How to Update Lightroom Desktop

If you previously were prompted to agree to auto-update Lightroom and if you agreed, then when you open Lightroom for the first time after the update is available, you may be notified that “Lightroom Needs to Do Some Updating” and then you’ll be using the new Lightroom 3.1.

Go to Help>System Info to verify that you are now using version 3.1. Otherwise to update to 3.1, go to Help>Updates, and in the Creative Cloud app, on the Updates tab click on Update next to Lightroom (cloud-based photo service; not Lightroom Classic or Lightroom CC 2015.)

The Creative Cloud app has been redesigned – click on Updates on the left or on Photography to isolate these apps and find Lightroom Desktop (the cloud-based photo service).

When to Update Lightroom Desktop (if Lightroom didn’t auto-update):

I don’t expect any issues with Lightroom 3.1 and updates of this app usually go smoothly, but if you’re not in a hurry to get the new features, it can’t hurt to wait a week or so to make sure that others aren’t experiencing major bugs with it.

If I hear of serious issues with this release I will post them here in this section – please check here rather than emailing me.

Click here to check for bug reports and to report bugs or issues that you encounter.

How to Update Lightroom Mobile

Find the Lightroom app in the Apple App or Google Play store and tap on Update.

Report Lightroom mobile bugs here.

The entire Lightroom ecosystem now supports the following new cameras:

• Canon EOS M200
• Canon EOS Ra
• Google Pixel 4
• Google Pixel 4 XL
• LEICA SL2
• Nikon Z 50
• Sigma fp
• Sony a9 II (ILCE-9M2)
• ZEISS ZX1

Click here for a list of all cameras supported by each version of Lightroom (and Camera Raw).

These new lens profiles are available throughout the Lightroom ecosystem:

Click here for a list of all lens profiles available in Lightroom.

Back in May we received the ability to invite individuals to contribute to our albums and to view their contributions in Lightroom Desktop, Mobile and Web. (Click here to go to instructions for doing so.) Now in all these Lightroom applications we can view and contribute to albums that have been shared with us.

Once you’ve been individually invited to an album (rather than just receiving a link that anyone can view) and you’ve accepted the invitation by clicking on the link in the invitation email, the shared album will appear on the Sharing tab in a Shared with You section:

Lightroom Desktop Shared with You

Lightroom Mobile Shared with You

You will not be able to edit the photos contributed to the album – the ones you have contributed or others have – only the album owner can edit them. You also can’t export or otherwise save them.

Contributing to a shared album owned by someone else:

If you were granted permission to contribute to the album rather than just to view it, then in Lightroom Desktop you can drag photos to the album to contribute them, or you can right-click on the album, set it as the target album, then select a photo and use the shortcut T to add them.

This adds a rendered copy of your photo to the album – the editing of the shared version can no longer be reset to undo your editing, and the copy is independent of the original version in your library – editing the original more will have no effect on the copy in the shared album and removing the copy will not remove the original. (To update the shared photo with additional editing, right-click on the version already in the album and remove it (choosing OK at the warning dialog), then go back to the original, edit is as desired and then re-add it to the album. Keep in mind though that photos can only be removed within 48 hours of contributing them.

New in Lightroom Mobile for iPhone and iPad:

• Now directly import into Lightroom Mobile from an SD card or other attached device rather than having to import into Apple Photos first. Requires iOS / iPadOS 13.2 or later.
• Advanced export features: Now when exporting, choose file type Original, JPEG, TIFF or DNG, on JPEGs set Quality (compression) and on TIFFs compression method and bit depth, resize your files to any dimensions, watermark them, control how much metadata is included, rename files, and add output sharpening.

New in iOS and Android:

• Author Profile Page: from any Learn tutorial or Discover post, tap on the author to go to their profile page, featuring all of their tutorials and discover posts in one place. Author profile pages also include About information as well as links to author social media pages. Also share author profiles by text, email, etc.

New in Android:

• Now optionally use your Apple ID to sign in to Lightroom Android.