This in-depth Lightroom review can help you decide whether the world’s most popular photo editing software remains worth purchasing in 2023.
Lightroom reviews for beginners, amateurs and enthusiast photographers is what this article focuses on – I imagine professional photographers already utilize its capabilities!
Professionally, I have used Lightroom for almost 10 years and highly recommend it to photographers at all levels.
I made the switch from Lightroom 6 standalone version to Adobe Lightroom Photography Plan subscription and am delighted with it!
Moving from single purchases to subscription services is a significant leap for anyone, particularly if your photography does not generate money for you.
This review can assist in making an informed decision as to whether Adobe Lightroom Classic will help edit and organize your photos effectively.
What is Adobe Lightroom?
Adobe Lightroom Classic, or simply Lightroom for short, is a desktop RAW image editor developed by Adobe Systems Inc. For optimal use it requires subscribing to Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan – see my guide on how to purchase Lightroom or compare Lightroom 6 with its latest iteration to understand why upgrading is wiser.
Lightroom Classic allows you to organize, edit, print and share your photographs.
Lightroom offers several features beyond editing images, such as maps, books, slideshows and web galleries. But most of your time spent here will likely be dedicated to editing them.)
Lightroom Classic subscribers also gain access to Lightroom (also known as Lightroom CC or Lightroom Mobile), an image editor available online.
One can sometimes become confused between Lightroom Classic and CC since both apps reside on your desktop computer. The key difference is that Lightroom Classic stores images locally while Lightroom CC stores them online (i.e. in the cloud).
Lightroom CC and Classic both focus on RAW image editing as one of their core capabilities.
With Lightroom Classic 9.2, you can edit JPG, DNG, TIFF, PSD, CMYK PNG video files as well as JPG DNG TIFF PSD PSD PSB PSB video files – editing even gigantic PSB files is now possible!
Though not a main feature, Lightroom mobile and desktop applications also allow you to edit videos.)
Editing is achieved using sliders and buttons and is nondestructive – you can return at any time to any edited or unedited state of your original file.
Lightroom Presets or Creative Profiles can help speed up photo edits for photographers.
Lightroom Classic can be easy to learn but may take years of experience and practice before mastery can be achieved; fortunately there are numerous Lightroom resources that can assist.
Adobe has introduced various AI-powered features over time that utilize Adobe Sensei’s incredible abilities, such as people selection with one click (AI People Selection) and then pinpointing facial features with facial tagging.
System Requirements
Minimum System Requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2 (64 bit).
Processor: Intel(r) or AMD processor with 64-bit support running at 2 GHz or faster (with Intel(r) preferred); Operating system: Microsoft Windows 10 with 64-bit support (1803 or later); RAM of 4GB (8GB is highly recommended) as well as 2 GB available hard disk space for program installation and resolutions of 1024×768 or greater for display resolution.
Graphics processor acceleration requirements: AMD: Radeon GPU with DirectX 12 support. Intel: Skylake or newer GPU that has support for DirectX 12. NVIDIA also offers GPUs compatible with DirectX 12.
Minimum Mac OS Requirements for VRAM include one GB VRAM; for high resolution monitors such as 4K- and 5K monitors, two or four times this amount may be recommended as dedicated VRAM memory.
Processor: Intel multicore processor with 64-bit support. Operating System : macOS 10.13 or later
RAM: 4GB (8 GB recommended) Hard Disk Space : 2 GB of available disk space
Graphics processor acceleration requirements: AMD: macOS 10.13 or later with Metal support, while Intel and NVIDIA require macOS 10.13 with Metal support respectively.
1GB Video RAM (VRAM). 2 GB dedicated VRAM (4GB recommended for larger, high-resolution monitors such as 4K- and 5K-resolution displays) may also be necessary. You install and update Lightroom using the Creative Cloud utility that sits in your Taskbar, with installation consuming almost 2GB of drive space.
There are various tricks you can employ to speed up Lightroom, but in general it is advised to have ample RAM, an up-to-date GPU, and either an SSD or fast HDD for optimal performance.
Importing Photos into Lightroom Classic
Once installed, Adobe Lightroom Classic requires you to organize and initial proof your photos before moving them into its Library module for organization and proofing.
Lightroom imports photos into a Catalog, creating a link between it and physical files. This Catalog can then be stored separately from your image files.
So you can store images on external hard drives or wirelessly on a Network Attached Storage (NAS), and access them from anywhere in the world.
At import time, you have various options for how you want your files stored; copy, DNG (Adobe’s RAW file format), move or add depending on how they will be arranged in folders or drives.
Previews can help speed up viewing/editing within Lightroom after importation, so creating them as early as possible is recommended. Smart Previews should also be developed.
Adobe Lightroom Classic’s Smart Previews are a key advantage, enabling you to edit images that aren’t physically attached to your computer. They use a lightweight file format derived from lossy DNG file extensions.
If your computer struggles to handle large image files quickly, Smart Previews offer faster editing in Adobe Lightroom Classic while retaining all of their malleability.
Your options to manage duplicates include Ignoring Duplicates, adding to a Collection (like virtual folder), making a Second Copy to another location, adding Keywords/Meta Data/Presets as well as developing Settings which may then be saved for future reference.
Lightroom Presets are an efficient way of saving time when editing photos, applying specific ‘looks’ or styles to images either you created yourself or acquired elsewhere (here are some free presets).
Applying Presets at the import stage is both straightforward and extremely efficient when editing large numbers of images.
Tethering offers another more advanced way of uploading photographs directly onto a computer or tablet’s display.
Organising Photos in Lightroom Classic
Photos imported into Lightroom Classic can be organized into at least three locations: Catalog, Folders and Collections – which all reside on the left-side panel in Library Module.
The Catalog displays every photo that exists in Lightroom as well as various filtered views of these photographs.
Folders reflect your computer’s folder hierarchy, including any images that have been imported.
Collections act like virtual folders, allowing you to organize images without altering their actual locations on your hard drive.
Adobe Lightroom Classic’s Smart Collections can help to automate this task, automatically sorting images based on various rules – such as star ratings, colors or other criteria – to quickly organise them and grouping your photos for you. This feature can be particularly helpful when culling images (i.e. choosing what to keep or delete).
Everything deleted from a Collection remains within your Lightroom Catalog.
Anything deleted from your Catalog will either be permanently erased from only that location, or both your Catalog and hard drive.
As with anything new, this requires some practice before becoming routine. But it’s a great way to manage large volumes of images across both internal and external hard drives.
Note that once your files have been added to Lightroom’s catalog, any changes you make must occur within Lr – any modifications outside will disassociate their location and create issues.
One of the greatest features of Collections in the Library module is their ability to sync easily with Lightroom Mobile (the web-based app) and all your smart devices, simply by clicking a bi-directional arrow icon next to each Collection.
Synced Collections act like an “autowatch folder”, automatically updating with any changes made on any of your devices – making this wireless workflow both liberating and enjoyable!
Lightroom CC for iOS/Android and Photoshop for mobile are powerful yet user-friendly ways of editing and organizing photos on the move.
As part of my review of Lightroom CC (aka web-based Lightroom), I purposefully avoided speaking about it due to potential confusion – it’s really strange how Adobe chose such similar names for both software!
Confusion reigns when both versions of Lightroom reside on your desktop, even though one is an online app, as each has their own catalog – one stored locally (i.e. on your computer) and another stored online (in Adobe Creative Cloud).
Even with its confusing name, Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC work seamlessly together and enable users to easily create online galleries for friends or clients to view and interact with.
The Library module is the quickest way to view larger versions of image thumbnails quickly. When combined with Smart Previews, viewing can even take place quickly with thousands of images.
Filter images using flags, ratings, color labels, EXIF data (ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture values) as well as which camera or lens was used to take them.
You can add keywords and organize them into frequently used lists.
Keywording photos is a powerful feature, but only effective if done by yourself. With enough effort put in, keywording photos could allow you to locate that rare gem that eludes search results…
With our Quick Develop panel in the Library module, it’s possible to make minor edits to photos using Saved Presets, White Balance, Tone Control, Exposure, Clarity and Vibrance settings.
This tool can be particularly beneficial if you require mass editing of multiple photos with similar edits; however, the Develop module offers much finer editing control.
Developing Photos in Lightroom Classic
Lightroom Classic’s Develop module contains an impressive suite of editing tools designed to extract every drop of information from camera RAW files.
Use these tools to edit JPEGs or any of the other file types listed, but camera RAW files provide the most dramatic change to your images.
At the time of this Lightroom review, the Basic Editing Tools in its interface included:
Treatment – Choose either color or black and white Adobe RAW profiles include Color, Monochrome, Portrait Landscape Neutral Vivid for one-click Creative Profiles to give your photos an aesthetic. When working in Creative Modes the Adobe RAW Profiles include Color, Monochrome Portrait Landscape Neutral & Vivid as well as one-click Creative Profiles designed to give photos an instant visual style with one-click Creative Profiles such as White Balance (colour temperature), Exposure (light level), Contrast (the contrast between darks and lights), Highlights/reduce bright areas whilst Shadows can darken/lighten shadow areas whilst Whites/Blacks can adjust brightness/darken/darken/lighten/darken/lighten shadow areas by altering/darkening/lightening shadow areas in accordance with various adjustments that you make as you make changes.
Texture – Smooth out textures without losing finer details
Clarity – Highlight the midtones to heighten texture and sharpness Dehaze – Enhance or remove hazy effects created by sunlight or fog Vibrance – Adjust color brightness as necessary.
Saturation allows users to increase or decrease colour saturation; Dehaze and Texture were introduced in recent Lightroom updates as powerful tools not found elsewhere in image editors.
Adobe is committed to developing and releasing groundbreaking new features for any subscriber to any of its Creative Cloud plans; learn about all your options here.
As you start editing RAW images, the Basic panel is where most of your time should be spent; sliding its sliders will bring immediate changes to your photos.
Although Lightroom may not offer as robust RAW conversion capabilities as its rival Capture One, its RAW conversions still provide enough functionality for most photographers both amateur and professional alike.
An important component of Lightroom learning comes from experimentation, and this process is made straightforward and safe by its Undo function and History panel, both of which enable you to reverse any edits you’ve made in error.
Create Virtual Copies of any image to experiment with editing freely and create multiple variations of it.
Virtual Copies allow you to quickly compare multiple edits without altering the original image file – simply creating virtual replicas within Lightroom is enough for this functionality. This can be extremely beneficial and is an extremely valuable way of using Lightroom effectively.
Going down the right side of the Develop module, we see:
Tone Curve – adjust contrast and brightness levels; HSL/Color – customize hue, saturation, luminosity (HSL/Color), split toning with various tints to shadows and highlights for shadow/highlight contrast; Detail – increase sharpness while simultaneously decreasing noise to bring out finer details
Lens Corrections – automatically correct lens issues like distortion, chromatic aberration and vignetting Lens Transform – modify perspectives, straighten horizons and add straightening effects Effects – add vignetting and film grain effects Calibration – Fine tune the colour profile that’s specific to your camera
On the left side of the Develop module, you have access to your Presets, History and Collections.
Lightroom presets can help make photography simpler. Learn how to edit and create your own now.)
Above the Basic panel are Selective Editing Tools that enable more precise adjustments of specific areas in your photos.
Crop allows you to straighten and crop your image, while Spot Removal removes small unwanted details (e.g. blemishes on skin), while Red Eye Correction automatically corrects red eye. Finally, Graduated Filter digitally replicates the effect of a graduated neutral density filter filter.
Radial Filter – Allows for applying localized adjustments in circular, targeted areas; Healing Brush/Healing Sponges are used to apply these same adjustments directly onto specific spots by painting them onto them.
There’s also a histogram, which allows direct adjustments of shadows, exposure and highlights – an invaluable way of learning how a camera’s histogram works.
Each of the Develop module editing tools are powerful and applicable in different situations.
As a professional wedding photographer, I only utilize about 50% of the editing tools when editing an entire wedding event.
Most amateur photographers will likely only utilize some of the editing tools, but knowing everything’s there should provide more opportunities for experimentation later.
An editing workflow could consist of:
Import images using a develop preset to jump-start the editing process; cull images using star or colour ratings in the Library module; view images individually within Develop module to make adjustments and refine exposure; export using export presets
Lightroom keyboard shortcuts make all tools accessible quickly, while changes made to photos typically happen instantly.
There’s also an “Edit In” feature, enabling higher-level editing changes to be made using external editors such as Adobe Photoshop, Skylum Luminar and Topaz Studio – or other 3rd party applications if they exist.
One of the key advantages of the Develop module is its capacity for making bulk edits using its Copy/Paste or Previous buttons.
Lightroom’s batch editing feature can save time when editing similar scenes under similar lighting conditions, enabling you to apply edits across multiple images simultaneously.
Batch editing isn’t currently supported in Lightroom (CC) or Lightroom Mobile App; rather, your edits can only be copied/pasted onto another photo.
Also included is the Match Total Exposures feature, which references the first image in a sequence and adjusts any subsequent ones accordingly to maintain overall brightness levels.
2023 photo editing software can often provide more than you anticipate; beyond its core tools, many other useful features lie hidden away within menus for you to discover through experimentation.
Dependent upon the speed and configuration of your computer and Lightroom installation, there may be noticeable lagging in the Develop module when editing multiple images at once.
Each photo’s editing history is stored in an Lr database file and accessed every time a new photo is loaded for development. As more edits occur on a particular photo, development time may increase accordingly.
Smart Previews may help to alleviate speed bumps to some degree, but to truly maximize Lightroom’s capabilities on your computer it is crucial that your workflow remains efficient.
Image editing with Lightroom Classic’s Develop module is generally an intuitive, straightforward and rewarding process.
Photo editing tools allow you to extract and manipulate existing data within RAW images, saving time while offering various timesaving features accessible for all levels of users.
Exporting Photos from Lightroom Classic
Lightroom Classic’s innovative Export module makes it easier than ever before for users to transfer edited images out of Lr and onto hard drives, social media networks, galleries or any other destination of choice.
Option include: WHERE AND HOW WILL MY FILE(S) BE SAVED/NAMED
EXPORT LOCATION, File Naming and Video options. WHETHER TO EXPORT VIDEOS and which formats/quality you would like them saved
File Settings – Choose desired image format, compression level, and colour profiles; Image Sizing – Adjust image resolution and set whether to resize on export; Output Sharpening – Apply sharpening effects
Metadata – Determine whether or not to include metadata; Watermarking – Apply pre-saved watermark;
Post-Processing – Choose whether to open your images in another application (such as Photoshop) after export. Having the ability to make final adjustments quickly and automatically saves a lot of time.
Create Export Presets can help increase workflow efficiency by saving commonly used export settings as presets for easy retrieval in future export processes.
With the latest update, it’s now even possible to export photos using multiple Export Presets simultaneously.
As an example, these tools could help resize, sharpen, watermark and convert images to PNG for sharing on Facebook.
With Post-Processing, you have the flexibility of customizing post-export actions such as opening files in external editors or applications – such as email clients or Dropbox folders.
Overall, Adobe Lightroom Classic’s Export module provides an efficient and effective means of exporting edited photos out.
Other features of Lightroom Classic
Photographers typically spend their time editing and organizing photos in Adobe Lightroom Classic’s Library and Develop modules.
Of course, Lightroom boasts other useful features ‘hidden’ within its various menus, such as its powerful Photo Merge tool which makes creating panoramas and HDR photos effortless.
Lightroom offers you the possibility of adding plugins that extend its capabilities further.
Beyond the code Library and Develop modules, there are 5 others worth highlighting here:
Map – Browse photos by location using GPD data plotted onto a map
Book – Create photo books or magazines layouts Slideshow – Generate slideshows featuring photos, text and transition effects Print – Customise the page layout and print options for photos and contact sheets
Web – Build website layout from your photos
Each of these functions may prove invaluable depending on your particular requirements.
Personally, I find great delight in using the Map module, which uses embedded GPS data from photos to plot their locations on an embedded Google Map.
If you frequently take smartphone photographs, this can be an enjoyable way to review all your images.
Print is also useful when creating photo collage layouts (see our tutorial), with most professional paper stocks and sizes supported.
Lightroom Review – Ease of Use
Some users of Adobe Lightroom may initially become confused over the difference between its desktop-focused app (known as Classic ) and its web-focused one ( ‘Lightroom’).
Importing information may also present some difficulty, with differences among Copy, Move and Add not immediately evident.
Some may be unfamiliar with Lightroom’s Import module, and its use to import all photos that need editing into Lightroom.
Lightroom’s intuitive user interface and simplified image organizing system makes the editing and organisation process enjoyable, straightforward and straightforward.
Learning curve for local adjustment tools and more advanced features does exist, however due to their age and popularity online documentation is easily available.
Lightroom’s WYSIWYG interface gives instant visual feedback of any image adjustments made, while all can be reversed and the original file remains undisturbed (also known as lossless editing).
Beginners should find it straightforward, while more experienced users can enjoy endless creative experiments thanks to all the options and intricacies on offer.
Performance
Professional photographers utilizing Adobe Lightroom Classic for photo management often complain of its slow performance when organizing, editing and delivering photos to clients.
As with any software application, slow performance may be attributable to various external factors that aren’t related to its core code itself.
An up-to-date computer with ample RAM and, ideally, SSD storage will serve you best when running Lightroom, particularly for editing large files. However, even with the fastest computers there can be certain operations which run more slowly than anticipated.
Importing large numbers of images to an Lr Catalog is generally quite time consuming, particularly if Previews and Develop Presets are created.
Wedding and event photographers who need to import thousands of images quickly know it’s better to leave the process running overnight, rather than sitting around waiting!
Pros often prefer standalone software like Photo Mechanic for photo import because this allows them to edit photos before their entire import is completed, making this step less cumbersome and faster.
Exporting images is a resource-intensive task, and performance will increase significantly on computers with multiple cores.
(Exporting images on my 2015 3.1GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7 16GB MacBook Pro renders other programs unusable).)
Some users may experience delays when switching between modules in Lightroom Classic; this depends on how many images are in your catalog.
Overall, when your computer and application are properly setup, performance should be adequate.
Smart Previews make work much faster, and every Adobe update results in performance increases for overall system functionality.
Value for Money
Pricing and packages of Lightroom Classic can change frequently, so for the latest information regarding subscription costs it’s wise to check here regularly.
(You can also take a look here for special discounts – and there is even one for students and teachers!)
There are a variety of alternatives to Lightroom that provide similar photo editing tools at an upfront fee.
Adobe Creative Cloud’s subscription model may be difficult for some photographers to accept, particularly considering Lightroom 6 was available as a one-off payment option.
Lightroom Classic provides numerous additional features and speed improvements over its predecessor.
It features seven powerful modules, each one packed full of useful functions for beginners as well as professionals.
I have only briefly touched upon 2 of them here (Library and Develop), yet each deserves closer examination; Print provides a simple method for printing out custom layouts or photo collages.
Lightroom Classic/Lightroom Mobile offers excellent device syncing features that entice many photographers to pay its subscription fee.
Synchronizing and backing up photos via Adobe Creative Cloud/Lightroom CC can be liberating, while having access to edit photos via mobile phones or tablets can be game-changers for many photographers.
Although Lightroom Mobile/Photoshop Mobile are free, some features only become accessible if you subscribe to one of the Lightroom Photography Plans – one being being able to sync all your files back onto your desktop computer via Lightroom.
Subscribers of the Photography Plan can also take advantage of Adobe Photoshop 2020 – one of the world’s leading image editing and photo retouching programs.
(For more on the differences between Photoshop and Lightroom, refer to our guide here.)
Adobe is committed to supporting every new camera model with their editing tools, providing subscribers with full support of every model that becomes available in their subscription service.
This means if you purchase a camera after October 2017 and continue using older versions of Lr, its photos won’t be editable.
Adobe Lightroom remains unparalleled among 2023 photo editors, making photography accessible and enjoyable for photographers of all experience levels.
Professional photographers understand that paying monthly for an Adobe Lightroom subscription is part of doing business – and many are happy to do so.
Non-professionals and novices should carefully evaluate how useful each of the features listed here is to their post-production workflow.
How much do you value the time spent editing photos to achieve high-quality output?
How valuable would it be for your photography business to have access to an online cloud storage backup of raw files and JPEGs, with easy sharing capabilities?
How important is being able to edit and sync images using your smartphone or tablet?
Only you can make this decision, but I hope my Lightroom review has made your choice easier.