Adobe continues to push out regular updates to its photo editing tools. This is a good thing. Today, apps Lightroom and Lightroom CLASSIC get quite a few updates and performance improvements to help speed up your photo editing workflow. Let’s take a look at some of the notable features and updates.
Screenshot: Ant Pruitt
Performance Boost
Lightroom of yore had photographers complaining about performance when processing a batch of images. I was one of those, but I stuck with it. Adobe was finally able to put more resources into increasing the performance of Lightroom a few years ago and it’s definitely better than what it used to be. Today’s update continues the trend of putting more emphasis on maximizing the resources of a dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU) found on many photographer’s computers today. This includes support for the lens correction and transform adjustments. These performance updates are also available in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). If you’re like me and depend on Lightroom to be your digital asset manager (DAM), then having better performance means a lot.
Image credits: Adobe
In addition to speeding up the performance of Lightroom on the backend, the app now offers an additional preference change which allows you to import to a different camera preset and color profile by default. This is really useful when doing batch editing from one particular shoot.
Updates to Lightroom, Not Lightroom Classic
Image credits: Adobe
Other Updates
Other updates are regarding the Lightroom app found on your computer as well as your mobile devices. Not to be confused with Lightroom Classic. In addition to exporting high quality JPG and TIF files, you can now export DNG files from the app.
Image credits: Adobe
If you’re using Lightroom on the desktop interface, you now have improved HDR and Panorama photo merge performance. I never had good luck with the photo merge feature, so I typically utilized this tool in Lightroom Classic. I’m curious to try this out in Lightroom. Particularly by accessing it with simple keyboard shortcuts instead of diving through the menus.
Late in 2019, one of my favorite updates to the Lightroom package was the learning and tutorial section. The latest update has made the screen layout a bit more intuitive and easier to find. This section is REALLY USEFUL for newbies trying to learn the app.
Lastly, there’s a new split-screen option for the iPad version of Lightroom. I can’t say that was necessarily needed, but I’ll try it out on my iPad soon. I always thought the layout was perfect for tablets, especially if you utilize the Apple Pencil for selective adjustments.
Image credits: Adobe