Adobe has announced a major overhaul of its cloud-based Lightroom service, reflecting the increasingly mobile-centric nature of image capture, editing and sharing.
Lightroom CC remains, but will now be known as Lightroom Classic CC, with Adobe launching an all-new cloud-based Lightroom CC service that's designed to make Lightroom more accessible, allowing you to edit, store and share your photos wherever you are.
Compared to the Classic design, Lightroom CC features a streamlined user interface, which Adobe claims will enable powerful editing of full-resolution images across mobile, desktop and the web. It's also been designed so photographers can make edits on one device and automatically synchronize their changes across all devices.
Key Lightroom CC features
Lightroom CC has been built around the same image editing technology that supports both Photoshop and Lightroom, with the new interface providing easy-to-use sliders, presets, and quick adjustment tools.
You're not limited to JPEG files either, with Lightroom CC offering cloud storage and support for raw files, while there are a host of scalable storage options to suit different needs.
To make sharing images easier, it's possible to share photos directly via social media and create custom Lightroom web galleries that can be shared via links, while both iOS and Android apps have been updated to offer more features.
Lightroom Classic CC
Lightroom Classic CC hasn't been overshadowed by the release of Lightroom CC, and gets a host of major updates.
These include an enhanced Embedded Preview workflow, which enables users to scroll through large sets of photos to select a subset of images significantly faster than before.
There are also some new new editing controls, including new Color Range and Luminance Masking functionality that enables users to apply precise edits.
Plans and pricing
A complete all-in-one plan that includes Lightroom CC plus Photoshop, Lightroom for mobile and web, Adobe Spark and 1TB of cloud storage will set you back £16.64 per month (excl. VAT), but is available at £12.48 per month (excl. VAT) for the first year for existing Creative Cloud Photography customers.
Alternatively, Lightroom CC has also been added to the existing Creative Cloud Photography plan, with an additional 20GB of storage to help users get started on the new service, with the cost remaining at £8.32 per month (excl. VAT).
For those looking for a streamlined cloud-based photography service, there's a new Lightroom CC plan that includes Lightroom CC, Lightroom for mobile and web, Adobe Spark, Adobe Portfolio, and 1TB of cloud storage for £8.32 per month (excl. VAT).
We'll update this page when US and Australian pricing becomes available.