Lightroom 6 vs Lightroom-cc; especially simultaneous use on different macs

[dtbain]

Dear all,

Since raw pics from my canon 77d can't be handled by my Lr 5, and since adobe dng converter 9.1 can't be installed on Mavericks, I had better either update my mac os or my Lr or both! I think I'll do the latter first, and I hope you don't mind if I ask some questions to help this go smoothly.

My main question is about which of the following is better for my needs: Lr6 as a standalone (about £100) or as Lr-cc, part of Create Cloud Photography Plan (about £120 annually), which also includes photoshop etc.

Specific questions ...

1. I take it that with CC, as with standalone Lr6, I don't need to be online whenever I am using the application? In other words, I guess, the applications lives on my HD, yes, whichever way I go?

2. I currently have Lr 5 installed on my two macs; and sometimes my wife uses it to edit pics in one catalog on one mac, and I *simultaneously* use it to edit pics in another catalog on the other mac. They are family pics, and we merge the catalogs afterwards. I got the impression from someone a while back that, while CC can be installed on more than one machine, with a single license, it would (somehow?) NOT allow my wife and I to have the two installations open at the same time, thus preventing us from simultaneously editing different catalogs that we later merge. Is this right? It would be a big problem for us if so. If it is right, does the same apply to the standalone version? (I have to say, if my wife and I were offline when editing, I can't see how either version of Lr could *tell* we were using the installations simultaneously.)

3. I am unlikely to use the other apps packaged with CC (like photoshop) but is LrCC superior to standalone Lr6? I remember shortly after LrCC came out it getting a de-haze slider (and black and white sliders even in local adjustments) that Lr6 apparently lacked? Is that still the case? Are there other differences?

4. Whichever I go for, is Lr6 an improvement on Lr5? I guess if not, I could stick with 5, upgrade my OSX, which I should do anyway before too long, and then I can use dng converter to convert my canon 77d shots.

5. There used to be specific upgrade versions of standalone Lr, for those who already had the preceding version, and academic discounts; I take it neither exist anymore?

6. Finally, since my wife and I use the same pre-sets, I somehow located these in a shared dropbox folder and use symbolics links so Lr on each of the two macs could access them. Will I need to do all of this again when I install Lr6, or will it leave all that in place.

So sorry for all the questions, but answers to any (or links to answers already on the forum) would be wonderful.

Very many thanks in advance

All best

David

 

[johnbeardy]

1. You're correct. CC only needs to be online to re-authorise every (IIRC) 90 days or if you want to use Mobile.
   
2. There is no "somehow". The licence is for one person, but there is no mechanism to prevent you using it as you want.
3. Dehaze, globally and locally. Reference View. Guided Upright. These are the big ones in CC. Remember Mobile too, and Photoshop, of course.
   
4. 6/CC is an incremental move forward, not revolutionary, but any of those three biggies might make it worthwhile.
   
5. With 6, you get dot releases for new cameras and bugs
6. This would be the same as now.

Hope that's clear. If you want more explanation, just ask.

 

[clee01l]

1. You don't need to be on line except once every 30 days or so to "Call Home" to validate your license for that machine
2. While not expressly stated in the license, simultaneous use on both machines is permitted.
3. There are some features that were introduced after LR6.0 cam out that are only present in the LRCC licensed version. Also LR Mobile functions are available only in the LRCC License. Otherwise, the versions are the same.
4. LR6/LRCC is an improvement and is continued to be updated with new cameras and bug fixes While LR5.7.1 is the last update to the LR5 app.
5. LR6 (Perpetual) is still licensed as an upgrade for prior versions of LR. I don't know the upgrade price in pounds, but the US price is $79USD.
6. The presets are maintained between LR5 & LR6. So you do not need to change their location.

 

[dtbain]

Thank you so much, John and Cletus. Very very helpful.

Quick clarification/follow-up:

a. Sounds like the dehaze and guided upright tools are specific to LRCC. I've a dim recollection that at least the former can be got as a plug-in in LR6? Do you know if that's right? And if so does the same go for the guided upright?

b. Cletus. When I go to the Lr site to download Lr6, the "upgrade" version is greyed-out and un-priced. Might that be a UK/US difference?

Thanks again -- very much

d

 

[dtbain]

Sorry, one more, Cletus: you said the presets maintain their location between LR5 and LR6 -- does this also go for LRCC?

thanks

d

 

[johnbeardy]

a. Sounds like the dehaze and guided upright tools are specific to LRCC. I've a dim recollection that at least the former can be got as a plug-in in LR6? Do you know if that's right? And if so does the same go for the guided upright?

You can apply dehaze as a preset, so there are sets of presets and one or two plugins which let you drag a slider. I feel these are of limited value because dehaze is very brutal and many photos only benefit in certain parts of the scene. So I prefer to apply it as a local adjustment, which is only possible in CC.

There are no workarounds for guided upright. I recommend you try it, because it is very good on certain images.

John

 

[johnbeardy]

And re preset locations, they are identical in all versions.

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

3. I am unlikely to use the other apps packaged with CC (like photoshop) but is LrCC superior to standalone Lr6?

Only you can judge, but it is worth noting that Photoshop is an awfully handy thing to have for the occasional need where Lightroom struggles. The new content aware stuff in Photoshop, for example, is just SO much better than the limited work you can do with Lightroom. I probably do photoshop at most once ever 100 photos, probably every 200, but when I do, it is well worth it.

As a simple example: I did some team head shots and the backdrop didn't show up, so we used a concrete wall. With photoshop it was quite fast and very accurate to select that out, and flip it to a solid background matching what the league uses. I can't imagine doing that in Lightroom with the brush.

I also, just for fun, build animated gif's occasionally when a burst catches an interesting sequence. Easy and fast in Photoshop, impossible in Lightroom.

You really do not need to become a photoshop guru to find useful aspects of it; and it's there in CC just for the asking, no additional cost.

 

[dtbain]

A bit like you with Photoshop, Linwood, I rarely use this forum but when I do I am very glad I did.

Thanks to all for advice, all most useful -- including being reminded by Linwood that I should give photoshop another chance (I did some years ago, but was defeated, but I think I am more equal to it now!).

I am (as Adobe wants of course!) inclining towards CC: I assume LR6 won't get new features (even if it gets dot updates) and it already lacks someone; and, as I say, I may give PS a go at some point.

Does anyone know (I guess I'll find out soon enough) whether when I install CC it will recognise that I already have LR5 and leave folders I've put in non-standard locations using symbolic links in place?

Thanks again -- genuinely, this is very very helpful

d
PS. Looked at your site, Linwood -- wonderful!

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

Does anyone know (I guess I'll find out soon enough) whether when I install CC it will recognise that I already have LR5 and leave folders I've put in non-standard locations using symbolic links in place?

Depends.

It's going to copy the existing catalog to a new name. When it does that, it will create a new preview cache matching that name. If you use a symbolic link to relocate the preview cache, you will have to redo that. It's also going to create the new catalog where it thinks it is (e.g. if it was a link, where the link is, not the actual file).

If you are talking about folders that are pointed to by the catalog, I would expect it does not know they are links, and they should stay and be used exactly as before.

It's been a long time since 5 for me, so I can't recall if the other folders, e.g. where presets and such are kept, moves or not. i THINK it will migrate those items though, but perhaps someone can confirm.

What specifically were you concerned about? Though, as you mention, you'll find out after you run it the first time.

Please do be aware it keeps LR5 installed, and the old catalog there. So you COULD go back and do things in LR5, but since there are two catalogs but only one set of images, it is really easy to get things out of sync if you do so. It's best to just upgrade and start using the new, uninstall the old, not do any work in parallel. If you want to play first, might be best to play in a new catalog with separate copies of images.

Obviously back things up before installing.

PS. Looked at your site, Linwood -- wonderful!

Very kind, thank you.

 

[dtbain]

Depends. What specifically were you concerned about? Though, as you mention, you'll find out after you run it the first time.

So my current set-up is that I have LR5 installed on two macs and have one master catalog on an external drive. Plus, on each of the macs, where the settings folder would normally be, I instead have a symbolic link that points to a dropbox folder shared with my wife, so that she and I can use Lr on each of the macs with the same settings, in particular the same pre-sets. To reassure you (!), we don't edit the same master cat at the same time; rather, when we edit simultaneously, which is not often, actually, one or both of us exports a catalog, and then re-imports it post-editing, so at any one time, we are editing only one catalog.

So I guess my only concerns were (a) that this set-up might somehow not work in CC and (b) that, even if it does, I'll have to set it all up afresh. But so long as (a) is wrong, i.e. so long as it does work, I guess setting up afresh, if necessary, shouldn't be too horrendous?! (I just remember it being a bit of an ordeal first time around, for someone who has only a tenuous grasp on what a symbolic link even is!)

d

 

[johnbeardy]

Does anyone know (I guess I'll find out soon enough) whether when I install CC it will recognise that I already have LR5 and leave folders I've put in non-standard locations using symbolic links in place?

There was a time when the installation simply set up new folders in the default place, but now I think it does respect links/aliases. You will just need to check what actually happens. If the installation process ignores your existing links, you'll just have to set them up again.

 

[dtbain]

There was a time when the installation simply set up new folders in the default place, but now I think it does respect links/aliases. You will just need to check what actually happens. If the installation process ignores your existing links, you'll just have to set them up again.

Indeed, thanks John

d

 

[johnbeardy]

To reassure you (!), we don't edit the same master cat at the same time; rather, when we edit simultaneously, which is not often, actually, one or both of us exports a catalog, and then re-imports it post-editing, so at any one time, we are editing only one catalog.

With Mobile, you also have Lightroom on the Web. So one of you could be editing photos (not all adjustments, and just titles and captions) in a web browser, while the other works on the master catalogue in Lr Desktop.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

There was a time when the installation simply set up new folders in the default place, but now I think it does respect links/aliases. You will just need to check what actually happens. If the installation process ignores your existing links, you'll just have to set them up again.

Yes, in my experience it does. I too have a lot of Lightroom folders in Dropbox with a symbolic link to their default location, and when I reinstall Lightroom these folders are still used.

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

So my current set-up is that I have LR5 installed on two macs and have one master catalog on an external drive. Plus, on each of the macs, where the settings folder would normally be, I instead have a symbolic link that points to a dropbox folder shared with my wife, so that she and I can use Lr on each of the macs with the same settings, in particular the same pre-sets.

You didn't say the catalog was a link, so I think it will put the catalog right on the EHD where you expect it.

The presets - they are in a user share if I recall, meaning they are user specific (well, your links are) and not version specific (at least minor version, I just don't remember where LR5 was). So I THINK nothing at all happens to the user presets, which means it will likely still work. But try - I don't think it will erase them or anything similar.

By the way, with the catalog on the EHD, and you obviously knowing about symbolic links, if you have not, you may want to consider moving the preview cache to the local drives to be separate and faster, as by default it's going to put the preview cache where the catalog is.

Presets (etc) on a dropbox share is quite a good idea; helps preserve them during new installs also, especially things easily forgotten like camera profiles. Glad I read that, I may need to borrow that.

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

By the way, if the catalog IS a link, I suspect the new catalog will go where the link is, not where it points to (which would not be what you want).

 

[dtbain]

As before, really helpful, thanks -- and pleased an idea of mine was of use!

 

[dtbain]

Just an update: I went for Lr-cc, and the installation both of it and of the new OS-X that it turned out it required both were very straightforward -- all symbolic links respected etc etc. Thanks again for all advice.

d