Is Lightroom Classic end-of-life?

[tspear]

@johnbeardy
Good point. Answer is I do not definitively know. For me Adobe has multiple problems. Beyond the naming fiasco, I was already in a bad mood about Lr because I had effectively paid $240 bucks for the dehaze function (three years = 360 - 120 purchase price). I know there were other improvements, such as the transform angle stuff which is mathematically really hard, but it is so rare that I need such functionality I mentally say "meh, so what?".
The end result, I do not think I would be impressed with such low hanging fruit so quickly.

Tim

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Or my absolute favorite: make Lightroom remember the selected image(s) when you toggle between different collections and/or folders. If they do that, I'll trust them indefinitely!

 

[PhilBurton]

Will it take years, Tim, or a series of perfectly-deliverable, no-collateral-damage, highly-visible improvements in areas other than Camera Raw that demonstrate a bit of love for the product? It's not as if Adobe lacks choice of features that need a few finishing touches that make them feel polished. For example, these just-do-its might include:

• A keyboard shortcut for Purple
• When an image is loaded in Develop, change the grad/radial/brush icon if that image has that adjustment
• Increase the number of most-recently entered values from 10 to 30
• If a field is available as a smart collection criterion, make it available in Library Filter - that may be more difficult but imagine the title or caption field in the filter

I'm sure everyone can think of similar ones, but I'm trying to bring my knowledge of the data structure and SDK to bear. It's a matter of getting the most bangs for the development buck, and of attracting eyeballs. As I keep saying, where's the beef?

John

Which is why I hope Adobe reaches out to this group to help with problem statements, feature definitions and prioritization.

Phil

 

[johnbeardy]

And that seems exactly the sort of thing that doesn't endanger the core system, but shows love and care. Even a pig looks better with lipstick!

 

[rob211]

I agree with tspear. And also that CC is in early days. But we paid subscription prices and at least for Lr didn't get much in return, at least in terms of the hyped improvements. Lr Mobile advanced quite a bit, and now CC, but that is a direction that I don't have much interest in. So although CC is new and yet to have as much as it may have in the future, I don't have as much faith in the direction this is going as when I initially subscribed.

And I had a contract when I subscribed: for the application I subscribed to—Lr—to be improved. Now maybe it isn't. Instead, CC will be improved. That wasn't what I signed up for. I'll give it a shot, but I'm looking over my shoulder at alternatives again.

 

[Gnits]

It's not as if Adobe lacks choice of features that need a few finishing touches that make them feel polished.

I agree 1000%. I also have a list of small items which can make great improvements to usability.

 

[Jimmsp]

Or my absolute favorite: make Lightroom remember the selected image(s) when you toggle between different collections and/or folders. If they do that, I'll trust them indefinitely!

I would have that on my written list if I kept one. That frustrates me quite often.

 

[Hoggy]

.... Or how about not immediately removing an image from view at the very moment it no longer meets a smart collection criteria. That remains my sole use for dumb collections - to mirror a smart collection I might be working on.

 

[PhilBurton]

.... Or how about not immediately removing an image from view at the very moment it no longer meets a smart collection criteria. That remains my sole use for dumb collections - to mirror a smart collection I might be working on.

So maybe, just maybe, this "crisis" over the two-headed release can be the catalyst for an improved working relationship between people on this forum and Adobe.

Issues like these should be addressed to Adobe, and they should have some kind of prioritized response to us. Should...

 

[johnbeardy]

.... Or how about not immediately removing an image from view at the very moment it no longer meets a smart collection criteria. That remains my sole use for dumb collections - to mirror a smart collection I might be working on.

I've suggested that to them many times, though I wonder if explaining it as "like Excel's manual recalculation mode" might have been a mistake!

John

 

[Johan Elzenga]

I've suggested that to them many times, though I wonder if explaining it as "like Excel's manual recalculation mode" might have been a mistake!

Just tell them to look at Apple Aperture. This is exactly what Aperture does. As long as the image is selected because you are working on it, it will not be removed when your work makes it no longer fit the criteria. As soon as you move to the next image, it will disappear. There are many things where Adobe should have stolen a few ideas from Apple Aperture.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

BTW, because 'Tom Hogerty' only appeared here once and is silent again, let me be very skeptic: Maybe Tom was never here and doesn't read this. Maybe Victoria created his account (with Toms permission) and copied and pasted (some of) his blog?

 

[johnbeardy]

But probably safer to avoid Apple's lawyers by saying Excel was the inspiration! I would just want the SC/filter refresh to be suspended until I hit a shortcut or move to another folder/collection.

 

[johnbeardy]

BTW, because 'Tom Hogerty' only appeared here once and is silent again, let me be very skeptic: Maybe Tom was never here and doesn't read this. Maybe Victoria created his account (with Toms permission) and copied and pasted (some of) his blog?

It's not quite cut and paste, and I know that Tom does read comments in other forums, so why not this? Not everything is #fake.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

I hope he does indeed read this forum, because some good comments werd made.

 

[Gnits]

Or my absolute favorite: make Lightroom remember the selected image(s) when you toggle between different collections and/or folders.

I fully agree and regard this as a top priority. I have suggested and explained many times why this can be a major improvement in terms of usability.

Slightly related but different.
Right click in Library mode and select the option Go To Folder in Library.

This is a frequently used feature ... but missing an important subtlety. The focus will change to image in the folder, but the corresponding folder highlighted in the left hand panel is only sometimes selected (is that a bug). Most of the time the focus seems to remain on the previous folder or collection. If the left panel is open, the focus should move to the folder containing the image every single time (I repeat ....every single time... and not sometimes).

 

[Gnits]

BTW, because 'Tom Hogerty' only appeared here once and is silent again,

1. Tom's Q and A was the questions Tom wanted to raise and answer.
2. Absolutely no sign of Tom answering any of the other comments/ questions on that thread.
3. I think it is shameful that Adobe have not posted release notes re Lr Classic on the Lightroom Journal.


I posted some hard hitting comments on the Lr Journal which, 5 days later, are still awaiting moderation. I do not want to post them here in duplicate, but I will post them here eventually if they are not published on the Lr Journal. I suspect the use of one or two of my phrases may parallel the use of "indefinite" by Tom in regard to perpetual licences.

I have had time to think about this whole mess ... and I finally have concluded that "I no longer care what Adobe do". Why should I get upset because of the actions of a massively profitable enterprise.

 

[Hoggy]

3. I think it is shameful that Adobe have not posted release notes re Lr Classic on the Lightroom Journal.

Thanks.. I thought it was just me having difficulty finding them. I kept looking high and low for them, to see if the AMD-GPU issues since 2015.10.1 had been resolved before installing. Since I didn't find them, I just figured that they must have fixed it by now - so I uninstalled the old version.

Thankfully, after what must have been 'background' housekeeping being done for a good while after converting the catalog - causing delays of ~30 seconds for each develop change - the speed still seems to be rather respectable, and still faster than 2015.10.1 & .12 with the disabled GPU.

 

[clee01l]

And that seems exactly the sort of thing that doesn't endanger the core system, but shows love and care. Even a pig looks better with lipstick!

BTW, because 'Tom Hogerty' only appeared here once and is silent again, let me be very skeptic: Maybe Tom was never here and doesn't read this. Maybe Victoria created his account (with Toms permission) and copied and pasted (some of) his blog?

Tom’s one off post needs to be more than just a “drive by shooting”. I was hearten that my response asking for a reply was endorsed by several. If he does not reply, then this becomes another example of how to lose the trust of your customers.

 

[Gnits]

This thread should be required reading for all Adobe managers and an action plan generated to pro-actively address the issues raised and suggestions made.

 

[Duncanh]

YouTube interview with Tom Hogarty and Lightroom Product Manager Sharad Mangalick. Don't know if people have seen it.

Two separate teams, doesn't sound they see the two versions working together or synergy between them.
I can't say it made me feel that Classic is here to stay or will be developed much in the future.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

This thread should be required reading for all Adobe managers and an action plan generated to pro-actively address the issues raised and suggestions made.

Well, of course we should not make ourselves bigger than we are. This is just an independent forum for Lightroom users. It has no official connection with Adobe, and anyone can join. You don't have to take na exam to prove that you really are the 'power user', or the 'advanced' user or whatever you filled in. So why should Adobe treat this forum differently than the many other forums? But if you do take the time to join and make a statement like Tom did, then I think it doesn't help much if you leave it with that and do not come back or show any sign that you've read the replies and are taken them seriously. We are talking about restoring trust...

 

[clee01l]

So why should Adobe treat this forum differently than the many other forums?

I may have missed it, but did Tom or anyone else go to Adobe’s own forum and ask what Adobe could do to restore customer trust? At least the complaints here about Classic/LRCC/perpetual have been civil and respectful. I can’t say that about the posts I read on Adobe’s own forum.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

BTW, because 'Tom Hogerty' only appeared here once and is silent again, let me be very skeptic: Maybe Tom was never here and doesn't read this. Maybe Victoria created his account (with Toms permission) and copied and pasted (some of) his blog?

LOL! We can't have you joining in with the naysayers! I sent Tom a link to this thread just as he was getting on a plane, and he joined and personally posted a few hours later. I was surprised to see him post, as I thought he'd just read the thread. He's now back in the office and no doubt absolutely overwhelmed by all the stuff coming at him. Anything he says, beyond what he's already said, would no doubt need to go through a million meetings and other red tape, so I wouldn't expect a response for a bit (if at all - he may choose a more public response to reach a wider audience).

 

[PhilBurton]

BTW, because 'Tom Hogerty' only appeared here once and is silent again, let me be very skeptic: Maybe Tom was never here and doesn't read this. Maybe Victoria created his account (with Toms permission) and copied and pasted (some of) his blog?

I honestly don't think so, unless Tom specifically told Victoria to cut-and-paste.

To is in a difficult situation. He has to follow corporate guidelines for product planning, which for most companies means, "Say as little as possible, because otherwise you will be blamed when the release is late," and similar concerns. He is also facing significant issues from (a part of) his customer base. He has to follow corporate decisions, which he can't contravene. These decisions include a cloud focus an subscription pricing. It's a tough situation.

That all said, doing things "the regular way" is not going to cut it in this situation. He should ask for forgiveness, rather than ask permission, to change his approach with customers.

Phil