Adobe released Lightroom 6.7 and CC 2015.7 last night. For both Lightroom 6 and CC, this release contains:

• fixes for previously-identified issues with Apple’s new Mac operating system, Sierra, scheduled to be released tomorrow, September 20, 2016
• support for raw files from new cameras
• tethering support for two more cameras
•  performance improvements, including a new “edit with smart previews” preference
• bug fixes
• Output and soft-proofing support for Apple’s Display P3 color space
• removal of the auto-tone and auto black and white preferences
• new lens profiles (applied in the Lens Corrections panel)

In addition, for Creative Cloud subscribers only, this release contains:

• a new publish service to allow users to upload images from Lightroom directly to Adobe Stock for submission for possible stock licensing
• a new All Synced Photographs collection, intended to make it easier to make photos available on Lightroom mobile or web

How to Update

Macs running OS 10.9 (Mavericks): despite Adobe’s “advance notice” announcement last week that the next major version of Lightroom won’t support 10.9, it turns out that this 6.7 / CC 2015.7 update and future updates will not be supported on OS 10.9.  If you’re unsure of your Mac OS version, click on the apple icon in the top left, then About This Mac, and it will show the version at the top.

If you’re on PC or on a more recent Mac OS: if Lightroom doesn’t prompt you to update, go to Help>Updates.  CC subscribers can also also use your CC app to install it. If all else fails, you can download the file directly and then double-click on it to run the update. Here are the files: Windows  Mac

A Quick Note on MacOS Sierra

While Adobe and Sierra beta users have tested this update on Sierra, often there can be issues that don’t surface until a larger number of users are running the new operating system with Lightroom and are in effect testing them. It’s therefore not a bad idea to hold off updating your operating system until any other major issues are surfaced and fixed, or until it becomes clear that any issues identified won’t affect you personally.  UPDATE: no major issues have surfaced with Sierra.

New Camera Support

With 6.7/2015.7 you’ll now be able to import raw files (and JPEGs) from:

• Apple iPad Pro 9.7″; iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus
• Canon EOS 5D Mark IV (does not include support for dual pixel raw)
• Hasselblad H6D-100c
• Nikon D3400
• GoPro Hero5 Black
• Panasonic DMC-G8 (DMC-G80, DMC-G81, DMC-G85)
• Panasonic DMC-LX9 (DMC-LX10, DMC-LX15)

Canon EOS 5DS and Canon EOS 5DS R: added new Adobe Standard camera profiles in the Camera Calibration panel, denoted V2, with less contrast than the intial ones (now denoted V1).

Click here for a list of all supported cameras – applies to Lightroom even though the title says Camera Raw.

New Tethering Support

You can now shoot tethered with the Nikon D5 and D500. Click here for a complete list of supported cameras. Shooting tethered means having your camera connected to your computer, and having images automatically import into Lightroom as you shoot. This option is under File>Tethered Capture.

Performance Improvements

Preference to Edit with Smart Previews

For users trying to squeeze out the best performance as possible, a new preference has been added in both CC and 6 to have Lightroom work in the Develop module with smart previews rather than originals. Smart previews load faster than their larger raw file counterparts and take less space in memory, so this can improve performance. To access this preference go to Lightroom>Preferences on Mac or  Edit>Preferences on PC, and then click on the Performance tab. Check the box to use smart previews and then restart Lightroom.

You still have to build smart previews first. (Go to Library>Previews>Build Smart Previews.)  In the past though, performance-savvy users have built their smart previews, and then have taken their originals offline (by unplugging the drive that the originals were on or renaming the folder that they were in) to force Lightroom to use the smart previews. The new preference eliminates the need to take the originals offline.

One downside of working with smart previews is that there is some JPEG compression applied and the files are 8 bit  so they are not of the same quality as the originals – there may be some pixelation and color shifts. These are most notable when zoomed in. In addition, smart previews are limited to 2,560 pixels so in most cases they are smaller than originals. Because of these issues, if you zoom in to 1:1 to work on your photo while the preference is turned on, Lightroom will automatically switch over to working with the original file if it is available – this will allow you to view the true quality of your image and make appropriate detail decisions on settings such as sharpening and noise reduction.

For more on what smart previews are, and how to create and manage them, see my post, “Travel Light with Smart Previews.”

New Adobe Stock Publish Service – CC Only

In the Publish Services panel in the bottom left of the Library module, CC subscribers only will find a new Adobe Stock publish service. This is designed to be an easy way for you to upload and submit your images to Adobe Stock for possible sale on stock.adobe.com.

To use this publish service, click on Set Up… and follow the instructions. Be sure to read the agreement and other information so that you understand what you are agreeing to. You’ll also find links to information about original file size and other requirements, as well as information on what images they are interested in.

Once you have set up the publish service, drag photos to it just as you would to a regular collection, and then click on Publish in the top right to have the images upload. One great feature of publish services is that if you edit a photo in the collection after upload, it will appear in separate category in the collection, signaling for you to republish/re-upload it if you wish to.

All Synced Photographs Collection – CC Only

In the catalog panel, CC users will now find an “All Synced Photographs” collection that contains all photos that you have on Lightroom mobile and web, whether these were synced from Lightroom desktop collections, or were captured and imported into mobile or web and then synced to Lightroom desktop. You can drag photos into All Synced Photographs to make them available on (i.e. sync them t0)  mobile and web – without having to create and sync a collection in the Collections panel. However, this feature that is supposed to be handy introduces some unfortunate complexities.

Here are some properties of All Synced Photographs:

• This collection should contain the same photos as Lightroom mobile’s “Lightroom Photos” master collection, and removing a photo from one will remove it from the other.
• Turning off syncing of a collection in the Collections panel will not remove its photos from All Synced Photographs, and will no longer remove these photos from the Lightroom Photos collection on mobile or web. To completely remove them from mobile and web, remove them from All Synced Photographs (by selecting them and hitting the Delete key).
• Removing a photo from All Synced Photographs (with the Delete key) will delete it from this collection and from mobile and web (but not Lightroom or your computer).  It will also remove this photo from any synced collections, so if you have collections you are temporarily syncing but want to preserve whole after you turn off syncing, don’t remove any of their photos from All Synced Photographs.

I’ll try to do a separate blog post or video tutorial in the next week  on how to decipher the warning dialogs that pop up when one performs various collection management activities. It’s especially unfortunate that users of collections who don’t get the memo on what All Synced Photographs is (and may not even know what syncing is) are going to be faced with these.

Display P3 Color Space Support

Some of Apple’s newer monitors, as well as the iPad Pro 9.7 and iPhone 7 and 7 Plus use the Display P3 color space. This is larger than sRGB, and therefore is capable of displaying more richly saturated colors than monitors and devices that use sRGB. Adobe has added this profile as a choice (in addition to sRGB, Adobe RGB and ProPhoto RGB) in the soft proofing Color Space dropdown in the Develop module, and to output color space choices in the following locations:

• Export Dialog (File Settings > Color Space menu)
• Preferences (External Editing > Color Space menu)
• Print to JPEG (Print Module > Print Job panel > Print To menu)
• Book Module Export Options (Book Module > Book Settings panel > Color Profile)

Miscellaneous Changes

• The “Apply auto-tone adjustments” preference (on the Presets tab in Preferences) has been removed, and auto-tone adjustments will not be applied automatically. If you used this preference and want auto-tone adjustments applied upon import,  you can instead set up a preset in the Develop module and apply it in the Apply During Import section of the Import dialog. In the Presets dialog, you’ll find the Auto Tone setting towards the top left.
• The “Apply auto-mix when first converting to black and white” preference has also been removed. The default in the B&W panel will be auto-mix, which assesses the tones and colors in your photo to come up with an initial black and white solution. If you prefer the sliders all zeroed out, you can create and apply a preset.

Bugs Fixed

• Selected published folder or collection is not deselected if a folder is selected
• Adjustment brush stops working after deleting photo
• Collections with counts greater than 5 digits are truncated
• Exporting with a watermark changes white point.
• White Balance loupe displays incorrect RGB values
• Error message about not being able to import photos when in fact the issue is due to the destination folder is read only
• Fuji E X2 file imported as DNG is unreadable “The File Appears to be unsupported or damaged”
• Keyword suggestion for a word having &(ampersand) is incorrect
• Vignette correction for Zeiss Batis 25mm f2 too aggressive
• Improved performance when using the Temperature and Tint slides for adjusting White Balance
• Fixed issue where Panorama merge failed when using source files from a Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246)
• Fixed issue where the SIGMA 10-20mm F3.5 EX DC HSM lens for Pentax mount was not being auto recognized

Lens Profiles Added to the Lens Corrections Panel in Develop