Adobe Max is the software giant's equivalent of Apple at WWDC, and some of the most exciting announcements at the event were for its popular Lightroom photo-editing suite. Photoshop is probably the more famous of the two, and it just stole some of Adobe Max's title with the arrival of Photoshop for the web. But Lightroom is the foundation for organizing and editing workflows for many photographers, and all three versions of the app (mobile, desktop, and classic) have just received big updates. We'll give you a full review of the latest version of Lightroom as soon as updates are included in our Creative Cloud membership. Look for Lightroom Desktop version 5.0, iOS version 7.0, and Android version 7.0 now. But whichever version you're using, or thinking about going with, here are the five biggest new features coming to every version of Lightroom.
Top 5 New Features in Adobe Lightroom
For a long time, "masking" has been a solid answer to give when someone asks why you would go back and forth from an image to Photoshop. Of course, Lightroom has always offered masking (we could hardly work without its excellent easy-to-use gradient filter) but now, for the first time, we'll have proper, adjustable, adjustable masks. Lightroom will also get two new types of skins, uniting gradient, circular, and brush options, with Select Sky and Select Theme both making their way from Photoshop. The skins can also be flipped; this was previously possible with gradient and circular masks, but not with masks you applied manually with the Brush tool. As expected, you can create multiple skins. Image 1 of 2
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(Image credit: Adobe) Another feature for power users of the new masking and selection tools is the ability to name masks, which is another useful feature Photoshop users will appreciate. Overall, the new masking and selection tools make Lightroom much more powerful; in many ways they become de facto adjustment layers and in our experience will save images quite often on the fly. This should not be overlooked: round-trip images are expensive in terms of time and storage. We have questions. What will happen to the masks if you create them in Lightroom and then try to open an image in Photoshop? Is there a limit to the number of masks you can create, and does the inclusion of "select sky" bode well for the development of the "replace sky" tool currently in Photoshop proper? These questions largely need to be answered when the update arrives. The new masking feature is coming to all versions of Lightroom, as well as Adobe Camera Raw. In the meantime, the sky and theme selection tools are coming to all versions except an unannounced list of unsupported mobile devices. Are we excited about this one? It's embarrassing.
2. Harvest Store
Lightroom's other major enhancements are limited to cloud-based Lightroom (instead of what we call "proper" Lightroom Classic), as well as Lightroom Web and its iOS and Android mobile versions. These include the inclusion of "weird, wasn't there at launch" crop overlays, you know, the ability to see grid lines on your images when you crop them.
(Image credit: Adobe) These will include the traditional grids and rule of thirds guidelines, as well as the golden ratio and spiral guides to go along with the already included ability to crop to a particular aspect ratio. Interestingly, this only makes it to the desktop version of Lightroom, with mobile and web users interested in cropping being left behind.
3. Recommended presets
Adobe continues to rely on cloud computing and artificial intelligence with recommended presets, a feature that's coming to Lightroom (not the Classic version), as well as the mobile and web versions of the software. Described as a "stepping stone" for those looking for editing inspiration, Recommended Presets will examine the image in question and suggest a preset that might work for it. Surprisingly, this won't be limited to presets you've stored locally, but will include presets released (presumably) for free by the community.
(Image credit: Adobe) This could be a great way to find suitable presets, and for those who don't have a clear idea of what an image will look like, a great way to get started without trial and error. As far as presets go, Adobe is continuing its foray into the world of paid presets, with another bundle of eight preset packs that will be available for all versions of Lightroom. The question of creating a successful and engaging social network for photographers has been a thorny one for some time. With Instagram increasingly focusing on video to counter the threat to its digital supremacy from TikTok, Adobe thinks it may see a gap in the market. So we warmly welcome Community Remix, coming to desktop versions of Lightroom initially, and rolling out "soon" to other platforms.
(Image credit: Adobe) The principle is simple: share an image online and the community can open it locally, modify it, and download the results to the applause (maybe) of the masses. You could also do it the other way around, of course, opening up other people's work to provide your own interpretation of their image. It's a really interesting idea, especially for those who are new to photography and looking to do their footage justice in post-production. A useful way to learn new skills, look at your images in a different way, and push your knowledge to the limit? It all depends on how warmly the community receives the new feature, but it's a promising idea, to say the least.
5. Lightroom Academy
On a similar educational theme, the web version of Lightroom will also launch to teach photography with a new resource called Lightroom Academy. The aim is apparently to teach students some of the fundamental concepts of photography in an interactive way, beginning with a series on composition. You can take the lessons at your own pace, and they looked well presented, even revolutionary.
(Image credit: Adobe) The images come from the Lightroom community, while the quiz-style challenges and "On Your Own" exercises add a crucial interactive element, though it's a shame they don't have a place in Lightroom. Still, it's completely free (including non-subscribers) and Adobe promises to update Lightroom Academy with new classes and resources in 2022.