MacLife UK – August 2019

Image rights: Apple, Adobe.

In 2017, Adobe rewrote its professional photo

editing and cataloguing software, Lightroom,

to bring feature parity to its desktop and

mobile versions. In doing so they dropped

a lot of features and functionality users had

enjoyed in the much more mature Lightroom

Classic CC (which is still on sale), but the

developers have been steadily reintroducing

features via updates since then.

The reason this is important to mention

is that Lightroom Classic CC is still a more

“pro” app — and still gets updates — but

will invariably be discontinued, while

Lightroom CC (the new version) will live

on. Priced at $9.99 a month, it’s slick and

streamlined, while providing more powerful

and Ľne–detailed editing tools and photo

management than Apple’s own Photos app.

On its release, Lightroom CC required you

to store all your original images in the cloud,

but there’s now the option to store them

locally, even though you do need to be online

periodically for authorization. Images you

add to the Lightroom mobile app do get

Adobe Lightroom CC

Now with more tools for editing and cataloguing images

$9.99/month From Adobe, adobe.com

Needs macOS 10.12 or higher

ADOBE

LIGHTROOM CC

Slick and fast, easy

to use

Great syncing of

images and edits

via the cloud

Still fewer features

than the Classic

version

Adobe will charge

you to upgrade

cloud storage

GREAT

uploaded to your cloud space (which Adobe

charges you to upgrade), but the result is

that all your images, tags, and edits do sync

seamlessly between devices.

Importing and tagging images is easy,

as is creating albums and searching your

library. The editing tools have been upgraded

signiĽcantly since the original release, and

though still not quite as comprehensive as

those in the Classic version, provide solid

options. There’s the usual stuļ like

exposure, white balance, tone curves, and

selective color editing, as well as detail and

now texture — new in the 2.3 update — for

enhancing the vivid qualities of an image.

Many camera and lens models are

supported with proĽles for correcting

distortion, and of course there are preset

looks provided — you can save your own too.

Viewing and comparison options are good,

and you can export images, though your

processing and format options are limited

compared to other applications. For regular

users, Lightroom CC is great, though

professionals will likely want to stick with

Classic CC for as long as they can.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Slick, with great

syncing features. More powerful than the

Photos app but less so than Lightroom

Classic CC. HOLLIN JONES

Catalogue and edit images

in all formats including

RAW, with filmstrip view

for easy access.

Some of the more advanced tools include adjustment

brushes, which let you paint changes onto selected areas.

Reviews

42 AUG 2019 maclife.com