Adobe have just released their latest Lightroom updates including Lightroom CC 2015.2 and Lightroom 6.2 for desktop, Lightroom mobile 2.0 for iOS, Lightroom mobile 1.3 for Android and updated Lightroom Web. I’ll cover the mobile/web updates in a separate post, but for now, let’s talk about the desktop update.
But wait a moment!
I’ve never before started a What’s New blog post with the words “don’t update,” however in my opinion, Lightroom CC 2015.2 and Lightroom 6.2 are being released prematurely. The release is linked to a large Adobe marketing event (Adobe Max) and I’m convinced that the Lightroom team would have delayed the release if they had a choice.
There are a couple of significant new bugs (crashes on Mac and some new performance problems on both operating systems) that haven’t yet been solved. Not everyone is seeing these issues so you might not be affected, however on this occasion I’d recommend waiting for the next update, especially if you’re on a Mac.
If you’ve already updated, or you can’t live without the new features or bug fixes, there are a couple of things you can do to minimize the issues:
- If Lightroom won’t open without crashing, reset your preferences. To do so, hold down Alt and Shift (Windows) / Opt and Shift (Mac) while opening Lightroom and it’ll ask whether to reset the preferences. The timing is crucial— hold them down while clicking/double-clicking on the app/shortcut.
- Once you’ve opened Lightroom, go to the Preferences dialog > General tab and uncheck the Show ‘Add Photos’ screen checkbox. This disables the new import folder scanning which appears to be causing the performance issues.
- If you continue to have problems, it is possible to roll back to 2015.1.1 / 6.1.1, however to do so you must uninstall Lightroom, reinstall 2015.0 / 6.0, and then install the 2015.1.1 / 6.1.1 update. The full instructions are here: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-do-i-roll-back-to-lightroom-2015-1-1-or-lightroom-6-1-1/
So what do you have to look forward to? There are couple of new features!
- New simplified Import dialog
- The Import dialog has been rewritten to be less intimidating to new users.
- There’s a new Add Photos screen, which makes it easy to select the source of the photos, whether that’s a mobile device, memory card or a folder on your computer. (Advanced users may want to turn off the initial Add Photos screen by unchecking the Show ‘Add Photos’ screen checkbox in Preferences > General tab.)
- The side panels in the main Import dialog are now hidden by default, but you can display them by clicking the top left corner and the gear icon in the top right corner. (Click on the images to enlarge.)
- If you’re an advanced user, you will need to be aware of some Import features that are no longer available. They are:
- Move is gone. You can only Add the photos at their existing location or Copy the photos to a new location.
- Eject After Import is gone. You must now remember to eject memory cards using the operating system (although this will hopefully return in a future update).
- Duplicate photos can’t be imported (without workarounds).
- Zoom is gone from the Import Loupe view.
- Filename is now hidden under a tooltip.
- Destination panel folders preview is gone, including the italic preview showing your chosen folder structure, the checkmarks to their right, and the volume information showing how much space was available on each drive.
- Thumbnail filtering by Destination folder is gone.
- Total file size is gone from the bottom left corner.
- The filename preview (when renaming) is gone.
- If you feel strongly about any of these missing features, the best place to request their reinstatement is the Official Feature Request/Bug Report Forum at http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family, explaining clearly how it will impact your workflow.
- Sean McCormack and Laura Shoe both have videos demonstrating the new features.
- Update 8 October – Adobe have now released an official statement.
- Improved Elements Import
- The Import from Elements dialog is now accessible from the Import dialog if Elements is installed and a catalog is found.
- It’s been rewritten. All you need to do is select the Elements catalog and Lightroom does the rest of the transfer.
- Local Dehaze (CC users only)
- The Dehaze slider was added to the Effects panel in Lightroom CC 2015.1, and it’s now available for local adjustments using the Graduated Filter, Radial Filter and Adjustment Brush.
There’s also new camera support:
- DxO ONE
- Leica S (Typ 007)
- Olympus E-M10 Mark II
- Sony A7SM2 (ILCE-7SM2)
- Click to view the full list of supported cameras
Tethering for new cameras:
- Leica M Monochrom
- Click to view the full list of support cameras for tethering.
- Note there’s a known issue tethering Nikon and Leica cameras on Mac 10.11 El Capitan.
There are loads of new lens profiles:
- Canon EF mount
- Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM
- Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM
- SIGMA 24-35mm F2 DG HSM A015
- TAMRON 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 DiII VC B018E
- TAMRON SP 35mm F/1.8 Di VC USD F012E
- TAMRON SP 45mm F/1.8 Di VC USD F013E
- Canon FD mount
- Canon FD 28mm F2.8
- Canon FD 50mm F1.4
- Canon FD 135mm F2.5 S.C.
- Contax 645 mount
- Zeiss Distagon T* 2,8/45
- Zeiss Distagon T* 3,5/35
- DJI mount
- PHANTOM 3 Standard (DNG and JPEG)
- GoPro
- HERO+ LCD
- HERO4 Session
- Leica M
- Leica Summilux-M 28mm F1.4 ASPH.
- Zeiss Biogon T* 2,8/21 ZM
- Zeiss Biogon T* 2/35 ZM
- Zeiss Biogon T* 2,8/25 ZM
- Zeiss Biogon T* 2,8/28 ZM
- Zeiss C Biogon T* 2,8/35 ZM
- Zeiss C Biogon T* 4,5/21 ZM
- Zeiss C Sonnar T* 1,5/50 ZM
- Zeiss Distagon T* 2,8/15 ZM
- Zeiss Distagon T* 4/18 ZM
- Zeiss Planar T* 2/50 ZM
- Zeiss Tele-Tessar T* 4/85 ZM
- M42 mount
- Asahi PENTAX Super-Takumar 55mm f/1.8 M42
- Fujifilm FUJINON 50mm f/1.4 M42
- Fujifilm FUJINON 55mm f/1.8 M42
- Micro Four Thirds mount
- Voigtlander MFT 10.5mm f/0.95 Nokton Aspherical
- Minolta SR mount
- Minolta MC ROKKOR 58mm F1.2
- Minolta MC ROKKOR-PF 55mm F1.7
- Minolta MC ROKKOR-X PG 50mm F1.4
- Minolta MC TELE ROKKOR-PE 200mm F4.5
- Minolta MC W.ROKKOR-HG 35mm F2.8
- Minolta MD 50mm F2
- Minolta MD Celtic 135mm F3.5
- Minolta MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
- Minolta MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
- Minolta MD W.ROKKOR-X 28mm F2.8
- Nikon F mount
- Minolta MD W.ROKKOR-X 28mm F2.8
- Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f2.8-4E ED VR
- Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.8G ED
- Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR
- Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
- Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/4E FL ED VR
- Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR
- Nikon NIKKOR 24mm f/2.8 AI
- Nikon NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4 AIS
- Nikon NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8 AI
- Nikon NIKKOR-H Auto 50mm f/2
- Nikon NIKKOR-P.C Auto 105mm f/2.5 AI
- Nikon NIKKOR-S.C Auto 50mm f/1.4
- Nikon NIKKOR-UD Auto 20mm f/3.5 AI
- SIGMA 24-35mm F2 DG HSM A015
- TAMRON 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 DiII VC B018N
- TAMRON SP 35mm F/1.8 Di VC USD F012N
- TAMRON SP 45mm F/1.8 Di VC USD F013N
- Parrot mount
- Bebop Drone (DNG and JPEG)
- Pentax mount
- HD PENTAX-D FA 24-70mm F2.8ED SDM WR
- Sigma mount
- SIGMA 24-35mm F2 DG HSM A015
- Click here for the full list of available Adobe Lens Profiles
- Further user-created profiles can be downloaded using the Lens Profile Downloader
There’s a good list of bug fixes. These are the main ones:
- Library
- When migrating from Photoshop Elements, Lightroom included face regions which were previously either rejected or deleted in Elements.
- Develop
- Photo Merge
- HDR and Pano Merge have been improved.
- Slideshow
- All exported JPEGs in Slideshows have the same slide text.
- Images rendered as swapped blocks within the Slideshow module. (Windows machines with AMD graphics cards only.)
- Lightroom CC Slideshow Module takes over selected display monitor until LR is closed. (Windows machines with AMD graphics cards only.)
- Export
- Other Fixes
- A range of AMD cards appeared as unsupported on Windows but you’ll need to install the AMD 15.8 beta driver, which is available here.
- Map, Book, Publish, Sync were not working for Creative Cloud Enterprise customers on Mac OSX 10.10.
- As usual, there are still some bugs outstanding which they’re still working on. If you find a bug, click here to report it.
I’m currently working on adding the new features to the Members Area for Adobe Lightroom CC/6 – The Missing FAQ purchasers and updating my free Quick Start eBook.
For now, on to the mobile updates…
Seems that this update is another *** from Adobe.
Mod note – edited for language
Humans make mistakes, and they corrected it. This is ancient history now Marius.
Has someone updated the standalone version to 6.2 and noticed, that adobe has replaced the adobe application manager with the CC-App? I can’t update mine since that. Every time i click update in LR it opens up the CC-App, which doesn’t display my installation. Can someone help me, please? I am desperate.
You can safely uninstall the CC app if you don’t like it. It’s just used to manage updates and installs like the older Adobe Application Manager.
First lesson learnt – check out with HRH before upgrading ! Second lesson – Adobe are capable of following in the footsteps of Apple , simplify without taking account of experienced users ( which shouldn’t lose them a single buck ) . Chandler et al make similar points . But down to my personal woe ( Mac / Perpetual licence ) . I can no longer remove photos from the HD . I set as Rejected , move to Delete rejected photos and am faced with a window ” Remove the rejected photos from current collection ? ” ( Cancel / Remove ) . Instead of the usual ( Delete from Disc / Cancel / Remove ) . So it seems I’m now stuck with never removing fuzzy photos etc from the HD . This is very bad news . Hope there’s a solution somewhere . Thanks as ever for a super service !
Ah, that one’s easily fixed Alan – you’re in a Collection, so delete only removes from the collection instead of the hard drive.
There’s a couple of solutions. One is to select the photos and then go to All Photographs collection (or the folder) and then delete. Or could can select the rejected photos and use the Splat Delete – Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Delete or Cmd-Opt-Shift-Delete. That deletes from anywhere, but be careful because it doesn’t give a warning dialog before it deletes them.
Many thanks . The All Photographs solution worked fine , the main thing . First time I’ve deleted that way -strange . The problem arose exactly on upgrading , hence my query . When working in Collections , “Photo menu ” offers ” Remove from collection ” and “Delete rejected photos ” . ” Remove from collection ” works more or less instantly ; ” Delete rejected photos ” offers the same thing ! Again strange ( for me ! ) . Hope I haven’t wasted too much time for everybody – I recognize here it’s mainly about sorting out the Adobe nonsense . Perhaps a note page 129 of your book could help ? I’ve made the necessary boost for your excellent books on Amazon (France ) , though I guess here in France not so many buy photo books in English !
I’ll check into that Alan – you might have found a bug.
Thanks for your work and warnings Victoria. What really get me is I was one of the happy Aperture users and made the move to Lightroom a year or more ago. I used your book and blog post on converting. I spent the time to learn and the Import settings for file naming and MOVING were important to allow me to keep the file structure and naming I had in Aperture. Then Adobe pushed to a subscription service, not happy but I could accept that if the software was made better. NOW it feels like Adobe is moving to the mobile world like Apple did with Aperture and Photos.. ARGHHH,, I like my laptop and desktop for working with photos. Make it simple for phone users to use and forget the advanced users, bad move adobe.
Just watch this space Chandler. All software companies are moving to the mobile world, because otherwise they’ll get left behind, but I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom. We all make mistakes, as Adobe have done with this release!
Great article Victoria and a real lifesaver for me.
Whilst I haven’t had the crash & import problems of other readers, I have had an export problem. Basically the Export dialog box wouldn’t appear no matter what I tried. My only way to export anything was to option click on a selected image and “export with previous”. Unfortunately I have no idea what the “previous” was and none of my exported images contained any metadata.
Thanks for the Instructions on re-installing the previous version; I’m currently restoring a semblance of normality.
Imac 27 & OSX 10.11.1
-Mark
Glad to hear you’re back up and running. I’m not sure whether that was found and fixed in the new 6.2.1 update or not.
I’ve noticed another bug in the 2015.2 release of LR.
When I exit LR via File / Exit it exits cleanly. When I exit LR via the big red cross in the top right, the program disappears from my screen but remains in Task Manager.
I have to Terminate the application with Task Mangler to get it to exit.
[Reported to Adobe at feedback.photoshop.com not that I think the management cares too much at the moment]
Top level management might only see dollar signs, but the Lightroom team themselves do care. Well done for reporting it.
Hi Victoria
I find your page extremely useful and want to thank you for the work you put into this.
One of the reasons why I decided to go for LR at the time was the combination of a powerful high quality Raw converter and a good tool for organizing my photos – all in one tool. In this respect LR is (was?) unique. The OLD import dialog was one of the components that helped me organize my photos efficiently. Some of the options that were removed now I rely on in my daily workflow. Just to name some of the most important ones:
(1) Destination folder preview
A must have – Most of the time I import sorted by date into a hierarchical chronological file structure – Directories for Year – Month – Day . I need to check if my pictures end up in the correct folders
(2) Eject card after import
A small but extremely user friendly feature.
(3) Filename renaming preview
Surely makes renaming in the import guesswork and thus useless
(4) Filenames shown beneath icon
I need to see file names on the icons – I sometimes have edited filenames (keywords, Names or other meta data) in the name and want to add LR keywords based on that or simply decide by that which are the ones I need to import.
(5) Move option
Only occasionally used but when I need it I need it as it saves an error prone manual deletion step
I liked the old Import as it was powerful and flexible and intuitive. For me it has been a positive easy to use user experience right the first time I used it. Any not so “computer/software affine” user could stay with the defaults in the dialog and be happy.
I have never been a fan of User Interface redesigns but can live with them as long as I have the functionality available I need. This is however no longer the case with the new Import dialog. Frankly – if turning LR into a “one size fits all” workflow “app” is the direction that Adobe continues and maybe even turns LR into a “one size fits all” raw processor I will be forced to go and look for an alternative. I would hate to do this but would take the trouble if I cannot find a reasonable workflow in LR anymore.
I could surely find workarounds or write my own import plugin that fits my needs – but where does this end … I fear they come up with the next dialog slimmed down …
The only thing I’m glad about is that I didn’t jump on the subscription boat but bought LR6 . So I can continue to use LR6.1 for a while and if I need to move to other software I can still continue to work on my old photos with LR and don’t lose my development settings for the photos I put work into.
Uli
Thanks Uli, glad to help. Have you posted this on the official forum too? If not, here’s the thread http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/new-update-6-2?page=8
Adobe you’ve got to be kidding. Having totally embraced Lr since beta & V1 and rolled through the progressive updates with mostly enthusiasm and occasional irritation, V6.2 marks a historic low-point. As a PC user I’m not exposed to the grief experienced by OSX El Kapitan users, but the total mis-fire on the removal of key features in the Import dialog is unforgivable. The old Import UI was never going to win design awards but it wasn’t exactly rocket science to figure out. And it worked. As a very busy professional, the ill-conceived V6.2 Import fiasco will do nothing but add time, extra steps and creativity sucking irritation. Please restore the lost features immediately.
Are there any features you’ll miss more than others Paul?
Thanks Victoria. In the short term I won’t be missing the lost features at all… I rolled back.
In order, here’s a rant-free list of features that I will miss and expect to see again in v6.2:
1. Duplicate photos can’t be imported ( you hinted there may be a workaround for this).
2. Move…You can only Add the photos at their current location or Copy to a new location.
3. Destination panel folders preview and all it’s associated information
4. Filename now hidden under a tooltip.
As I mostly use PhotoMechanic to ingest, sort, rank, rename and add metadata prior to Lr Import, the rest of the changes are moot for me, but I keenly feel the pain of Lr users who use Lr Import more broadly than myself. In my studio pre-Lr workflow will by necessity be 100% PhotoMechanic.
Any consideration I had for retiring PhotoMechanic and creating a 100% Lr workflow has instantly evaporated. It’s difficult keeping this rant-free, but the issues have been broadcast loud and clear on this and half a dozen other lists/forums plus planet-wide negative sprays on social media.
As a professional Adobe customer since Photoshop v2, and use half a dozen CC programs almost daily, I’ve never seen the customer base so broadly annoyed over an update.
2-4 are on my top list as well.
Duplicates, I’m a bit torn on because they did cause no end of problems. The workarounds are quite simple – either rename the photos before importing or import into a clean catalog and then use Import from Another Catalog to pull them in. The people who are smart enough to understand what they’re doing importing duplicates are easily smart enough to do either of those options.
And yes, I’ve never seen an outcry like this either. It’s undoubtedly been the most difficult week in Lightroom history.
Victoria, Many thanks for all your work with regards Lightroom, it was via your blog / newsletter that I learned f the impending troubles with Lr 6.2 / CC 2015.2 and made the concious decision not to upgrade.
There have been many consistent issues raised throughout the discussion here, many of which I probably cover below, but one aspect I struggle with from Adobes Product Simplification point of view is the potential catastrophic effect the new import could have on inexperienced users backup routines, should they even consider such thing important:
EXERT HERE:
BACKUP CONSIDERATIONS FOR NEW USERS
As a side note, lack of import destination folder preview also present huge implications for new users in terms of how such NEW and INEXPERIENCED users will handle their backups…… Since Lightroom only backs up the Lightroom Catalog database on exit (if set in preferences), how confused are new users going to be when they think Lr has been backing up their RAW images (or more likely terrible iphone jpgs they are converting to grainy monotone or other doggy filter effects) when in reality Lr has only backed up the catalog database? Given that the new import workflow gives even less indication as to final (raw / source image) destination within the users given storage environment, how are they supposed to configure their backup routines. – Lightroom continually wants to import to “Pictures” within the windows user account space….. I run on a PC with:
RAM: 16GB
SSD1: – OS / Applications
SSD2: – Lightroom Catolog & Preview cache
SSD3: – Camera raw / Photoshop cache / scratch and other temp dirs
Local HDD: – Current Working Raw Files
NAS (Raid 6): Archival network storage with redundant
NAS (Raid 6): Backup of above NAS
Now tell me the new simplified Import experience knows where to store my RAW images…. in C:\Users\James\Pictures ???? I THINK NOT
FULL RANT HERE:
Well, where to start really, as so many others, this really is a huge mistake on Adobes part.
Don’t get me wrong, I know they need to expose the product to new users, but let’s be honest, Lightroom isn’t a simple image editor for the masses. Aside from Lr’s extensive image editing capabilities, it supports, and forms the central backbone of many a professional and advanced amateur photographers workflow, functioning as both Digital Asset Management and Image Editor.
If their new target audience can’t handle a few options allowing them to work flexibly and understand simple concepts like: move on import, the need to review images prior to import, import target folder destinations/previews, file renaming conventions, metadata tagging etc, then frankly, they have no business using such software. Why mess up the workflow of many professionals that rely on the software for their livelihood.
If adobe really want to break in to the general consumer / casual market, then one of two options would surely be more viable than Lr 6.2 / CC2015.2, both in terms of the current/established professional/experienced user base, and the requirements of a more emergent consumer driven sector:
1) An entirely new product focussed on the casual / inexperienced user – i.e Lr Lite.
or
2) A single product that supports both advanced workflows for established / professional users, as well as a simplified wizard / tutorial driven option that guides new users in to the software, and instils a willingness to learn the more advanced features and workflows as required, while allowing them to gain the most from the software and the option to utilise the full capabilities of Lightroom.
Now, on to some examples.
What’s Missing:
-Option to Move files on import – use quite regularly, particularly if I’m importing only certain sessions from a multi-session shoot. In such circumstances, I configure different image sub-folders on the CF card in-camera for each session during the shoot.
-Destination folder preview – always used. Given that my workflow places significant emphasis on where images are physically stored after import, I really need to know exactly where they are being imported to: I use a single catalog, with local SSD, Local HDD and archival NAS (raid 6), with images moving diversely through these storage media. Long storey short, I need to know where my RAW (cr2) files are. Additional backup considerations apply – See Note 1 Below.
-Ability to fully review Images for Import – Loss of zoom function removes the ability to realistically review images for critical sharpness etc at import. Now I have to Import all, render previews, review, remove and waste CPU time as well as my time.
-Auto un-mount / ejection of media cards – Seriously – your new target audience can’t navigate a few simple options in a UI??? What makes you think they can manage to safely remove a USB drive / media card from the host PC / Mac… operating system??? – “Can’t you just pull it out???? Corrupt data/card’s here we come, courtesy of adobes improved import process.
-Ability to import duplicates
What’s Wrong:
-Well, everything!
-Do not want phone inspired landing screen for import that scans my whole PC for potential import sources. My workflow dictates where my image will be: (CF Card / Working Local Storage / NAS)
-UI is totally inconsistent with the rest of Lightroom
-Lacks many essential features (lost)
-Images for import are greyed out, and have large tick-mark icon in centre, while unselected (will not import) images are highlighted and un-obscured…… SO how am I supposed to review import candidates during my workflow, when the image is greyed out, and has a huge tick in its centre?
-If your new user base can’t handle simple file imports into a powerful image database / DAM / Editor, how are they going to grasp concepts in the Develop Module: Crop, White Balance, Exposure, White Point, Black Point, Highlight / Shadow Recover, Saturation, Vibrancy, Hue/Saturation/Luminescence, Split Toning, Noise Reduction & Sharpening, Lens/Camera calibrations and corrections, Colour Space etc… Shall we just dump those down too? There must be a button we can create that will lock everyone in to a single workflow and creative philosophy that will result in millions of images of identical phone / Instagram inspired mediocrity.
—-By-The-Way—- I took a lovely picture of my mediocre lunch today, applied an epic filter and posted to Facebook / Intagram for all my friends to see….. you may note a slightly facetious tone in my voice……….
Kind of lost the will to go on….
There’s enough covered here already, and if Adobe don’t want t listen, then realistically, my Lightroom/Photoshop CC subscription will be ending come renewal time.
Note 1: – BACKUP CONSIDERATIONS FOR NEW USERS
As a side note, lack of import destination folder preview also present huge implications for new users in terms of how such NEW and INEXPERIENCED users will handle their backups…… Since Lightroom only backs up the Lightroom Catalog database on exit (if set in preferences), how confused are new users going to be when they think Lr has been backing up their RAW images (or more likely terrible iphone jpgs they are converting to grainy monotone or other doggy filter effects) when in reality Lr has only backed up the catalog database? Given that the new import workflow gives even less indication as to final (raw / source image) destination within the users given storage environment, how are they supposed to configure their backup routines. – Lightroom continually wants to import to “Pictures” within the windows user account space….. I run on a PC with:
RAM: 16GB
SSD1: – OS / Applications
SSD2: – Lightroom Catolog & Preview cache
SSD3: – Camera raw / Photoshop cache / scratch and other temp dirs
Local HDD: – Current Working Raw Files
NAS (Raid 6): Archival network storage with redundant
NAS (Raid 6): Backup of above NAS
Now tell me the new simplified Import experience knows where to store my RAW images…. in C:\Users\James\Pictures ???? I THINK NOT
Very well stated James. And FWIW, the team are reading and listening. I won’t promise the old dialog will come back – I really doubt that – and I’d guess the rest of the program’s UI will be updated to match over time too, but in terms of missing functionality, I would hope we’ll see at least the most important functions return.
Hi Victoria, again, thanks for all your effort supporting light room users.
If I’m honest, I can’t imagine Adobe reverting the UI design, they obviously have a new design philosophy and I can imagine them changing that. The major issue surrounds the huge loss of critical functionality that so many rely on. There are may areas of lightroom with long standing bugs or performance issues that would surely have merited more dev time than this abomination!
As I stated above, I respect the fact that adobe obviously want to break in to a new market sector, but surely they can do so without destroying what is in my opinion, an essential piece if software which is unparalleled in its capabilies, power and flexibility. Adobe should consider giving new users Light room Elements, or offer solutions in the current Light room that do not destroy advances functionality, use of an import Wizard for example could have been an easy solution that would allow new users a gentle learning curve while teaching them the full capabilities if this excellent piece if software.
I am troubled with what the future may hold for Library and Develop modules.
Please adobe, let sense prevail
Hi James. No, I can’t see them going back either. But on the upside, if they’re rewriting the whole program to bring it right up to date, then a lot of those long standing issues will hopefully get mopped up at the same time. This could work out to be a really good thing.
I wish I saw this first… as did everyone else. I was referred to your site (which I need to check more often) via the Adobe LR Community, were I posted an issue:
“Since installing the LR 2015.2 update (Win10 x64), every export I have done has completed, then hangs. The application status is “Not Responding,” sometimes with a white screen, sometimes black. But, I have to kill the process. Also, I’m noticing it’s taking a very long time to render images, certainly much longer than previous releases. 120 images total, only 32% done after 18 minutes. It seems to take longer with each successive image.”
Well, no one at Adobe or any user responded with anything positive to say. They mistook “export” for “import,” which I don’t know if I have a problem with or not. I’m working on 1,200 pictures uploaded previously. Anyway, the problems I have seen are enough to get me to roll back. Thanks for the links.
One issue I’ve noticed that is not unique to 2015.2 is what I can describe as a “flashing” when I first try to drag the develop slider. The image flickers real bright, then goes back to normal. It’s real annoying. Other than that, it’s the lag time waiting for the sliders to be active, once I select a new image. That seemed to be improved a bit with 2015.1, but is back with 2015.2.
Thanks again,
Steve
Ah yes, the ‘staff’ on the official forums are not renowned for giving the best information. 🙁 Rolling back’s the right move at the moment. There is an update shortly that I hope will solve the problems you’re seeing. If it doesn’t, the best place to post them is the Official Feature Request/Bug Report Forum at http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family as the engineering team themselves follow that forum.
Adobe have replied… http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2015/10/update-on-lightroom-2015-2-lightroom-6-2-release.html
Oh damn. I found this article just AFTER installing the update. Hopefully I can still get my work done :/
I was just going to say, I HATE it when companies dumb down their professional products to appeal to casual users. GRRRRRR!
Maybe they no longer see this product as professional. Oh well. I was going to check out Capture ONE anyway. I see they take themselves seriously. We’ll see if this trend continues.
Capture One has its frustrations too, just in a different way. I’d suggest just holding fire at the moment and seeing what happens. Knee jerk reactions have a tendency to hurt us far more than they hurt big companies.
I just love my LR 5.7.
Victoria, as others have said, thank you for helping us customers channel our views hopefully in the right direction.
I have, as you suggested, posted my view to the Photoshop forum.
I have used Lightroom since version 2 and now teach both Lightroom and Photoshop. I NEVER thought I say the following, but if the old import box isn’t re-instated, I for one will be cancelling my CC subscription and looking for an alternative product set.
The destination tree in particular was essential to my workflow. Absolutely shocked.
All I can say at this point is don’t rush into a decision either way. The wheels at Adobe don’t turn particularly quickly, so any kind of response will take them some time.
Haven’t encountered any bugs yet (I’m on W7), but still considering a downgrade, just so I can import pictures again.
Can’t believe that they took that much out, and added a useless splash-screen that is just an extra unnecessary step for seasoned users, thank god that one was optional….
But I really need the folder tree, move and duplicates back, and the eject card was a nice bonus to have….
But on the upside, you now have a new follower Victoria 🙂
Ps. I have voiced my opinion over at the Lightroom Feedback.
Well it’s great to meet you Jörgen, even if it is under these circumstances.
Victoria, I’m somewhat new to your web site and blog, but I do need to ask if you have any inside track to the LR development team in Adobe. And, if you do, what pray tell are they saying about this disaster? Is the @#$% hitting the fan over there about this or are they just ignoring it as they do many other things. In other words, what’s your take on the likelihood of them fixing this and is your opinion based on any actual information from the 3 towers or just speculation?
Thanks — Dan
Great to meet you Dan. I can’t comment on what the team are saying internally, sorry. That’s all confidential. But yes, there will be an update to solve the stability problems. Whether changes are made to the import dialog, I don’t know, because that depends on customer feedback. They are listening.
Rule #1: don’t do anything with LR until you check Victoria’s Blog. It can save one a ton of grief.
The two main features of the upgrade in the Develop Module for me are: adjustable Dehaze and the Merge to HDR feature. Fortunately, both of these are in ACR 9.2.
LOL What a great rule!
Ah, why I didn’t read your article before the update?!
I was working on a batch of pics from my recent Photoshoot when I saw the A from Adobe telling me there was an update and of course I did it. As a result I now have an unusable LR that don’t responds to any short cuts and can use any of the radial or gradient filters. No F for full view for me, no L for lights out… When trying to use the filter you see it being recorded on the history but you can’t see the effect of the filter on the image itself. I can’t change from one module to the other and when I try to close the application I have to forced quit to do so because I get a message saying it is writing metadata to xmp, etc… Never happened to me anything like that. I am so frustrated and I was suppose to send the pics to my client last nite. BTW I was able to import the pics to the desktop but they came out without any order and some of them had a different number… Agrrrr!!!
Oh dear Ivan! Instructions to roll back at the top of the post. That said, most of those aren’t known issues, so it would help to get some extra information from you – particularly your operating system.
Thanks for the warning. Saved me in the nick of time from applying this update. I disagree that the import dialog needed fixing that several replies here stated It wasn’t all that confusing, at least no more so than anything else in LR. I teach LR and teaching the Import dialog is usually very straight forward and seems to be easily understood (much easier than, say, the concept of Virtual Copy). Anyway, many of the things they removed will cause me no end of problems and I hope they come to their senses and back off on this “Import for dummies” idea. I created a complaint (http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/very-annoyed-about-changes-in-import-dialog-for-lr-cc-2015-2?rfm=1) in which I suggest having an “Advanced” option which is the old version.
I drew up a demo import wizard for newbies, which would take them through the import step by step (and keep the current dialog for existing users) but sadly it was too late. I’d be surprised if they brought the old dialog back at this stage, but hopefully they will listen to requests for specific features to be reinstated.
This update is extremely unstable. Just quits for no apparent reason.So far with no loss of data, but…..Any news of a fix other than uninstall and back to the previous version?
An update should be available within the next couple of weeks, I’d guess, but in the meantime, the only solutions are those posted at the top of the post.
Yes HEBER VEGA: As per default, new version are always less stable at lounch ( I had few crashes too). But what frustrates me is all this unaware changes when you run app nex morning.
I just stared at Lightroom this morning when I had to quick import few photos from a customers SD, I had to edit and export back to him. And this huge new import image was there, not knowing what is all about I was puzzled: Customer asked me if something is wrong… maybe he was thinking I am not professional at all, that puzzlerd I was looking at first moment.
I never had not a single crash in Lr. All these years, and I trusted Adobe with updates from the first minute BUT this update is madness and now I had a hard time having my Lr without a single crash for more than 5 minutes. So frustrated! (I have a whole wedding to start editing down) but right about the time when I was getting really mad at Adobe for letting this happen I found your post! Thanks God.
The resetting + uncheck thing it’s working fine so far.
I don’t like that we are missing some pro option on the import but that’s not even important if they deliver an app that keeps crashing. So I really hope Adobe patch this soon enough.
For next update I will come check out your blog Victoria, that’s for sure 🙂
I love your books by the way.
Many thanks!!
You’re welcome Heber. I always try to get the blog post up ready for launch, so it’s worth checking out. Unlike the official Lightroom blog, I have the freedom to be honest when there are issues.
And that’s what I like about your books!
Thanks again.
I just wished I would read this before. New IMPORT is total fail in my eyes. Un intuitive contra-productive and slow. Before IMPORT was 2 clicks, now I must go throught selection of several choises. It is like a JumboJet to take off. All settings hidden, everything must be anbled to show, a giant picture in front of me, slow to load… And WHY a professional tool must become childish that a newbie will know how to use it? Newbie will never learn nothing if everything will be 1-2-3 procedure!
We in Slovenia have saying that COW MUST COME TO MANGHER, SINCE THE MANGER WILL NOT COME TO HER. What that means a newbie should take a course at LYNDA and learn tool, not that tool will become TOY so he don’t need to learn it. ONLY long using professionals should inspire new features and reccoment changes, not newbies without any knowledge!
I hate the fear that Adobe causes us every production morning while opening apps, waiting to see what “puzzle” will strike us today and what obstacles will be today on the list, because authors decided that we need “better” user experience.
Mihael, try turning off the Add Photos screen in Preferences and open the side panels in the main Import dialog. They’ll be remembered for future imports, so it should be much closer to your old import workflow. The Import presets are still there too, if you used them previously – they’re at the top of the Advanced panel now.
Dear Vistoria: I did it. But all of this is only to soothe bad consequences. It is as my kid falls, I hug him. It does not bring back previous clear and visible import dialog. It was easy to make choices. No I have either cumbersome 1-2-3 path or goingh straight to SD card. What when I have CF, SD and USB in my reader(s)?
As I hate new SLOW welcome sacreens. Before (In Premiere), it was quick. Now it loads stuff from internet. And I have option to disable it, but that goes straight into last opened project, which is not alwas ok. What I learned is to let welcome screen be enabled, and close it instantly when it shows than go to file>open dialog and open manually.
No one can claim, all this new features is faster, more visual, better, more intuitive. At best there is a chance we can work around or accept new obstacles to our production goals. But there are not faster or better overal.
yes… I can click it to top-left “path” to select another path to another source. But I HAVE to click it. How newbie will be more domerstic with this new way if he know less then we professionals do. We expect that somewhere we can do that or this, but newbie does not. Once there was Lightroom 1. And I was newbie… I learned how to use it.
I regret that side panels at least are not permanent. They could have arrow as all other panels in Lightroom to stick/hide.
Are they not staying open for you Mihael? You might need to reset the preferences if they’re not, as they should be staying open each time you open the dialog.
(And no arguments from me, I think people should learn to use software too, but that doesn’t seem to be the way the computing world is going.)
OK settings panels stick somehow now visible (before they were not).
But now I can see what pictures were already imported only if “select all” is selected or if mouse is placed over image. Before it was clear since imported pistures were darker. I could just make selection of clips and thick that. Now “select all” must be ticked, than I need to select range of images, than untick “select all” and re-tick selected range of photos. So almost all it can be done… but everything is few clicks more compared to what we had before. We have endless of time, so why we would not like few click more at every task?
Make sure you post that specific issue on the Official Feature Request/Bug Report Forum at http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family as Adobe won’t read it here.
PS: And this IMPORT feature is at least visible at once. I just hate to remember how much har we pulled out and forums crawled and bug reported and Adobe suport gone through, before realised that Premiere just gor “better” and the “selected clip dependancy” is new feature. I still hate that feature, despite I used to train my brain now to overcome it.
If Adobe want childish apps, they could make “elements” of PRO tools as separate apps and make money twice.
All updates link for pc:
http://prodesigntools.com/adobe-cc-2015-updates-links-windows.html
Forgot to mention this in the article.
Having a bit of a strange problem with the update, I’ve tried posting to the bug forum but I got no responses in over 12 hours.
I work in a nightclub, so I tend to let “Auto-Tone” do a lot of the work for me, since I have to process anywhere up to 400 images per night. After I updated to the new version, I’ve encountered a very very strange problem. When I import my images from my camera (D610), auto-tone turns the images to complete blackness by dragging the exposure slider all the way to the left. Where it gets weird is, no matter what I do (drag slider back up to the right..etc..) nothing gets my images back from that complete blackness. Weirder still, if I mouseover either of the two little triangles in the upper right corner of the histogram in the Develop module, the flat black turns to a flat blue.
I’ve tried everything I can think of, I’ve updated my display drivers, I’ve disabled GPU acceleration, I’ve re-enabled it, I’ve updated ACR, I’ve rolled back my display drivers, I’ve disabled all plugins, I’ve even gone as far as uninstalling and reinstalling Lightroom. Nothing works. It’s getting rather frustrating and I can’t find anything about similar problems on any of the recognised PS/LR forums.
Details: AMD A8 clocked at 4.3ghz, AMD R7-300 GPU, 16GB RAM (DDR3), Windows 10 Professional (never had any problems with this).
Ah, that explains one of the bugs I’ve been hearing about. Do you have the Auto checkbox checked in Prefs or applied via a preset?
Try hitting the Reset button and see if that does the trick. If it does, select them all in Grid view and hit the Reset button in the Quick Develop panel.
The flat blue is just the shadow clipping warning, showing it’s pure black.
Do you have a link to your bug report thread? I haven’t seen it, which means it’s probably not tagged as Lightroom. I’ll bump it.
I have the Auto box ticked in prefs, I can apply auto tone by selecting them all in quick develop, but I can’t get it working to do it upon import. I don’t mind having to do it manually in quick develop, but it’s not exactly efficient in terms of my usual workflow.
I’ll dig up the link to my bug post momentarily.
Thanks for the quick replies btw.
I actually just found a post on the bug forum that you yourself made. I’ll just work without auto tone on import for a while until they get a fix out. Cheers 🙂
Thank you, waiting for the new FAQ!!
Thank you Victoria. I do not like at all the new import panel.
It’s grown on me Ario, so it’ll probably grow on you too, as long as your workflow didn’t depend on any of the missing features.
I just did the update to LR and I’m running El Capitan.
DONT DO IT, i cant import any pictures into my LR. been working on this for hours. So mad at myself for updating…
Adobe tried for 3 hours to fix mine. Uninstalled and reinstalled old version through CC and back up and running
None of us expect an update to be a downgrade George. Follow the instructions at the top of the thread to roll back, or try the reset prefs/uncheck Add Photos trick first.
Not happy to see the disappearance of the “Do not import duplicates” tickbox, have needed to untick this at times.
There is a workaround Mark, at least for now. Start a clean catalog and import the duplicate photos, and then use Import from Another Catalog to pull the records into your main catalog. If they’re in a different location, it should work.
I wish I would have read that warning. Mine opens fine but then crashes. Deleting files makes it crash every time. Adobe has taken over my computer for the last 1.5 hours and no luck
Have you tried resetting the preferences and then unchecking the Add Photos screen checkbox Rob? That’s helping most Mac users, but if that doesn’t do the trick, the downgrade instructions are at the beginning of the post too.
Thank you for the update, without your email concerning the update I would have upgrade and be very dissapointed with all the options that they took out. Like many people I will wait before upgrading. Thank you
done!
It’s too bad that in an effort to make things more user-friendly for new LR users, advanced users are stripped of certain features.
I really liked the “Move” feature, and even wished it did “Move & convert to DNG”.
And WHY remove filename preview (when renaming)!?!?! This makes no sense at all!
Still waiting for the ability to export PNG files. Oh well….
I have to agree Jared. No question, Import did need a major overhaul to make it easier for newbies, but I’m not clear on why certain features didn’t make the cut either. I’ve never met anyone confused by the concept of ‘moving’ something!
Out of curiosity, are you no longer with the prerelease group? Given the last few “updates” to Lr and Ps, i’m a little worried about who they’re using for feedback these days…
Due to NDAs, I can’t comment on my involvement, but you can take a fair guess from the fact that this blog post was posted at the same time as the update was released.
” I’ve never met anyone confused by the concept of ‘moving’ something!” … true that, please spray-paint it on the walls of Adobe hq should you visit them. Unbelievable pre-release testers didn’t prevent this from happening. This change breaks my whole “rate before import” and “hdr/pano with external apps” workflow!..
… and it’s a bad omen for future further dumbing down of LR. If existing users cannot make Adobe re-add some removed features, we’re doomed 😮
Prerelease testers get to have their say, but Adobe makes their own decisions, whether the prerelease team agrees or not. That said, I’d be amazed if Adobe didn’t respond to the feedback they’ve received. Just don’t expect it to happen overnight as it’s like trying to get an ocean liner to change direction – nothing happens quickly.
*knock on wood* 🙂 and thanks for your reply!
The irritating part from Adobe’s reply to their enraged users about the UI change is that there’s “no going back” making all critics appear like dinosaurs clinging to outdated concepts like “learning” to use an app.
It’s a strategic decision – either dumb LR down, or branch it into two products (LR Pro and LR Easy), or – the most appealing option – add a way to hide “advanced” UI elements. I do hope Adobe doesn’t just see the short-term gain of new users but their whole CC audience :-\
It wasn’t the best worded reply. When they said they’re not going back, they meant they’re not going back to the old dialog as it was, but that doesn’t mean they won’t pull the requested features into the new one. This is their first foray into simplifying the app, and they’ve certainly made a few big mistakes, but it happens to the best of us. I’d hope they’ll find a good way to hide the advanced stuff. It’s going to be a tricky balancing act though.
Thanks for the heads up. As of yet there is no update available under CC for me, but i will heed your warning
Thanks for the overview – and the warning to be careful. So, sounds like more good things however. I do have a concern over one of the features being removed:
“Destination panel folders preview is gone, including the italic preview showing your chosen folder structure, the checkmarks to their right…”
I used that to verify that things were setup as I expected before pushing the button. There have been a few times when the destination directory was inexplicably changed (my fault, probably, program screw up maybe, I have no idea) I always check this to make sure things are correct. Is there some thing else that will queue if something is wrong? And by that I mean something more that the root directory name.
No there isn’t, and I’ve imported to the wrong place more times over the last month or two with this new dialog than in the previous few years. All I can suggest is you add your voice at the Official Feature Request/Bug Report Forum at http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family. The more people who complain about its removal, the better chance of it being reinstated.
Done!
Pile on here: http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/please-bring-back-the-destination-panels-folders-preview?rfm=1
🙂
Yes, I too have imported to the wrong folder but not a biggie because I keyword everything and I can move the import later if it was in the wrong folder. I’ve only used the new import dialog about three times and I actually like it. I could have sworn I saw a check box to turn on auto eject card after import (top left) but now I can’t find it, I agree with everyone, auto eject card a must have.
Yeah, the eject checkbox definitely isn’t in the new dialog, but I’d certainly hope it’ll come back soon. My OS keeps sending me angry little error messages every time I forget!
Hi Victoria,
In an effort to gain more users, Adobe tried to simplify the user experience. In the past Adobe has added new features to products but generally did not remove features. Certainly the Import experience needed to be updated but I agree with Jared that it is unfortunate that advanced users have lost functionality.
Completely agree Seth. The idea behind it is good, and I do like the new look – but it needed a little more time.
Thanks Victoria. It seems that in regards to the new Import Dialog, Adobe made it less user-friendly, at least for seasoned users who will miss some of the old import options. It also seems a bit annoying to have to click to reveal the import settings, making it all too easy (at least for newbies) to forget to click and simply hit the Import button. With the reported slowdowns due to the new Add Photos feature and other bugs, I’ll be holding off on updating until Adobe comes out with some fixes.
Thankfully it remembers that you had the side panels open, so you don’t have to remember to open it each time. But I share your concern that new users won’t have any idea where their photos are ending up.
And that is critical to new and long term users alike! As Lightroom does not backup your raw images, only the catalogue, it is imperative that each user is fully in control of there own workflow. To loose the import destination preview increase the chances that (especially new users) will import their raw images to locations / default locations without any consideration to their physical consideration to there location within the file system, particularly when using multiple internal / external / NAS storage locations.
To my mind, the workflow initiated by the new import menu is flawed from the start
Yes, I agree that it’s essential that new users understand exactly where their photos are going. I’m worried that a few months down the line, we’ll be talking to a lot of new users who have lost all of their photos.
Most programs that do something irreversible pop up a modal to double-check, e.g. Are you sure you want to delete this file?
This approach would work well in Lightroom import, displaying the options elected before final confirmation to proceed.
1. Importing from: [device/pathname/etc.]
2. Importing to: [pathname]
3. Using presets: [list of presets selected]
4. Other details, settings selected, etc.
Click OK or Cancel
Of course, it would have to be optional…!
JPL
On second thoughts, the modal should show just no. of images, source & destination – it is a sanity check, not a settings panel.
JPL
Yeah, that would help. Or just don’t hide the Destination panel in the first place.