Adobe released Lightroom 6.8 and CC 2015.8 today. These are free updates to Lightroom 6 and CC. If Lightroom doesn’t prompt you to update, go to Help>Updates, or click on the Update button on the Apps tab of your Creative Cloud app, or download from these links and then double-click on the file to run the installation wizard: Mac Windows.
Here’s a summary of what’s new:
Lightroom CC Only
- A new Reference view has been added to the Develop module that allows you to have a reference photo displayed next to the photo you’re editing so that you can more easily match white balance, colors, looks, etc.
- A metadata filter or smart collection can now filter on whether images have snapshots associated with them.
- A process has been added to recover a deleted mobile synced catalog.
Lightroom CC and 6
- The following performance improvements have been made:
- Moving files using the Folders panel is faster.
- To improve responsiveness of image editing and other high priority tasks, when they are running, low priority tasks (exports, DNG conversions, building smart previews, merging images) are suspended until high priority tasks complete.
- Catalog backups to NAS are faster.
- Support has been added for the following new cameras:
- Canon EOS M5
- Fujifilm X-A3
- Google Pixel
- Google Pixel XL
- Hasselblad X1D
- Leica TL
- Nikon D5600
- Olympus E-M1 Mark II (preliminary support)
- Olympus PEN E-PL8
- Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ2500 (DMC-FZ2000 and DMC-FZH1)
- Pentax K-70
- Samsung Galaxy S7
- Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
- Sony Alpha a6500 II (ILCE-6500)
- Sony Alpha a99 II (ILCA-99M2)
- Sony DSC-RX100 Mark V
- Tethering has been added for the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV.
- Collection sets can now be exported as catalogs.
- Zoom to Fit and Zoom to Fill for Loupe view are now allowed to magnify images beyond 1:1. This allows Loupe view to display a larger image when the image is heavily cropped or when one is working with a smart preview or a high resolution monitor.
- iPhone Live photos/videos can now be imported on Windows machines.
- Catalogs larger than 4GB are now zipped again, but they’re too big for macOS to unzip natively, so you’ll need 7-zip or StuffItExpander if you need to restore a backup.
- New lens profiles have
been added (listed towards the end of this article). - Several bugs have been fixed (listed towards the end of this article).
Reference View (CC Only)
The new Reference View feature for Lightroom CC allows you to have a reference photo on the left while you’re editing a photo on the right:
Here are some examples of when this might be useful:
- match white balance (color cast)
- balance the attributes (contrast, color, etc) of photos intended to be used together in a layout or presentation
- mimic the look of a photo, perhaps to create a preset from
- edit a raw file to achieve a similar appearance to the JPEG (when capturing raw+JPEG)
Watch my video tutorial on Reference view in this separate blog post for details on how to use this feature, or read details below.
Reference View Details
- Open Reference View with the R|A button in the toolbar in the Develop module, or Shift-R (from Library or Develop). The default is to have the two photo side by side. Click on R|A again to display the reference photo above the active one.
- Drag a photo from the filmstrip into reference pane, or right-click in a photo (in Library or Develop) and choose Set as Reference Photo.
- If your reference and active photos have the same aspect ratio (proportions), you can view color readouts for a specific area in both by hovering over that area in either. The readout will appear below the histogram as a percentage of Red, Green and Blue.
“R 86.6/85.1” is read as Reference Photo Red 86.6% / Active Photo Red 85.1%. (If all colors are higher in the reference photo, then that area is brighter than that area in the active photo. If one color is higher, such as red, that area is more red, and less blue and green.)
- If you wish to preserve the reference photo when you leave the Develop module, lock the reference photo padlock in the toolbar. Unlock it if you wish to have the reference photo cleared when you leave.
- Click on the single photo frame to the left of R|A in the toolbar to close Reference View.
(Don’t worry about clearing the reference photo if you’re done.)
[wpex Click Here to View New Lens Profiles (Lightroom 6 and CC)]
- Apple
- Moment Macro Lens for iPhone6
- Moment Macro Lens for iPhone6 Plus
- Moment Superfish Lens for iPhone6
- Moment Superfish Lens for iPhone6 Plus
- Moment Tele Lens for iPhone6
- Moment Tele Lens for iPhone6 Plus
- Moment Wide Lens for iPhone6
- Moment Wide Lens for iPhone6 Plus
- Moment Superfish Lens for iPhone6s (DNG + JPEG)
- Moment Superfish Lens for iPhone6s Plus (DNG + JPEG)
- Moment Macro Lens for iPhone6s (DNG + JPEG)
- Moment Macro Lens for iPhone6s Plus (DNG + JPEG)
- Moment Tele Lens for iPhone6s (DNG + JPEG)
- Moment Tele Lens for iPhone6s Plus (DNG + JPEG)
- Moment Wide Lens for iPhone6s (DNG + JPEG)
- Moment Wide Lens for iPhone6s Plus (DNG + JPEG)
- Canon EF
- Sigma 12-24mm F4 DG HSM A016
- Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG HSM A016
- Sigma 500mm F4 DG OS HSM S016
- Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 A022E
- Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 A022E x1.4
- Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 A022E x2.0
- Zeiss Milvus 2.8/15 ZE
- Zeiss Milvus 2.8/18 ZE
- Zeiss Milvus 2/135 ZE
- Google
- Pixel (DNG + JPEG)
- Pixel XL (DNG + JPEG)
- GoPro
- HERO5 Black (Linear FOV)
- HERO5 Black (Medium FOV)
- HERO5 Black (Narrow FOV)
- HERO5 Black (Wide FOV) (raw + JPEG)
- Leica M
- Leica SUMMARON-M 28mm f/5.6
- Nikon F
- Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED
- Sigma 12-24mm F4 DG HSM A016
- Sigma 50-100mm F1.8 DC HSM A016
- Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG HSM A016
- Sigma 500mm F4 DG OS HSM S016
- Tamron SP 150-600mm F5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 A022N
- Tamron SP 150-600mm F5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 A022N x1.4
- Tamron SP 150-600mm F5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 A022N x2.0
- Zeiss Milvus 2.8/15 ZF.2
- Zeiss Milvus 2.8/18 ZF.2
- Zeiss Milvus 2/135 ZF.2
- Ricoh
- Ricoh GXR A16 24-85mm F3.5-5.5
- Samsung
- Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Rear Camera (DNG + JPEG)
- Samsung Galaxy S7 Rear Camera (DNG + JPEG)
- Sigma
- Sigma 12-24mm F4 DG HSM A016
- Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG HSM A016
- Sigma 500mm F4 DG OS HSM S016
[/wpex]
[wpex Click Here to View Process for Recovering Deleted Lightroom Mobile Synced Data]
Lightroom mobile users have been reporting that they have accidentally deleted their Lightroom mobile data. Below is a method for retrieving this lost data (from the last synced catalog):
1. Create a new catalog in Lightroom.
2. A pop up message will be displayed (if sync is on) saying ‘Sync this catalog instead’. Choose “Yes”.
3. This will download all the Lightroom mobile data to this catalog.
Note:
- All the collections downloaded will appear under the ‘From Lightroom Mobile’ collection set.
- Since Lightroom desktop uploads only Smart Previews to Lightroom Mobile, for those images synced from Lightroom desktop, smart preview will be downloaded and originals would be mapped if located at the same location as when they were first synced.
[/wpex]
[wpex Click Here to View Bug Fixes]
- Released a new set of Camera Matching Profiles for Canon 5D Mark IV.
- Improved support for Canon 5D Mark IV dual pixel raw images. See this note for further details.
- Badge numbers in Grid view not displayed on Mac Sierra (Lightroom CC)
- Lightroom would show an error dialog when attempting to open an image in Photoshop. (Occurred on Windows when selecting “Open in Photoshop” as a PostProcessing item in the Export dialog.)
- Fixed issues relating to the Point Curve as reported here and here
- Fixed some memory leaks.
- Library collection panel scrolled unexpectedly when you’d duplicate/rename/delete a collection set.
- Problem with watermark opacity in export slideshow
- Will not export both portrait and landscape oriented pictures as a slideshow video in 720 or 1080
- Slideshow not working, only getting black screen
- Selected Published Folder or Collection is not deselected if a folder is selected
- Background images in Slideshow sometimes appeared pixelated.
- Allow image panning by holding down space bar and then swipe with two fingers when local correction tool (such as the Local Adjustment Brush or Radial Filter) is activated.
- Resolved inconsistent preset sorting issue.
- Resolved issues when importing from an Apple iPhone or iPad using USB.
- Video files from Sony cameras were not being imported into Lightroom.
- Map and Web modules do not work correctly with 4K UHD monitor
- Sort by capture time doesn’t always work in 2015.7 / 6.7
[/wpex]
This is on Adobe web site:
In Lightroom CC 2015.8/Lightroom 6.8 (Mac), the size restriction for compressing a catalog has been removed. Compressing the catalog reduces the disk space consumed by the backup and also improves the backup time, especially when the backup destination is on a NAS (Network Attached Storage).
I assume this means ALL backups on a Mac are compressed.
Yes, Tom, that has been the case since 6.0, Windows and Mac.
Hi Laura, Thanks for the heads-up! You normally issue a warning about downloading updates too early. In this case is it your opinion that downloading early is OK?
It seems very quiet out there at https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family, so I think it is safe to upgrade, Duncan. That said, there is always someone who ends up having issues, so I never give guarantees!
Suggested feature: The symbol for keyword tags in the bottom right of thumbnails would have a roll-over feature that, when the cursor hovers over it, displays all keywords assigned to that photo.
Here’s the Adobe page where Lightroom features can be requested, Terry.
Great source of info Laura – appreciate it. [You may want to update your ‘Blogs to Follow’ list: Lightroom Secrets appears to be a dead link].
You’re welcome, Rick – and thank you for reminding me about that link. The author and all-around great person, Gene McCullagh, passed away earlier this year.
Hi Laura
Once again, let me express my gratitude for your continuous support!
It is about time to wish you a merry Christmas and all the best for the coming new year!
Manuel
Thanks so much, Manuel – I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and I wish you the same!
Thanks for your help, Laura. Merry Christmas for the shaky isles of New Zealand.
You’re welcome, Linda – Merry Christmas to you too (and a stable non-shaky one)!
Thanks Laura for all your tips on LR>
I have updated to LR 2015.8 recently and I m on a mac os 10.11.8 and since then when i’m editing my photos using X to reject and the delete from the disk LR blocks I have to quit the application and restart it is there some known bug? it never happened to me until now
Thank you
Robert Rongier
I haven’t heard of it, Robert, but I don’t follow all the bugs. First see if it is a operating system permissions issue with the folder you are deleting from – that is, if it is set to Read Only, rather than Read and Write. If that isn’t it, you can post your issue here.
Thanks for taking time to answer if i delete one file at a time using backspace key I have no problem I think I going to delete nd reinstal LR??
If you haven’t already, Robert, it couldn’t hurt to uninstall and reinstall. Sometimes resetting preferences also resolves odd issues – I’d suggest trying this first.
Thank you Laura I haven’t yet too busy lately I gonna try to reset preferences as you said first
BTW when uninstall and reinstall is there a risk to lose edits in the lrcat?
Thanks
There shouldn’t be, Robert – but it’s never a bad idea to back up your catalog before doing this or before doing an update. (Put another way, I can’t take responsibility for anything that might happen. ;-)
Hi Laura I did uinstall and reinstal twice and still the same problem I figured out that if I do delete the rejcted photos from le library menu instead of the developpement menu it doesnt block the application ?? ( I always deleted them from the developpement menu before???)
maybe this can help others ???
Thanks for the tip, Roger.
Hi Laura and followers I ve updated the new 6.9 version and this bug is fixed noe it works normaly again
Hi Laura,
It appears we have reached a point, where we can almost replace the Apple Photos workflow with Lightroom Mobile syncing via the Creative Cloud to our computer’s Lightroom. I would love to be able to switch over completely.
But there are some weird anomalies. Please refer me to existing posts, etc., if these questions have already been covered:
– the Lr Mobile Camera seems very slow to open on my iPhone 6+ — is there any way (prefs, etc.) to speed this up? In a pinch, I still have to use Apple’s camera. Even if Lr Mobile is an open app, it seems a lot slower to get quick snap.
– if one imports from the Apple Camera Roll and into Lr Mobile, then syncs to Lr on a computer — is there much difference? Or, how much difference does Lr Mobile’s Camera make in with either auto or pro mode from using Apple’s Camera?
– Lr Mobile’s sync only seems to work if it’s the frontmost app on the iPhone. Is there a way to set a background refresh (or allow it work in the background)?
– Lr Mobile syncs fine with my laptop, but on my iMac, I get a message: You can only sync one catalog at a time. You are currently syncing . Would you like to sync this catalog instead? … At least we don’t lose photos anymore, but does this mean we can only sync Lr Mobile to one computer? In other words, I have to choose between syncing to my MBPro and my iMac?
Hi Chris,
Lightroom mobile’s camera allows you to set shutter speed, exposure compensation and other settings that Apple’s camera doesn’t. On newer iPhones you can also capture DNG raw file’s using Lightroom’s.
While I think your other questions are great ones and I’m glad that you are thinking through whether you can make LR mobile work for you, I’m afraid I don’t have time to address them at this point, and I think they would be more appropriately asked and answered in a forum, such as lightroomforums.net or the Adobe Lightroom forum rather than in this 6.8 blog post. Asking in a forum allows for a back-and-forth exchange, and questions and answers there are easier for other users to find and learn from. I don’t mean to be unsupportive and hope you understand.