Lightroom 4.0 to 6.0 upgrade?

[Doug1234]

Lightroom Version

4

Operating System

1. Windows 10
2. Windows 11

Hi LR Friends,

I currently have Lightroom 4.0 and would like to upgrade to Lightroom 6.0 to take advantage of the facial recognition features.

Is it possible to upgrade or purchase LR 6.0 or just purchase LR 6.0? I don't want to go to the cloud. I did find the LR 6 download, but cannot find where to purchase it:

(https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/lightroom-classic/help/lightroom-6-end-of-support.html)

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

I'm sorry to say Lightroom 6 is no longer available for sale, and hasn't been for quite some time.

However, Lightroom Classic (now on version 12) still works on your computer just like LR4 does... it's just paid as a subscription rather than a single payment. It's very good value, and there have been vast improvements since LR4.

 

[Doug1234]

Thank you. Funny Adobe will continue to have the download available though.

 

[Paul McFarlane]

The download is purely for ones that already own a license but need to load the software again (computer change, for example)

 

[Doug1234]

Ah, of course, that makes sense. Thank you - helps my curiosity.

 

[Doug1234]

Anybody want to sell their version of Lightroom 6.0?

 

[David_W]

I currently have Lightroom 4.0 and would like to upgrade to Lightroom 6.0 to take advantage of the facial recognition features.

You might be wasting your time even if you can find a licence. There are many reports around, including on the Adobe forums, that automatic facial recognition in Lightroom 6.14 (the last perpetual licence version) has stopped working unless you are prepared to mess with your system date or use unofficial patches.

I believe the Map module is broken in all perpetual licence versions of Lightroom because of changes in the Google APIs. No perpetual licence version of Lightroom will sync with Lightroom Cloud due to changes on the Adobe servers - and whilst you say you are not interested in Lightroom Cloud, there are times when cloud features are useful even with a Classic-based workflow.

I held on to perpetual licenced Lightroom - in my case Lightroom 4 - for as long as I could. However, the lack of Windows HiDPI support (which wasn't added until Lightroom 5), also no support for new cameras and lenses made it unviable for me to stay on perpetual. As Victoria says, Lightroom has moved on a lot since the perpetual days - the new AI masking features, GPU acceleration and more mean I use the application in very different ways to my old perpetual Lightroom.

The 20GB Photography Plan is good value for what you get - Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, Lightroom Cloud with a 20GB quota for Raw files (smart previews don't count against your quota) and, IIRC, Bridge, Premiere Rush and Photoshop Express are also included.

 

[RoyReed]

You might be wasting your time even if you can find a licence. There are many reports around, including on the Adobe forums, that automatic facial recognition in Lightroom 6.14 (the last perpetual licence version) has stopped working unless you are prepared to mess with your system date or use unofficial patches.

I believe the Map module is broken in all perpetual licence versions of Lightroom because of changes in the Google APIs. No perpetual licence version of Lightroom will sync with Lightroom Cloud due to changes on the Adobe servers - and whilst you say you are not interested in Lightroom Cloud, there are times when cloud features are useful even with a Classic-based workflow.

I can confirm that neither face recognition nor the map module work any more in Lightroom 6.14. In fact clicking on the face recognition icon on the toolbar crashes Lightroom on my PC (I wish there was a way to remove the icon, as I click it accidentally on occasion).

 

[Jim Wilde]

I wish there was a way to remove the icon, as I click it accidentally on occasion).

You can remove the "View Modes" from the Toolbar, which includes the People icon. But that also removes the Grid, Loupe, Compare and Survey view mode icons as well (though the single letter shortcuts for those are fairly easy to remember and use).

 

[RoyReed]

You can remove the "View Modes" from the Toolbar, which includes the People icon. But that also removes the Grid, Loupe, Compare and Survey view mode icons as well (though the single letter shortcuts for those are fairly easy to remember and use).

I'd probably end up hitting 'O' accidentally instead.

 

[Doug1234]

Thanks guys, thankfully I have not purchased it. I really can't bring myself to start paying a monthly fee. I think I'll just manually tag people instead of using the facial recognition and live with LR 4.

All the best.

 

[clee01l]

I really can't bring myself to start paying a monthly fee. I think I'll just manually tag people instead of using the facial recognition and live with LR 4.

Think of it as an annual upgrade to a new version of both Lightroom versions and Photoshop. When there was a standalone upgrade , Lightroom (Classic) was about $100 each year. Photoshop annual upgrade was about $1000. The annual subscription for both of this plus Lightroom of the cloud is $120USD. This a bargain compared to when Lightroom and Photoshop were selling individually and as a perpetual license.

 

[Replytoken]

Thanks guys, thankfully I have not purchased it. I really can't bring myself to start paying a monthly fee. I think I'll just manually tag people instead of using the facial recognition and live with LR 4.

All the best.

Whether you stay with Lightroom or not, you should consider that at some point you will be forced to migrate to something beyond LR4.x. As described in the posts above, it has been dying a slow death, and one significant OS update could render it completely useless. There are still photo programs that can be purchased without a subscription, but some are quite limited and will eventually get you when you need an upgrade. You may want to start planning ahead so you have some decent migration strategy.

Good luck,

--Ken