Which one is right for you?

[@annoholics]

To me the most fundamental difference between the two versions is that Lightroom is processed in the cloud and that Lightroom Classic is processed on your computer. So that does not just mean stored but if you make any edits to your images in Lightroom then those edits are done with the processing power of the servers of Adobe and not with the processing power of your computer. That is the reason that it is possible to edit your photo's on a mobile phone (even an old one) or on a webbrowser. I know that Adobe says that your images are backed up if you use Lightroom but I don't believe they really are. Yes, if your local harddisk crashes then you still have your images because they are stored in the cloud, however, if you accidently delete the wrong image in Lightroom then I don't think there is an option to get it back. So that is not really a backup in my opinion. A backup is a reserve copy that you can use if somehow the original is gone. Well, if you have only your photo's in Lightroom than that is the original and there is no reserve copy. If Adobe is bankrupt or hacked and does not provide you any access to your cloud storage anymore, than you have no backup. Yes, it is very unlikely that this will happen any time soon but it is stil possible.

[@MRing1107]

I can’t get past the cost for cloud storage in Adobe’s cloud. I’m mostly a family and hobbyist photographer but I do some work on the side as well, my monthly Adobe bill would be painful. Because Adobe’s noise reduction is poor I process RAWs in dxo Pureraw but the linear DNGs it produces are 3x camera RAW sizes, plus I keep the originals for when technology improves further. I think for a lot of people that extra monthly cost starts to make a NAS look cheap. And not for nothing but Backblaze is unlimited for USB attached drives. I wish money was no object, but for me LrC is just the budget option, all else being equal.

[@Schaafari]

Thank you for explaining that lightroom runs on internet and classic doesn’t. I just made the switch back to classic for this reason and my workflow is a million times faster. Thank you. Fantastic video!

[@forestchaput]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@CelebratingOutdoors]

I've seen a few videos on the LR / LRC comparison, and your clear, concise presentation is excellent. One thing I see common to all, is the assumption that everyone has an unlimited internet connection. Granted, people like myself living in more remote/rural areas (and nomadic photographers) are a small percentage of the population, that don't have prime unlimited connectivity, but I wouldn't be surprised if our content was a disproportionately larger volume. This is a good argument toword LRC and local storage/ editing for rural/transient creators.

[@jremi]

Thanks! I am now convinced Lightroom Classic is what's best for me. I much prefer working from a known computer/calibrated monitor combination then having the option of using my phone or my tablet to edit photos. However, I believe that now, in 2024, it is no longer possible to have Lightroom Classic by itself. The Photography plan gives access to Lightroom, Lightroom Classic and Photoshop plus 20 GB of storage... I find their offerings rather confusing, to be honest...

[@V-Lipz]

A very imported difference between the two for me is that it's not possible to preview an image in Lightroom before importing it. For me this makes a huge difference in culling photos before importing.

[@taylorlabarr9973]

To solve this, would you load the files onto a local drive and cull them with some sort of basic raw viewer before import/upload?

[@Classical416]

Great explanation. Adobe has done a terrible job naming their products and confusing consumers.

[@forestchaput]

Yeah, it can be confusing sometimes!

[@alanevans9246]

Should consider the option of using both in a workflow for those of us that travel but want the control that classic offers.

[@barryt09]

Many thanks for your video, it has answered many questions for me .

[@sflaherty7630]

Great video. Really. The time is now. I'm a hobbyist that began using Adobe Creative Cloud about 6 years ago. About 3 years ago, I switched from LR to LRC because I was not convinced cloud storage of images was the way to go. Now, I find myself with three external hard drives and struggling with organizing my images/storage/drive space. Your video was more than enough to convince me the time to switch to cloud-based storage and organization is THE way to go. Looking forward to your future videos on the "how-to-do-it" pieces. Thanks!!!

[@forestchaput]

You're welcome!

[@rjdbcn9051]

Thank you, I watched a few videos on this topic that got so far in the weeds right off the bat that I just became more confused. Your video however, presented a clear and concise explanation that made me feel confident about making a choice. Well done!

[@forestchaput]

You're very welcome!

[@MJ-pr7zl]

Really excited for the next video on this!

[@stonehillmtb1964]

Interesting video and a good effort to try to explain the difference. But I miss a couple of things you say is in Lightroom and not mention that it´s in the Classic as well. E.g. with collection and the sync I make sure that I can edit my stuff on mobile devices. And editing in mobile update classic data. I also use collections for several activities. For the AI tagging you still need to tagg your footage. With several hundred thousand pictures you don´t want to select just waterfall. Keeping your data organized need efforts from you. But as you say, with a much lower amount of data Lightroom is perfect. Please, make a video on how to combine them. I just found your RMSP and I will folllow to see more good stuff

[@jeffreylane7647]

I would be very interested in switching to Lightroom vs classic. Sounds like it would be a better option for me.

[@evansalmonsen]

Great video . I’ve been using normal albums and folders for years in Lightroom (I don’t use classic) so I am not sure why that is not working on your version .

[@sarakiara575]

The best video that explained the difference between the two❤

[@forestchaput]

Thank you!!

[@pjc531]

You are so good at explaining stuff. Thanks. Now I know the difference and can wisely choose which one works for me.

[@forestchaput]

You are so welcome! Thank you for watching!

[@jordansyoutube]

I agree I’m a hobbyist and I like how Lr is simple to organize. Its nice to be able to edit on any device seamlessly.

[@forestchaput]

Heck yes!

[@charlenecasucci1143]

Spot on video! It was excellent and so informative and you presented it very well. Will be there for the next one, Thanks so much :}

[@forestchaput]

Awesome, thank you!

[@matahari1576]

Excellent! Thanks for the Video! Only problem: I can't find any option for buying LrCl on the Adobe homepage (Germany). Seems to me, that are only options for Lightroom available?!

[@29redd]

i'll add lightroom classic is really nice when it comes to sorting photos :)

[@michaelotoole8326]

Great video. You did a great job clearly explaining the differences. I am a hobbyist using LRC, but supplement editing with Luminar Neo….include info on add on programs in your transition videos. Looking forward to those!

[@amsterdamguy520]

Exactly the description I was searching for. thank u!

[@forestchaput]

Glad I could help!

[@MarcySB]

Great video. I'm a hobbyist and also prefer Lightroom Classic. I've been using LRC since it came out. I have more than 33,000 photos so uploading those would be costly and take a lot of time. I agree with Ruben that I like to preview the photos and then choose what is imported. I do 2 additional backups - Backblaze and an external hard drive. I am starting to use Lightroom to upload a few photos and do discoveries on how other people edit, then download their edits as presets. But basically, I'm a diehard Classic user and will probably stay that way. Looking forward to your videos on transitioning, however, to learn more. Maybe I'll become at least a partial convert. :)

[@SensFanMatt]

Thanks for the great video! It got me to open up Lightroom 'cloud' again and while it is getting there, there are still at least two key features missing for me. The Calibration panel doesn't seem to be included and I'm also seemingly not able to open multiple images as layers in Photoshop, two features that I use very often. From a usability perspective I didn't see a solo mode for the panels, which is unfortunate, and the new keyboard shortcuts are a bit of a frustration.

[@SensFanMatt]

Quick update for anyone that is having trouble finding the same features - solo mode can be found under View -> Edit Panels -> Single-Panel Mode. Calibration was just added in December 2022 but doesn't show up by default. You have to go to the Edit panel, then under the three dots on the right "...", choose Show Color Calibration. You can also enable the Single Panel Mode there. It looks like the last thing missing for me is the ability to export multiple images to Photoshop as layers. Or am I just not finding this one too?

[@kenklontz1945]

Nice video maybe a way to clean up the mess for us using both keep up the great work

[@forestchaput]

We hope so! Thank you!

[@j4nch]

Now that lightroom is also able to use local folder, it's less evident which one to use. It feels the classic(which has still more features) might get deprecated at some points

[@forestchaput]

I feel the same way. They basically made Lightroom (cloud) behave very similarly to Adobe Bridge. I can foresee an end to Classic in the coming years.

[@georgekotsifos1724]

Thanks for this video and all your help the you provide to us. I think that is not necessary to choose the one or the other but we can use the two version of Lightroom as workflow and safety for photos. When I import all my photos I choose to make smart previews and my Lightroom Library is to an external SSD. This smart Previews are important for me because 1) is a small “ * Backup” of my Photos from my main RAW HDD ( I use and other one to clone RAW HDD) and 2) It is not necessary to have online my RAW HDD because I can edit on smartPreviews on SSD anywhere and also I can Export my Photos with only on SSD online with my edits at low resolution only. (* the small Backup I said before). If I want to export Full size then I have to put online my main RAW HDD. When you are in Lightroom Classic if you create Collections with the photo album you like then this album can continue to edit on Lightroom “mobile” version and all the edits will appear to Lightroom Classic. The smart previews of that collections that uploads from Lightroom Classic is not add space to your online available space. This space is free to upload as many photos you like. Only when you add “Upload” photos you lose avaliable space. So my thots is that is better to use both Lightroom versions for better workflow and safety. Thanks a lot again for this video and I would like to see a video workflow using both Lightroom version as workflow. ( from SD Card import to final Export ).

[@acloud4]

Is there a situation where using both would be an advantage. Can you use both under the photography plan?

[@guglielmo_arte_naturale]

I'am a nature photographer ( macro, lanscapes and wildlife ) and i shoot thousands of raw photos a week and i dont use capture one neither lightroom classic. so don't be scared lightroom works just fine even without cloud cause i use in computer folders and hard drive

[@lacayoj]

This was as a great and very informative video. I loved it.

[@evans4242]

Very helpful! Thanks!

[@Jack-qn6vy]

Sorry if this is a repeat comment, I seem to have lost my first post. I’m a long-time classic user. Very interested in the process of transitioning to the cloud version. My biggest concerns: are you dependent upon the AI totally, or can you create a basic storage structure, say to keep your “street photography” separate from your “family shots.” Also, how do you print from the cloud version? Finally, is there a super-easy way to backup the cloud version on a local drive? I tried using the “best of both worlds” approach by synching specific projects in classic to the cloud. It is turning into the worst of both worlds, lol. Anyway, this is a great idea for a series of videos, and I will be following along for sure. Many thanks.

[@Klickerman]

Great informative video! Thanks

[@forestchaput]

My pleasure!

[@andersistbesser]

i never use classic. i cant live without the cloud thing. i always have my files everywhere and i can remix pictures whenever i want. classic is a thing of the past for me

[@davemacarty679]

Great video, thank you! I’m really looking forward to the series! I have LR Classic and hate it (the organization part). I’ve never gotten it, lost photos, it seems complicated as hell. I’m a hobbyist and after watching your video, l think the cloud version will be perfect for me. When will the series start?

[@forestchaput]

We are filming part 2 now!

[@jefflanning4856]

Great video. When will we see the follow up?

[@forestchaput]

Thanks! Great reminder. I'll film it tomorrow and have it posted next week!

[@katk7925]

If shooting a race..in your experience would Lr Ai be able to pick up on number 12..and differentiate from 11 and 22, or 1 if number is partially obscure . The waterfall comment was interesting.wondering what else it could do that is not face recognition.

[@trynforpar]

I took a 8 year hiatus from photograbut however I’m back. The learning curve is steep and I was wondering if Lightroom is useful for beginners and is the learning curve too intense for a 70 year old (used to be) landscape photographer

[@forestchaput]

I think you’d love it! Welcome back to the hobby! I would 100% go with Lightroom (cloud), and not Lightroom Classic. Classic has far too many “gotchas” that may leave you pretty frustrated.

[@charlierivera5725]

Awesome video. I have classic and is very confusing if you don’t use it often. I lost over 3 thousand pictures and have no idea how to even start looking for them. Not sure where they went. I was exporting to my SSD external drive and they just disappeared. Can’t find them. Anyone know where I can look and see if I can find them? PLEASE 😂😂😂😂 Thank you 🎉

[@SueFerreira75]

Adobe needs clear thinkers to redevelop Lightroom from the ground up and clear up all their messy options, but clear thinkers have never been an Adobe strong point.

[@forestchaput]

They are really making progress with Lightroom. It’s far easier to use compared to Lightroom Classic.

[@jonathanpope2484]

Thank you! How do I import photos from regular Lightroom to an external hard drive?

[@iamhis84]

Thank You for explaining the difference... Who knew? LOL

[@icarusdown5445]

I like this dude

[@forestchaput]

He's a pretty cool guy

[@rajsingharora26]

A question I have Lightroom Classic....but Adobe keeps sending me Pop-up windows to take up storage.

[@forestchaput]

Weird! I haven't run into that myself.

[@CliveAndrews]

I've just downloaded both programs and there's clear option to use Lr(non-classic) with local storage. How about that?

[@forestchaput]

True! That's a newer feature that was released since this video wen't live. We will be addressing that in a future video!

[@laurentobias8906]

Hey Forrest! I have recently decided to switch from LR Cloud to Classic because I've come up on a few limitations on LR Cloud. I am struggling trying to figure out how to most simply sync all of my 16,000+ photos from Lightroom Cloud to LR Classic, while maintaining the photos in my folder storage system, plus also maintaining both the original photos and my edits. Is this possible!? Having serious trouble getting a clear answer online! Also, I'm wondering if I can just keep my Lightroom Cloud and have it sync with my LR Classic (once it's set up) and be able to use both interchangeably -- any set up and workflow insight on this would be so so appreciated!!

[@forestchaput]

Hello! Great question. Unfortunately there is no easy way to switch from Lightroom to Lightroom Classic, but I would be happy to help you with the process. Send an email to the email address listed on our channel page and I'd be happy to help you more!

[@blueyed_gemini6420]

Question??? Does LR. Let you view the histogram while editing if so how do you view it?

[@forestchaput]

Yes! There is a "..." button on the left under the edit controls. You see an option to show the histogram there.

[@federicoardizzone8509]

Hello, I'm new in Lightroom.I use most the mobile version because is easier for me to modifie my Gopro and my drone pictures.Also the files I then export have a bigger file than the classic with a file o 12 MB come on my desktop at 750 kb...I don't know why I loose so much .Also when I use masks on my on Lightroom mobile when selecting a subjet the program will select automatically the objet in the middle ...I give you an example , if I'm using mask on a lake pictures with rocks on water it only select the rock only in the middle on not the others on the other sides of the lake...how can I solve this behave ? Any way love your channel very good job .

[@forestchaput]

That’s strange. Do you have any available updates for Lightroom? That sounds like a bug, not user error.

[@federicoardizzone8509]

@@forestchaput yes all latest versions... I would like to leave my subscription to Lightroom and Creative cloud it is too tricky for me to work with...

[@RAHanes1]

Is it possible to print from LR?

[@cgrosbeck]

So that's what AI references for AI art collection!!!! Adobe makes it on both ends!!!! Sells the subscription to you then sells the data subscription to the AI services or its own AI services!!! Kind of like let me pay for cable TV so I can watch commercials. Us consumers are stupid and buy into easy of use or any other way they package products to make money on both ends!!!!!! ( MAKE MONEY ON BOTH ENDS means YOU PAY THEM SO THEY CAN THEN SELL YOU / YOUR DATA )

[@forestchaput]

I agree! Maybe Lightroom Classic is better in that case!

[@larry5018]

out of date and should be redone or deleted.

[@forestchaput]

How so?