesign (Dec 15, 2017)

jedy said:


> The main issue with Lightroom CC (apart from the monthly cost) is the forced upgrades that will likely contain bugs (and may not work perfectly with my OS version) and future forced updates will eventually no longer work with my computer. Standalone version for me.



Yet more inaccurate information about Adobe products. You are *never* forced to do an upgrade. I have old HDD's running ancient versions of LR quite happily for archiving reasons, Adobe even give you a simple button option to download the latest version of a program that will run on your OS. You can even install a new legacy OS on a new HDD and Adobe will automatically tell you what the youngest software version will run with it and allow you to install it, how many software companies maintain that kind of legacy capability?

The screenshot below shows the versions I can download to my current OS, earlier OS's give me more options all the way back to caveman times.

I can understand people not wanting to pay a monthly fee for a multiple of reasons, but inaccurate info about the way it actually works drives me mad, where do people form these bulls!t opinions from and post them as facts?


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## YuengLinger (Dec 15, 2017)

Talys said:


> YuengLinger said:
> 
> 
> > Finally got to take the new update for a good test drive. To me, faster and with less slider lag than ever, even with lots of local adjustments. Seems very stable.
> ...



That is a good tip, which, fortunately, I learned about long ago. Believe me, even with the XMP files, rebuilding a catalog with directories, etc, and losing presets because of the corrupted backup, is no fun. Reliable backups are part of a smooth workflow. I'm glad they fixed the problem!


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## slclick (Dec 16, 2017)

I thought Macphun was the December update to LR


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## langdonb (Dec 19, 2017)

I find the LR Classic version 7.1 much faster in transfers of 5D4 30MB files, doing transfer and previews at the same time, probably 40-50% faster than before.

The new range masking feature is a huge plus in editing. I am happy to pay for the subscription. Like other posters have said, most of us spend $10 on frivolous stuff daily or weekly. IMO, the other alternatives do not offer all the combined features that LRCC does...no I do not work for Adobe!

Feliz navidad y próspero año nuevo


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Dec 19, 2017)

privatebydesign said:


> jedy said:
> 
> 
> > The main issue with Lightroom CC (apart from the monthly cost) is the forced upgrades that will likely contain bugs (and may not work perfectly with my OS version) and future forced updates will eventually no longer work with my computer. Standalone version for me.
> ...



Some people incorrect perceptions. I'm always skeptical about claims in a forum where I do not know the expertise level of the poster. Its not wrong to be ignorant about a feature, but to advertise it is embarrassing, and I am far too guilty of that.


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