Adobe released Lightroom Classic 9.2 last night. This update contains a new and more versatile way to set Develop defaults for newly imported raw files, several other enhancements, as well as support for new cameras, new lens profiles and bug fixes.
Updates for Lightroom (CC) Desktop, iOS and Android were also released, with new features – see my Cloud-Based Lightroom Desktop and Mobile article for details.
When the November 2019 updates were released, with few enhancements for Lightroom Classic but many for the cloud-based Lightroom, people speculated that this was evidence that Adobe was not devoting significant resources to Lightroom Classic anymore. Now with these February updates, there are many more enhancements to Lightroom Classic than there are to the cloud-based Lightroom – so enough said on this topic for now!
In This Lightroom Classic 9.2 Article:
- How and When to Update
- New Cameras Now Supported
- New Lens Profiles
- Set Raw Develop Defaults
- Export Done Button
- GPU Acceleration Performance Enhancements
- Auto Sync Warnings
- Sync FAQ
- Secondary Monitor Enhancements
- PSB (Large Photoshop File) Support
- Photoshop Elements 2020 Support
- Related Content
(The above links to sections below may or may not work depending on what device and system you are using. If they don’t work, scroll down.)
How and When to Update
How to Update:
If you are updating from Lightroom Classic 9.0 or 9.1:
If you had previously chosen to auto-update, open Lightroom Classic and go to Help>System Info to verify that you are now using 9.2. If not, or if you hadn’t chosen to auto-update, go to Help>Update, and the Creative Cloud app will open. Click on Update next to Lightroom Classic. If the update is not listed in the CC app then go to Help>Check for Updates. If it’s still not there, click on the three dots next to Lightroom Classic, choose Other Versions, and see if 9.2 is listed there. Otherwise if it’s the day of release, then try later.
This update process is covered in my video tutorial below:
If you are updating from Lightroom Classic 8.something or any prior version (Lightroom 6, etc.):
Your operating system must support the update to Classic 9. When updating, Lightroom Classic will upgrade your catalog, you’ll need to get your dock/taskbar icons squared away and clean up old files. I recommend watching my video tutorial below on this:
When to Update:
I don’t have any indication that things won’t go smoothly with this update; that said, it can’t hurt to wait a week to see if others experience issues, unless you need the update urgently. 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.
New Cameras Now Supported
Lightroom Classic and the entire Lightroom ecosystem now support the following new cameras:
- Canon EOS-1Dx Mark III
- HUAWEI Mate 30 Rear Main, Telephoto and Wide Cameras
- HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro Rear Main, Telephoto and Wide Cameras
- Leica M10 Monochrome
- LG G8 ThinQ Front, Rear Main and Wide Cameras
- LG V50s ThinQ Front, Rear Main and Wide Cameras
- Nikon Coolpix P950
- Nikon D780
- OnePlus 7T Front and Rear Main Camera
- Phase One IQ4 150MP (Preliminary)
Click here for a list of all cameras supported by each version of Lightroom (and Camera Raw).
New Lens Profiles
These new lens profiles are available in Lightroom Classic and throughout the Lightroom ecosystem:
Raw Develop Defaults
For quite some time we have been able to change what Develop settings Lightroom Classic applies by default to newly imported raw files. The process to specify new defaults has moved to Preferences and has become more versatile. With this new method you can:
- Include camera-matching profiles and other in-camera settings in defaults
- Use presets to specify defaults
- Vary defaults by camera model, camera serial number, and (with some coding) ISO
Note that with this change, any defaults that you previously set are not carried over – that is, if you import new raw files without specifying those settings using the new process, those settings will not be applied.
Watch my video tutorial below to learn all about setting new raw file defaults, or read the highlights below the video.
Summary:
Defaults are now set in Preferences (Edit>Preferences on PC, Lightroom Classic>Preferences on Mac), on the Presets tab:
Master (#1 in the screenshot above) is the overall default. If you choose to also specify defaults for specific camera models (#2-#7), Master will apply to raw files you import from any cameras that you don’t list. If you don’t specify defaults for camera models, then Master applies to all raw files you import.
For Master and/or for camera models, choose from:
- Adobe Default: the same defaults as before – Adobe Color profile, all sliders zeroed out except Sharpening – Amount 40, Radius 1.0, Detail 25; Color Noise Reduction 25, Detail 50, Smoothness 50).
- Camera Settings: Lightroom reads from the image metadata what in-camera settings were used that it can, and approximates the look of them. For most cameras this will be reading the in-camera picture style, and applying the Camera Matching profile that mimics it. For a small number of recent new camera models, such as the Nikon Z series, Lightroom will also apply some other in-camera settings – these will affect other Basic and Detail panel sliders.
- Preset: set up a preset applying any edit settings you want to include as the defaults. Note that if your preset does not include Treatment/Profile, the camera-matching profile will be applied – so you can combine Camera Settings and Preset! (To apply the Adobe default color profile, set profile to Adobe Color and include Treatment/Profile in the preset. (For cameras that Lightroom can apply other in-camera settings, if those aren’t included in the preset, camera settings will be applied.)
To set up camera-specific defaults:
- Check “Use defaults specific to camera model” (#2 in screenshot above).
- Choose a camera (#3) – the list includes cameras from all raw files in your catalog.
- To make the default specific to a specific camera serial number, check “Show serial number” and then choose a specific one (#3)
- Choose Adobe Default, Camera Settings or a Preset (#5)
- Click on Create Default (#6)
- To change a camera default or delete it, right-click on it (#7) and choose the appropriate option.
To set defaults by ISO, you’ll need to be comfortable editing code in the presets XMP file. I have created a video tutorial to show this process – you can receive it as one of over 110 videos in my Lightroom 5, 6 and Classic CC: The Fundamentals & Beyond V. 8 video series.
In a nutshell:
- Create a preset with any defaults you want to change that won’t vary by ISO. If none, create a preset and uncheck all the boxes in the Create Preset dialog.
- In the Presets panel, right-click on the preset and choose Show in Explorer/Finder.
- Right-click on the XMP file, choose Open With…, and choose any text editing application.
- In the XMP file, create a new line right before the (last) tag, and paste in the code below. (This is a screenshot. Download a file with the code from Adobe’s help page here.)
- Edit the code as appropriate and then save the file. The code as-is assigns luminance Noise Reduction (i.e. Luminance Smoothing) value 0 to ISO 400 and below; 10 to ISO 1600, and 30 to ISO 6400 and above. Noise reduction for any ISO values that fall in between specified ISOs get interpolated based on exposure values – for example, in exposure values, ISO 800 is half way between ISO 400 and 1600, so ISO 800 images are assigned Luminance Smoothing of 5. You can vary any edit setting by ISO, not just Luminance Smoothing, and you can specify multiple settings per ISO:
To find out what the variable name is for a particular setting, create a test preset with that setting and open that preset in your text editor.
- Close and reopen Lightroom so that it rereads the preset file.
- Assign the preset to defaults in Preferences.
CAUTION: After you’ve added the ISO code to the preset file, if at any point you right-click on the preset and choose Update with Current Settings (to add another setting to your defaults, for example), this will wipe out the ISO code. Save a copy of the preset XMP file in another location so you can recover the ISO code if needed.
Export Done Button
The Export dialog now has a Done button, in addition to Cancel and Export:
Click on Done to save your settings and exit the dialog without exporting. Click on Cancel to exit the dialog without saving your settings or exporting.
GPU Performance Enhancements
Lens corrections and transform adjustments will now leverage full (image-editing) GPU acceleration for faster processing. GPU acceleration is supported for many but not all video cards, and is set in Preferences on the Performance tab.
On macOS Catalina, Enhanced Details can now leverage an external GPU (eGPU) for faster processing.
Auto Sync Warnings
Auto Sync, which allows us to edit multiple images at once, is a great time-saving feature, but it’s also dangerous: If you don’t realize that you have it turned on, and you have multiple images selected when you start editing, you’ll end up editing 50 or 500 images at once – and if your filmstrip is hidden, you won’t even see that this has occurred.
Now there are two enhancements to Auto Sync to call our attention to the fact that is turned on:
1. When Auto Sync is on, the button is now bright:
2. When you perform an edit, a notification briefly appears on your main image:
While it’s safest to keep these two warnings turned on, you can turn them off in Preferences on the Interface tab, down in the Tweaks section:
Sync FAQ
Now in the Activity Center there is a link to a long FAQ for Sync. To access the Activity Center, click on the Identity Plate (logo area) in the top left of Lightroom. The link goes to this page.
Secondary Monitor Enhancements
If you have more than two monitors, on the new Display tab in Preferences you can now choose which monitor to use as your secondary Lightroom display:
Also new, if you’re in the Library module and you switch to Grid view on your main display, the secondary display will automatically switch to whatever view you were in (Loupe, Survey, Compare) on your primary display. If you switch out of grid view on your main display, the secondary will automatically switch back to Grid view. (This automatic switching does not apply when you move to Develop or another module on your main display.)
I’m working on a video tutorial on how to use two monitors with Lightroom – stay tuned. (If you haven’t subscribed to my email newsletter, do so to hear about it when it’s ready.)
PSB File Support
PSB files can now be imported into Lightroom. (This is a large-file Photoshop format, for images over 30,000 pixels.) Here are the constraints:
- Maximum file size is 64,000 pixels (long edge) or 512 MP (megapixels, not megabytes!)
- The PSB file must be saved in Photoshop with Maximize Compatability enabled (in Preferences)
- Lightroom can read/import these, but the PSB option is not available in Export, and the Edit In route to Photoshop is not available for these.
Photoshop Elements 2020 Support
Importing from Photoshop Elements 2020 catalogs is now supported. Go to File > Import a Photoshop Elements Catalog…
Thanks for the tutorial on Raw Develop Defaults. Very helpful.
Excellent tutorial on Raw Develop Defaults, many thanks!
You’re welcome, Peter!
Hi Laura,
I just watched your seminar on Lightroom Clasic versus Lightroom CC. I pretty much knew I wanted the Classic not the CC, but I cannot find the plan you suggested LR Classic 10 a month with TB on the Adobe website. It has taken some creative thinking to find something other than the CC.
Do you know if that has already been resented or am I just missing the click.
I enjoyed the seminar and also watched “Clean up your mess”. I needed that as I did get lazy and let Lightroom take over. Not as easy to clean up as in your video, but am working on it. Thank you so much for helping to educate us. I am saving time and money for the full course. I have taken courses in the past, but I love your style of presentation. Makes sense to me.
You’re welcome, Sandy – I’m glad you enjoy my style! Here’s the Adobe plans link: https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html?red=a – it’s the Photography Plan.
Who was the Marketing Genius who came up with Lightroom Classic and Lightroom?
Lightroom as we knew for years is now Lightroom Classic…
Cloud Based DAM is now Lightroom…. how about Cloudroom.
Plain and simple.
Speaking of Simple, why doesn’t the Current version of Lightroom Classic installed show up? Instead it says “Open”? Why do we have to now “Open” another press of the trackpad to see what is the Current Version…..
K.I.S.S.
While I don’t disagree with you, Nick, unfortunately regarding naming, that train left the station a long time ago and isn’t coming back. For your Creative Cloud suggestion, you can provide this to Adobe here: https://adobe.allegiancetech.com/cgi-bin/qwebcorporate.dll?idx=XFPJT8https://adobe.allegiancetech.com/cgi-bin/qwebcorporate.dll?idx=XFPJT8
Remember New Coke…..
Before I try and help anyone with “ Lightroom”, I ask them specifically if it is LR Classic with Desktop local storage or Lightroom Cloud, with image storage in Cloud.
Now we have Coke Classic……. thirty plus years later……