Adobe Lightroom Classic

About this release

Lightroom Classic is the desktop half of the Lightroom line, and the half that photographers with real archives actually use. Everything is built around a local catalogue: files stay where you put them, the catalogue tracks them, and the edits are stored as instructions rather than baked into the image. A shoot from years ago reopens with every adjustment still live.

The develop module covers raw processing end to end. Exposure, tone curve, colour mixer, calibration, lens correction, defringe, noise reduction and sharpening all sit in one column, and the masking system has become genuinely good: subject, sky, background and object masks generate automatically and then combine with brushes and gradients for local work.

Library management is the reason to choose Classic over anything simpler. Collections, smart collections, keywords, flags, ratings and colour labels scale to hundreds of thousands of images, and the filter bar finds anything in a catalogue that size in a moment. Folder management is real, so moving files on disk from inside the application keeps the catalogue correct.

Output covers print, book, slideshow and web modules, plus export presets that handle resizing, sharpening for the destination medium, watermarking and metadata stripping in one pass. Tethered capture works with most current camera bodies for studio sessions.

What it does

Non destructive catalogue

Edits are stored as instructions, so originals are never rewritten and history stays live.

Automatic masking

Subject, sky, background and object masks generate in a click and combine with manual brushes.

Library that scales

Collections, keywords, ratings and smart filters stay fast on very large catalogues.

Lens and camera profiles

Corrections for distortion, vignetting and colour applied by profile on import.

Export presets

Resize, sharpen, watermark and strip metadata in a single configured pass.

Tethered capture

Shoot straight into the catalogue with most current camera bodies.

Changed in this version

• Denoise runs faster on supported graphics cards.
• Masking gains better edge behaviour on hair and foliage.
• Catalogue open time improved on very large libraries.
• New camera and lens profiles added.
• Import screen reorganised with clearer destination handling.

System requirements

Install order

1. Unpack the archive to a short path.
2. Back up an existing catalogue before installing over an older version.
3. Run the installer and let the catalogue upgrade prompt complete on first launch.
4. Point previews and cache at a fast drive in preferences.

Worth knowing before you start

File details