Adobe Lightroom CC App Questions & Answers

New Adobe Lightroom CC App - Questions & Answers

We know that some of you are thinking about - or have already decided to start using the NEW Lightroom CC App recently released by Adobe. We know that many of you also have questions about the new the Lightroom App.

We have answers for you right here in this post - and also in our awesome Lightroom Facebook group. 

Let us know if you have more questions we can help you with by commenting below or you can also ask in our Facebook group!

Question 1.  Is this the same Lightroom that I have been using on my desktop for the past few years?

No. This is a whole new product, but Adobe gave it the same name as the old product. I am not sure that they could have done anything MORE confusing for consumers - but they didn't ask us. It is our job to help you understand that while this new product looks similar to the desktop Lightroom you have been using for years, it is different.

With this new Lightroom CC, everything is synced to the cloud which means your photos and edits are available on all of your devices, wherever you are. It is really simple to use and still has the non-destructive editing power we expect from a professional photo editing product. It also adds artificial intelligence that analyzes your images and makes finding them easier even if you have NOT added keywords to your images manually.

This is Lightroom CC 1.0 - it does not currently have all of the features of the Classic version, but it already does have the essentials and I am hopeful that more features will be added rapidly.

Question 2.  Will my Pretty Presets work in Lightroom CC?

Yes and No!  Your Pretty Presets will work in the desktop app of Lightroom CC AND with the most recent 2018 update they WILL work in the mobile versions.  Your Brush Presets (think Pretty Presets Portrait Brushes, Bella Baby Newborn Brushes, or any other Lightroom brushes) will not currently work in any of the Lightroom CC versions right now.

We are hopeful that Adobe will fix this in future updates. For me, not being able to use brush presets is a bit of a deal breaker for me and Lightroom CC. I think most professionals will have a hard time fully switching over without full preset capability and better batch editing options. Also, wouldn't it be great if the presets could be stored in the cloud and accessed across all your devices? (Hint, Hint Adobe!!)

Question 3.  I really want my Pretty Presets to work on Lightroom CC on my mobile devices.  Isn't there ANY way to make that work?

We have been hoping for the feature for many years and are happy to say that as of the JUNE 2018 release, you can now use Pretty Presets for Lightroom on your mobile devices! We have created instructions to help you get your Lightroom Presets on mobile. It DOES require the use of the Lightroom CC desktop app. You can find full instructions for installing syncing your presets to your mobile device HERE!

Question 4.  Should I switch to the NEW Lightroom CC app?

Sure. I think there are lots of great things about this new Lightroom app. The desktop version is very powerful and for the first time since Lightroom released a mobile version, I can see myself using it. However in order for me to fully switch over, I would need to be able to access ALL of my presets AND brushes across all of the platforms as well as easier syncing. I think most professional photographers may stick with Lightroom Classic CC until some of these features are added and become a little more mainstream!

Question 5.  With Lightroom CC will all my photos go to the cloud?

Yes. As of right now, ALL the photos you upload to Lightroom CC, whether on mobile or on the desktop, will all be stored in the cloud - more specifically, Adobe's cloud storage. The basic Creative Cloud Photography Plan for $9.99 comes with 20GB of storage. As photographers, we know how easy it is to fill a 20GB memory card so it is clear that amount of storage won't last very long.  You can upgrade to 1TB of storage for $19.99 a month and if you are going to be using Lightroom CC much you will probably want to go ahead and do that.

Adobe also released a new Photography Plan option that only includes Lightroom CC (no Lightroom Classic CC or Adobe Photoshop CC) plus 1TB of storage for $9.99 a month which may work well for certain photographers.

Question 6.  Will my Lightroom Classic CC catalog transfer to the NEW Lightroom CC?

Adobe says Yes. Truthfully, I haven't tried it. There is an option in the desktop app to migrate a Lightroom Catalog over by going to File>Migrate Lightroom Catalog. You will need to keep in mind that the two products (Lightroom Classic CC and Lightroom CC) are not meant to work together, so DO NOT expect your edits to sync back and forth.

Question 7.  What does this NEW Lightroom CC app mean for Lightroom Classic CC - Is Lightroom Classic CC going away?

Unknown. It is really difficult to read Adobe's mind. This release eliminated the stand alone version of Lightroom which means you can no longer purchase Lightroom software on it's own without a subscription of some kind. Adobe also announced that it is no longer updating Lightroom 6.

For now, it has said that Lightroom Classic CC will continue to remain a product that it supports and updates in the future. The Lightroom CC app workflow is NOT yet ready to fully compete with the powerful tool that Lightroom Classic CC has become over the last several years - so I hope that is true!

In the future, I can see Adobe eventually moving Lightroom entirely to the cloud so I would not rule that out at some point down the road.

What are your thoughts or questions about the new Adobe Lightroom CC App?  Please leave us a comment below - we would LOVE to hear from you!  And PLEASE SHARE this post using the social sharing buttons (we really appreciate it)!