If you're wondering if you should use Lightroom Classic or the Cloud version of Lightroom, this video is for you! In it, I give 5 reasons to use the cloud version and 5 reasons not to use the cloud version. Through August 4, Save 40% on All Creative Cloud Apps for the first year subscription on both "Trial with Purchase" and "Paid Up Front" plans. Go here: prf.hn/l/lGnjDBl Checkout Anthony Morganti's Lightroom Training - The ULTIMATE Lightroom Classic Course - Nearly 70 Videos - HOURS of Training: bit.ly/UltimateLightroomCourse Save $10 with Discount Code: TENOFF Get your free downloadable keyboard shortcut PDFs from my website, including keyboard shortcuts for Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, On1 Photo Raw, Topaz Labs Photo AI, and Luminar Neo: www.anthonymorganti.com I am an Adobe affiliate and will earn a commission if you purchase anything using the link directly above. Please read my Code of Ethics Statement: onlinephotographytraining.com/code-of-ethics/
Fantastic breakdown. Thank you. Now that I understand the limitations of both versions, based on the tethering aspect alone, I think I'll be pulling the trigger on Capture One.
Team LrC all the way. A lot of LrC users say they never use Slideshow and see no value in it. I find it very useful when editing. When I think I've finished editing a shoot, I highlight all the images and play a slideshow. I almost always find additional problems: shifts in exposure or color temp in images that should match, small distractions that need removal, similar shots that can be culled out, etc.
This is the best coherent explanation I have seen of how the two Lightrooms are different. Thisi is certainly a great help for those considering which to use. I have used Lightroom Classic for many years and am so familiar with it that I do not plan to changeover. Thanks for sharing this.
I used the Cloud version for about 7 months but found it to be too slow uploading images. Especially from the Sony A7RV with its large Raw files. The other issues was the fact that my Internet provider has a data cap and when you go over you have to pay more and they slow your speed down. Recently the provider removed the download cap but not the upload. Another issue is the cost. For One TB it’s $10 a month with Adobe. I currently have over 4TB of image dating back over 20 years. That’s even after I deleted over 2TB images and removed all videos from LRc. That could cost me $100 a month with Adobe if I uploaded everything. So now I have gone back to syncing collections to the Cloud. It’s not the full image but I really don’t need it because any edit I do in the Cloud will show up within the Lightroom Classic collection. And if I do any edit to a synced collection photo, that edit shows up in Lightroom Cloud. Since I’m just using the sync feature I have no Cloud space limit. I do think I may just upload my final image to the Cloud so I have a backup. But again the biggest issues are the speed and the cost. Cheers!
I bought 2TB of cloud storage on a lifetime plan for about $300. I use classic and use the cloud drive as my primary photo storage. You’re right that it takes a long time to upload, which is a drag, but after that process, it’s really nice having everything in the cloud.
LRC for me. I use them all, but anything important gets worked on in LRC. I am surprised that virtual copies didn't make the list for LRC reasons, but you only had 5 slots. Thanks for another great video!
Some photographers work with images that require a high level of privacy/security. By now, we have all probably heard that Adobe has access to all your images that are sent to their cloud servers. This includes images being processed by the AI functions in Lightroom Classic. At least with Classic, you have the option of avoiding the AI functions, but with Cloud there is no way to maintain full control of your images.
I use lightroom cloud but I also sync some lightroom cloud albums with lightroom classic collections so that I can use the Topaz plug ins to edit an image in Lightroom Classic Collections. Hope that makes sense!
Con; 1. No virtual copies. 2. no digital asset management. 3. When you “copy to iCloud” in Lr, it breaks the connection between the version on your local drive to the image on the cloud drive. Pro; 1. I LOVE the “recommended presets” in Lr. 2. When I copy to the cloud there are never any sync issues. If LrC would fix the sync issues with the catalogues, it would make LrC perfect for me. Also my fingers “remember” the keyboard shortcuts that I’ve leaned over the years on previous versions, when I use Lr, it just confuses me.
I like to download my photos from my sd card to my iPad for preview. Then allow them to sync to the LR Classic on my MacBook. The main issue I have is a huge file of mobile downloads that eats up hard drive room. Thanks for this info in this video
NO Smart Collections in the Cloud version of Lightroom. That alone is a show stopper for me; other limitations of this version of Lightroom mentioned in this video simply add to why I keep away from it. When compared to Lightroom Classic, it's drawbacks far outweigh its benefits from my perspective.
@@BillRize It's a big step in the right direction in my view; however it's only available with the Cloud version. I want it for the Local version as well, and I want the option to synchronize it with the Cloud version. Without that and addressing other limitatons described in Anthony Morganti's video, I'm still out.
I use both. I store my “keepers” on Lr but do most editing in LrC. Anthony didn’t mention the new option on Lr to access presets from the cloud which gives a lot of creative options.
I also use both - but have something of a problem that I am not always sure which images are in the cloud and which on hard drive. They both show up as smart previews in both places. It is something of a problem when trying to decide on a backup strategy as Anthony references. I could try to copy desktop images as Anthony shows, but they will lack the LrC edits…
Con; 1. No virtual copies. 2. no digital asset management. 3. When you “copy to iCloud” in Lr, it breaks the connection between the version on your local drive to the image on the cloud drive. Pro; 1. I LOVE the “recommended presets” in Lr. 2. When I copy to the cloud there are never any sync issues. If LrC would fix the sync issues with the catalogues, it would make LrC perfect for me.
Yes! To add onto the Cons... No Keyword Management, No Folder Colors, Virtual copies a BIG issue for me, Asset management and overall photo organization is not there. Lightroom (not Classic) just seems like a lightweight. I could get used to it for some conveniences but my huge fear is they're going to phase out classic.
I hope Adobe adds plugin capability to Lr! (Lightroom Cloud aka Lightroom Desktop.) I shoot weddings every so often, my workflow switches from Lr to LrC when editing wedding and/or senior photos.
That exactly one of my reason for not using Cloud full time. Upload speed is just too slow unless you pay an extremely high fee for Internet speed (upload). I looked into faster speeds with my provider but it could cost an additional of almost $100 a month. Just can’t justify that cost. Plus the additional cost with Adobe since I have over 4TB of images. Cheers!
LRC every day for me. Having separate catalogues is very useful, not being able to have images in my catalogues on external drives is a non-starter. And the cloud stuff is unusable as it is painfully slow and also over priced without any sensible storage tiers, 20GB or 1TB
Yes. I import all my photos to LrC on my Mac (could might as well be a PC), then I have an album called Sync that I add all photos I like to sync to. Then I can edit on my iPad and it´ll sync back to the Mac. The benefit of import to the “desktop” is that only a preview is synced to the cloud. If you import on a mobile device to the cloud, it uploads the full photo and use a lot more space. So I only do this when I’m on a trip and want to edit something and share right away.
My situation is using iPad to develop on Lightroom mobile, then uploading finished jpg’s to Mac where I use bridge to catalog and keyword to upload to smug mug. I find Lightroom mobile the best as it’s on phone and iPad, bridge is perfect cataloging tool, and smug mug is the best cloud gallery scenario. Yes probably very clunky work flow lol.
I've been trying to go to LR from LRC, but odd behaviors turn me off. I have over 65 years of photos, most are. digital as I've been scanning for years. Here is one example of what I mean by odd. On my MAC, in folder named "1965," I see 145 files. In Bridge, I see 145 images in that folder. In LRC, I see 145 images in that folder. In LR, in Local, I click on the 1965 folder, and I see 84 images. But, in LR Cloud, under "Recent Added", I see 130 images from the 1965 folder. Try to fix things by going to "Add Photos" in LR Cloud, back to the file folder 1965 in Mac Finder, click on select all, then add them to the Cloud (again), and I've got 155 images under Recently Added. Huh? I need to talk to Adobe about this. When I'm trying to curate a photo collection for my kids, I'd like to be in ONE program where I know I'm seeing the right number of images. Like Goldilocks. Neither too few nor too many.
What serious photographer edits on a small screen device? And why do you upload your photos to Adobe's cloud so thay can look at all of your photos to add keywords? What else are they doing with your photos? I will stay with LrC.
I use Lightroom Desktop because it has a new modern interface and none of the catalog baggage. Also I don't need the Map, Slideshow or Print modules. Also, I don'e use the cloud, just photo stored locally.
Dear Anthony, I use Lightroom simply, because it is more intuitive then LrC and the things I miss, I use the workaround via Photoshop(Printing module Epson), Special denoising(TopazPAI) I am a semi working commercial Photographer, so no pressure on time or deadline...and in LrC I often get confused where I put my files, due to the amount of possibilities to filter. Color, Stars, Keywords and Collections, it simply does not sink in...Somehow I do not get the hang of it and kind of lost in translation...totally my problem. And I can anywhere approach my files(iPad, iPhone or Mobile ) in Lightroom...and not in LrC, Greets from The Netherlands, Guus
I got a subscription for Lr in February--what was called Lr Cloud. Love it. Then, for the same price (13 Euro/month) I got Lr, LrClassic and Ps (with less cloud space--but I never use it anyway). What I found confusing about LrC is the catalog system. I like the Local tab in what's now called Lr. I still don't understand why anyone would come up with that catalog approach.
I recently switched from classic to cloud. I think it will become the main Lightroom application in the future, guessing that each new cloud version update will get more and more features added that classic has 🔮
I have been using both Lightroom and Lightroom Classic together, using the best features of each and using Lightroom to save full size versions of my best images to the cloud as an additional layer of back up lest my local storage devices should fail. I will sometimes use the PRINT module in LrC for the advantage of soft proofing. That said it is easy enough to take an image from Lightroom and then use my Canon Printer plug-in to do everything and more, in terms of layout, that can be achieved in the LrC PRINT module. I would be keen to see a video from you addressing the question of how Lightroom Classic and Lightroom can be used efficiently in tandem. BTW, thanks for another great video; always informative and helpful. More please.
Still a weird model to have essentially the same software with additions and omissions in both. No real reason why one platform could do it all in my opinion.
You really glossed over the history panel as if hardly anyone uses it. That is the single most important reason I wouldn’t switch. I just helped a novice photographer on how to use Lightroom to edit on his laptop and much to my chagrin he used the cloud. I went to show him how easy it was to see what edits he had done and how you can use it as a before and after and it wasn’t there. 🤦♂️. After I add an edit I can use the history panel as a before and after the edit. Just hover the mouse over the edit, such as add radial filter, and light room shows you what it looked like at that point. It immediately goes back when you simply move the mouse off of it.
If you're wondering if you should use Lightroom Classic or the Cloud version of Lightroom, this video is for you! In it, I give 5 reasons to use the cloud version and 5 reasons not to use the cloud version.
Through August 4, Save 40% on All Creative Cloud Apps for the first year subscription on both "Trial with Purchase" and "Paid Up Front" plans. Go here:
prf.hn/l/lGnjDBl
Checkout Anthony Morganti's Lightroom Training - The ULTIMATE Lightroom Classic Course - Nearly 70 Videos - HOURS of Training:
bit.ly/UltimateLightroomCourse
Save $10 with Discount Code: TENOFF
Get your free downloadable keyboard shortcut PDFs from my website, including keyboard shortcuts for Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, On1 Photo Raw, Topaz Labs Photo AI, and Luminar Neo:
www.anthonymorganti.com
I am an Adobe affiliate and will earn a commission if you purchase anything using the link directly above. Please read my Code of Ethics Statement:
onlinephotographytraining.com/code-of-ethics/
Note that Brian Matiash's channel has a course called "Lightroom Everywhere," where he discusses all versions. It is a great course, by the way.
Fantastic breakdown. Thank you. Now that I understand the limitations of both versions, based on the tethering aspect alone, I think I'll be pulling the trigger on Capture One.
Team LrC all the way. A lot of LrC users say they never use Slideshow and see no value in it. I find it very useful when editing. When I think I've finished editing a shoot, I highlight all the images and play a slideshow. I almost always find additional problems: shifts in exposure or color temp in images that should match, small distractions that need removal, similar shots that can be culled out, etc.
Thank you for a clear explanation of why I absolutely need Classic : I print a lot and produce slideshows regularly.
This is the best coherent explanation I have seen of how the two Lightrooms are different. Thisi is certainly a great help for those considering which to use. I have used Lightroom Classic for many years and am so familiar with it that I do not plan to changeover. Thanks for sharing this.
That AI search capability of LR that you mentioned works only for the photos located in the cloud , not locally saved photos.
I used the Cloud version for about 7 months but found it to be too slow uploading images. Especially from the Sony A7RV with its large Raw files. The other issues was the fact that my Internet provider has a data cap and when you go over you have to pay more and they slow your speed down. Recently the provider removed the download cap but not the upload. Another issue is the cost. For One TB it’s $10 a month with Adobe. I currently have over 4TB of image dating back over 20 years. That’s even after I deleted over 2TB images and removed all videos from LRc. That could cost me $100 a month with Adobe if I uploaded everything. So now I have gone back to syncing collections to the Cloud. It’s not the full image but I really don’t need it because any edit I do in the Cloud will show up within the Lightroom Classic collection. And if I do any edit to a synced collection photo, that edit shows up in Lightroom Cloud. Since I’m just using the sync feature I have no Cloud space limit. I do think I may just upload my final image to the Cloud so I have a backup. But again the biggest issues are the speed and the cost. Cheers!
I bought 2TB of cloud storage on a lifetime plan for about $300. I use classic and use the cloud drive as my primary photo storage. You’re right that it takes a long time to upload, which is a drag, but after that process, it’s really nice having everything in the cloud.
LRC for me. I use them all, but anything important gets worked on in LRC.
I am surprised that virtual copies didn't make the list for LRC reasons, but you only had 5 slots. Thanks for another great video!
What about the editing, are there any differences in how you edit images?
Can you export from Lightroom to Lightroom Classic?
That way I could use Lr as my primary editor but switch to Lrc to print when required.
Local editing is a must for me as are color labels. I upload my photos to Amazon Photos so Classic remains my preference
Some photographers work with images that require a high level of privacy/security. By now, we have all probably heard that Adobe has access to all your images that are sent to their cloud servers. This includes images being processed by the AI functions in Lightroom Classic. At least with Classic, you have the option of avoiding the AI functions, but with Cloud there is no way to maintain full control of your images.
I use lightroom cloud but I also sync some lightroom cloud albums with lightroom classic collections so that I can use the Topaz plug ins to edit an image in Lightroom Classic Collections. Hope that makes sense!
For me Lightroom Classic
Con; 1. No virtual copies. 2. no digital asset management. 3. When you “copy to iCloud” in Lr, it breaks the connection between the version on your local drive to the image on the cloud drive.
Pro; 1. I LOVE the “recommended presets” in Lr. 2. When I copy to the cloud there are never any sync issues.
If LrC would fix the sync issues with the catalogues, it would make LrC perfect for me.
Also my fingers “remember” the keyboard shortcuts that I’ve leaned over the years on previous versions, when I use Lr, it just confuses me.
I like to download my photos from my sd card to my iPad for preview. Then allow them to sync to the LR Classic on my MacBook. The main issue I have is a huge file of mobile downloads that eats up hard drive room.
Thanks for this info in this video
NO Smart Collections in the Cloud version of Lightroom. That alone is a show stopper for me; other limitations of this version of Lightroom mentioned in this video simply add to why I keep away from it. When compared to Lightroom Classic, it's drawbacks far outweigh its benefits from my perspective.
There are Smart Albums now.
@@BillRize It's a big step in the right direction in my view; however it's only available with the Cloud version. I want it for the Local version as well, and I want the option to synchronize it with the Cloud version. Without that and addressing other limitatons described in Anthony Morganti's video, I'm still out.
What about presets and their compatibility??
I use both. I store my “keepers” on Lr but do most editing in LrC. Anthony didn’t mention the new option on Lr to access presets from the cloud which gives a lot of creative options.
I also use both - but have something of a problem that I am not always sure which images are in the cloud and which on hard drive. They both show up as smart previews in both places. It is something of a problem when trying to decide on a backup strategy as Anthony references. I could try to copy desktop images as Anthony shows, but they will lack the LrC edits…
Does Cloud have the super resolution feature? I think only Classic has this.
Con; 1. No virtual copies. 2. no digital asset management. 3. When you “copy to iCloud” in Lr, it breaks the connection between the version on your local drive to the image on the cloud drive.
Pro; 1. I LOVE the “recommended presets” in Lr. 2. When I copy to the cloud there are never any sync issues.
If LrC would fix the sync issues with the catalogues, it would make LrC perfect for me.
Yes! To add onto the Cons... No Keyword Management, No Folder Colors, Virtual copies a BIG issue for me, Asset management and overall photo organization is not there. Lightroom (not Classic) just seems like a lightweight. I could get used to it for some conveniences but my huge fear is they're going to phase out classic.
I nearly never use any cloud at all, but I am curious how you Cmd or Ctrl Z on a phone or pad. Does a keyboard pop up?
Very helpful - thanks!
I hope Adobe adds plugin capability to Lr! (Lightroom Cloud aka Lightroom Desktop.) I shoot weddings every so often, my workflow switches from Lr to LrC when editing wedding and/or senior photos.
So how to sync chosen photos from tablet to pc?
Does the AI search work on images just on your computer, or do they need to be on the cloud>
Internet connection speed is my reason for avoiding the cloud version.. trying to upload 100 45MB shots takes too long to be of any use.
That exactly one of my reason for not using Cloud full time. Upload speed is just too slow unless you pay an extremely high fee for Internet speed (upload). I looked into faster speeds with my provider but it could cost an additional of almost $100 a month. Just can’t justify that cost. Plus the additional cost with Adobe since I have over 4TB of images. Cheers!
LRC every day for me. Having separate catalogues is very useful, not being able to have images in my catalogues on external drives is a non-starter. And the cloud stuff is unusable as it is painfully slow and also over priced without any sensible storage tiers, 20GB or 1TB
I was told that I cannot sync my laptop (not apple device) Lightroom classic with my apple ipad. Is it possible to do with Lightroom?
Yes. I import all my photos to LrC on my Mac (could might as well be a PC), then I have an album called Sync that I add all photos I like to sync to. Then I can edit on my iPad and it´ll sync back to the Mac. The benefit of import to the “desktop” is that only a preview is synced to the cloud. If you import on a mobile device to the cloud, it uploads the full photo and use a lot more space. So I only do this when I’m on a trip and want to edit something and share right away.
My situation is using iPad to develop on Lightroom mobile, then uploading finished jpg’s to Mac where I use bridge to catalog and keyword to upload to smug mug. I find Lightroom mobile the best as it’s on phone and iPad, bridge is perfect cataloging tool, and smug mug is the best cloud gallery scenario. Yes probably very clunky work flow lol.
Lightroom cloud doesn't give option of 300dpi so already a big no
Lightroom Classic is all I need
I've been trying to go to LR from LRC, but odd behaviors turn me off. I have over 65 years of photos, most are. digital as I've been scanning for years. Here is one example of what I mean by odd. On my MAC, in folder named "1965," I see 145 files. In Bridge, I see 145 images in that folder. In LRC, I see 145 images in that folder. In LR, in Local, I click on the 1965 folder, and I see 84 images. But, in LR Cloud, under "Recent Added", I see 130 images from the 1965 folder. Try to fix things by going to "Add Photos" in LR Cloud, back to the file folder 1965 in Mac Finder, click on select all, then add them to the Cloud (again), and I've got 155 images under Recently Added. Huh? I need to talk to Adobe about this. When I'm trying to curate a photo collection for my kids, I'd like to be in ONE program where I know I'm seeing the right number of images. Like Goldilocks. Neither too few nor too many.
What serious photographer edits on a small screen device? And why do you upload your photos to Adobe's cloud so thay can look at all of your photos to add keywords? What else are they doing with your photos? I will stay with LrC.
I use Lightroom Desktop because it has a new modern interface and none of the catalog baggage. Also I don't need the Map, Slideshow or Print modules. Also, I don'e use the cloud, just photo stored locally.
Dear Anthony, I use Lightroom simply, because it is more intuitive then LrC and the things I miss, I use the workaround via Photoshop(Printing module Epson), Special denoising(TopazPAI) I am a semi working commercial Photographer, so no pressure on time or deadline...and in LrC I often get confused where I put my files, due to the amount of possibilities to filter. Color, Stars, Keywords and Collections, it simply does not sink in...Somehow I do not get the hang of it and kind of lost in translation...totally my problem. And I can anywhere approach my files(iPad, iPhone or Mobile ) in Lightroom...and not in LrC, Greets from The Netherlands, Guus
I got a subscription for Lr in February--what was called Lr Cloud. Love it. Then, for the same price (13 Euro/month) I got Lr, LrClassic and Ps (with less cloud space--but I never use it anyway). What I found confusing about LrC is the catalog system. I like the Local tab in what's now called Lr. I still don't understand why anyone would come up with that catalog approach.
'Should You Use Lightroom Classic or Lightroom' or something else?
I recently switched from classic to cloud. I think it will become the main Lightroom application in the future, guessing that each new cloud version update will get more and more features added that classic has 🔮
I've only ever used classic.
I stopped use classic several years ago, will never go back.
I have been using both Lightroom and Lightroom Classic together, using the best features of each and using Lightroom to save full size versions of my best images to the cloud as an additional layer of back up lest my local storage devices should fail. I will sometimes use the PRINT module in LrC for the advantage of soft proofing. That said it is easy enough to take an image from Lightroom and then use my Canon Printer plug-in to do everything and more, in terms of layout, that can be achieved in the LrC PRINT module. I would be keen to see a video from you addressing the question of how Lightroom Classic and Lightroom can be used efficiently in tandem. BTW, thanks for another great video; always informative and helpful. More please.
Still a weird model to have essentially the same software with additions and omissions in both. No real reason why one platform could do it all in my opinion.
You really glossed over the history panel as if hardly anyone uses it. That is the single most important reason I wouldn’t switch. I just helped a novice photographer on how to use Lightroom to edit on his laptop and much to my chagrin he used the cloud. I went to show him how easy it was to see what edits he had done and how you can use it as a before and after and it wasn’t there. 🤦♂️. After I add an edit I can use the history panel as a before and after the edit. Just hover the mouse over the edit, such as add radial filter, and light room shows you what it looked like at that point. It immediately goes back when you simply move the mouse off of it.
And now you can send to 3rd party applications with Lightroom CC.
Va beach
Also sync never works in classic .So annoying.
Neither and after the crap that company has constantly pulled on their customers never again!
Can you elaborate?