What's New in Lightroom CC 1.1Adobe today released updates to the cloud-based Lightroom CC desktop application, as well as for Lightroom CC iOS and Android (formerly known as Lightroom mobile.)

To update the desktop Lightroom CC application, in the application go to Help>Updates…, or in your Creative Cloud application click on Update next to “Lightroom CC” (not Lightroom CC 2015!)

With the addition of split toning and the tone curve to Lightroom CC Desktop, this application is approaching feature parity with Lightroom Classic in regard to  editing single photos. (It’s still not able to edit multiple photos at once and is missing many Lightroom Classic features that support editing.) Click here to read my Definitive List of What You Can Do in Lightroom Classic that You Can and Can’t Do in Lightroom CC.

Improved Auto Feature

This enhanced Auto feature is available in the Light panel in Lightroom CC Desktop, and under “Auto” in the Lightroom CC iOS and Android Edit panels. While it’s the same button that was there before, the feature has been completely reworked to often provide a more pleasing starting point for editing your images. It is now driven by an advanced neural network powered by “Adobe Sensei”. The feature analyzes your image and compares it to a library of tens of thousands of photos edited by professional photographers and applies similar settings for Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks, Vibrance and Saturation.

Lightroom CC Desktop Light Panel: (1) Auto (2) Tone Curve

Lightroom CC iOS Auto Function

Lightroom CC iOS (iPhone) Auto Button

Differences from the old “Auto-Tone”:

  • The new Auto (aka Auto Settings) will set Vibrance and Saturation in addition to Basic panel tone controls.
  • The analysis is done on your cropped image. If you crop after applying Auto, the Auto button will re-activate – click on it again to redo the analysis.
  • The analysis also takes into account your existing white balance and camera profile.

This feature will continually be improved. I have had mixed results with this so far, but many users I know have been very pleased. You’ll most likely find that it works well with some types of images but not others (such as low key ones  with areas that should remain very dark.). The feature does not learn from your own personal editing, so it will continue to be a feature that works well for some people and not for others, depending on your editing tastes. Remember – it’s intended to be a starting point, not a final result.

This feature is available throughout the Lightroom ecosystem – Lightroom CC Desktop, iOS, Android, and Lightroom web (lightroom.adobe.com). It’s also in Adobe Camera Raw.

Lightroom CC Desktop: The Tone Curve

The tone curve has been added to Lightroom CC Desktop. To access it, click on the curve icon at the top of the Light panel. (See the first screenshot above, #2.)

Click on the S-shaped icon to the left of the four circles for parametric view, which produces smoothed results, or on one of the four circles for the point curve. The white circle is for luminosity (brightness and darkness) and the color circles are for the Red, Green, and Blue channels.

Sometime soon I’ll write a more in-depth tutorial on understanding and using the tone curve.

Lightroom CC parametric tone curve

Lightroom CC parametric curve

Lightroom CC Point Curve in the Tone Curve Panel

Lightroom CC point curve

Lightroom CC Desktop: Split Toning

The Split Toning panel has been added to Lightroom CC Desktop. This allows one to tone an entire photo one color or to tone the highlights one color and the shadows another. While traditionally split toning is done on black and white photos, it can also be used on color photos to correct color casts in highlights and or shadows or add color casts for creative effect. To access split toning, in the Effects panel click on the button in blue below:

Lightroom CC Split Toning

By default, the 50% brightest tones from middle-grey to white are considered highlights, and the 50% darkest, shadows. Drag the circle between Shadows and Highlights (Balance) towards Highlights to narrow the range considered highlights; drag it towards Shadows to widen that range. To change the color applied, click on the Shadows or Highlights square, then drag the circle in the color box. Dragging downward reduces the saturation of the effect, dragging upward increases it.

To set just one color for the entire image, slide the balance slider all the way to the right and set the Shadows color, or slide the slider all the way to the left and set the Highlights color.

Lightroom CC Desktop: Edit Capture Time

If you forgot to set the correct date and time in-camera, you can now correct this in Lightroom CC Desktop. Select one or more photos in the Grid, then in the Info panel click on the pencil icon to the right of capture time:

Change catpre time in lightroom CC

Lightroom CC Desktop: Full-Screen View

In Detail view (D), type “F” for full-screen to view your image full-screen. Use the arrow keys to move to other images. Hit Esc to exit full-screen view.

Lightroom CC Desktop: Bugs Fixed

Lightroom CC iOS (iPad and iPhone)

New iOS (mobile) features and improvements:

  • Improved HDR capture quality
  • Language support for Dutch and Swedish
  • Bug fixes and performance improvements
  • You can now set a preference to add a text watermark to images as you share them from Lightroom CC iOS. To set this, tap on the Lr icon in the top left of Albums view, choose Sharing Options, toggle the watermark switch to Include, and type in the text watermark. Tap on Customize to change the watermark from white to black, stylize the font (bold, italics), change the font size, and set the offset from the bottom left corner of the image.

To update, find the Lightroom app in the Apple app store and tap “Update”.

Lightroom CC iOS Watermark Options

Lr>Sharing Options

Lightroom CC iOS Customize Watermark

Customize Watermark Options

Lightroom CC Android

New features and improvements:

  • Android devices using Android 7.1.1 and later can access shortcuts with a long-press on the Lr app icon.
  • Improved options to manage storage: In the Device Info & Storage settings, you can now use the Manage Storage option to release locally stored albums to free up space on your device. (This does not delete the originals in the cloud.)
  • Cellular data management: enable Use Cellular Data for optimal sync performance. If it is disabled, you can download a smart preview for editing by tapping on the cloud icon in the top right of Detail view.

Update the app in the Google Play Store.

New Camera Support (All Versions)

Raw files from the following new cameras can now be imported:

  • Apple iPhone 8
  • Apple iPhone 8 Plus
  • Apple iPhone X
  • Canon EOS M100 (full support)
  • Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark III
  • Google Pixel 2
  • Google Pixel 2 XL
  • GoPro FUSION
  • GoPro HERO6
  • Hasselblad A6D -100c
  • Light L16
  • Panasonic LUMIX DC-G9
  • Sony A7R III (ILCE-7RM3)
  • Sony RX10 IV (DSC-RX10M4) (full support)

Click here to see a list of all cameras supported in each version of Lightroom (and Camera Raw).

New Lens Profiles (All Versions)

Click here for a list of lens profiles added to Lightroom CC