Lightroom Classic 12.1 has been released today. As well as bug fixes and new camera / tethering / lens support, there are a number of enhancements to existing features.
The entire Lightroom cloud-based ecosystem has also been updated today too.
New bugs…
- Select All People is missing feature segments
- Delay after selecting Export
- 12.1 is otherwise looking really good, the most stable release in years!
- (Note there are still some Ventura-specific issues)
Masking Slider Updates
Sliders are now arranged in Groups. If you’re a fan of Solo Mode, which automatically closes a panel when you open another one, you’ll be pleased to know it works on these panels too.
To temporarily hide a masking slider panel’s adjustments, click and hold on its eye icon. The eye icons also come in handy if you have some of the panels closed, because the icon is highlighted if any sliders aren’t at 0.
The Reset Sliders Automatically checkbox has also moved to the top of the panel, rather than being hidden at the bottom.
When you sync settings across multiple photos or paste settings, it’s possible to end up with empty masks. For example, if you have a preset that includes an AI-based Sky mask, and you apply it to an indoor photo that has no sky, an empty mask is created in the Masks panel. Empty masks aren’t a problem, but they are a bit untidy.
Rather than finding and removing them individually, there are two new commands in the mask’s … menu in the Masks panel: Delete Empty Mask and Delete All Empty Masks.
Automatically Show/Hide Masks Panel
By default, the Masks panel hides itself when you’re editing a mask. If you’d like it to stay on screen, disable Auto Hide Masking Panel in the … menu at the bottom of Masks panel.
Native Canon Tethering
If you’re using an M1/M2 Mac, Canon tethering is now natively supported. This means you don’t have to relaunch to use Rosetta emulation. Nikon tethering still requires Rosetta at this time.
See notes below for two new Canon cameras that tether.
Other General additions / Improvements
- Following the change in 12.0 where the Done button was replaced in the Edit Toolstrip, this is now reflected throughout the Develop Module. This includes these tools: White Balance eyedropper, Targeted Adjustment tool, Guided Upright and Defringe eyedropper. When you’ve finished using one of these tool, you can still hit the Enter or Escape key, or return the tool to where you found it.
- Lightroom’s Secondary Display now uses GPU acceleration behind the scenes to improve performance.
- Lightroom Classic can now import catalogs from Photoshop Elements 2023.
Tethering
- Tethering support added for Canon EOS R7.
- Tethering support added for Canon EOS R10.
- Native tethering support for Canon on Apple Silicon Macs (you no longer use Rosetta to tether Canon cameras.)
- Click to view the full list of cameras supported for tethering.
New camera support:
- Apple
- Apple iPad (10th Generation) Wide camera
- Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (4th Generation) Wide camera
- Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation) Wide camera
- Pentax
- Pentax KF
- Sony
- Sony ILME-FX30
- Sony ILCE-7RM5
- Click to view the full list of supported cameras
New lens profiles:
- Apple
- Apple iPad (10th generation) front camera 1.65mm f/2.4
- Apple iPad (10th generation) back camera 3mm f/1.8
- Apple iPad Pro (11-inch) (4th generation) front camera 1.65mm f/2.4
- Apple iPad Pro (11-inch) (4th generation) back dual wide camera 1.27mm f/2.4
- Apple iPad Pro (11-inch) (4th generation) back camera 3mm f/1.8
- Apple iPad Pro (12.9-inch) (6th generation) front camera 1.65mm f/2.4
- Apple iPad Pro (12.9-inch) (6th generation) back dual wide camera 1.27mm f/2.4
- Apple iPad Pro (12.9-inch) (6th generation) back camera 3mm f/1.8
- Canon EF
- SIGMA CINE LENS FF High Speed Prime Line 65mm T1.5 FF 023
- Canon RF
- Canon RF 135mm F1.8 L IS USM
- Panasonic
- LUMIX DC-ZS80D (DC-TZ95D, DC-TZ96D)
- PENTAX K
- HD PENTAX-D FA 21mm F2.4 ED Limited DC WR
- HD PENTAX-D FA Macro 100mm F2.8ED AW
- Sony FE
- SIGMA CINE LENS FF High Speed Prime Line 65mm T1.5 FF 023
- Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II
- Click here for the full list of available Adobe Lens Profiles
Bug fixes:
There are a number of bug fixes, but Adobe only publishes the ones that were reported by users:
- Cannot import Nikon D850 files if running Ventura.
- Backup Catalog to Network Drive not working.
- Smart-collection criterion “Rating is greater than <no stars>” matches photos with no stars.
- Add to Stack isn’t sticky in Export dialog.
- Errors in Help > Module Shortcuts.
- Preview stops generating when video is in the selection – CPU consumption remains high after cancelling.
- SDK: “bitDepth” not available via photo:getRawMetadata ().
- Lag while adding images to Quick Collection using the Shortcut ‘B’ key.
- Errors in keyboard shortcuts shown in Help.
- Duplicate assignment of Shift Z to New Depth Range Mask and Loupe – Live.
- Heal tool deselects the currently active Pin on Brush resize.
If you find a bug, click here to learn how to report it to Adobe.
How do I update?
To update, go to Help menu > Updates or click the Update button in the CC app. The update servers take a while to push the updates around the world. This is deliberate to avoid overloading the servers. You can also open the Creative Cloud app, click the … icon (top right) and select Check for Updates to give it a nudge.
Is the book updated?
Is the book updated?The eBooks for Adobe Lightroom Classic – The Missing FAQ are already updated for these changes, and can be downloaded immediately after purchasing. If you already have a current Lightroom Classic Premium Membership, the updated eBooks are available for download in your Members Area.
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My Nikon D7100 used to work in live view in Lightroom Classic but after the recent update it doesn’t work anymore. What is the problem?
Live view as in tethered capture? If so, I’m guessing you’re on a Mac and recently upgraded to Ventura. There’s a known issue tethering on Ventura, Nikon’s SDK needed updating.
Since “upgrading” to Lightroom 12.1, several issues have arisen. I’m using Mac mini M1 / 16 GB.
1) Every time I open up Lr after it’s been closed for a while, it crashes and gives me pops up a dialog. Closing the dialog and reopening “fixes” the issue temporarily. Annoying but not life shattering.
2) After updating, I went to do an export of about 70 images and was shocked to see over 1,200 files in the queue. Upon looking at my Folders section of Lightroom, I noticed that the highlight was now on the top level of my folder structure, which I had previously “hid this parent”. It seems that it somehow selected the top most folder (which should have been hidden) started the export of the entire catalog. After trying to hide the parent folder a number of times, it still doesn’t work, so I have to be diligent in making sure I select the right folder. This happens on my MacBook Air as well.
I don’t know how or why these kinds of bugs creep in but surely I can’t be the only one?
I’m not hearing other reports like that, so it may be specific to your catalog. If you want to post on the forum (link in the menubar) we can help you troubleshoot.
I just updated to the LR Classic 12.1. I’m on a Mac with OS Monterey 12.6.1. Now when I click Export, there’s a long lag before the photo even starts to be exported. I saw this reported on Adobe’s site by several users, also Windows. I haven’t seen a solution just the advice to sit and wait for Adobe to update. Is that true? 🙁
Ah yes, I can see there’s an active bug on there, follow this thread for updates: https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-delay-after-selecting-export/idi-p/13287743
Since upgrading to LR Classic 12.1, prints do not match what I see on the screen. Prints are super-saturated and far too bright. Have updated my printer profile to the latest version and calibrated my monitor. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Yes, I noticed THAT, too, along with the other formatting issues I’m having. I think Adobe has some serious bugs, and I’m surprised more aren’t running into them, but perhaps not many are printing due to the holidays and all.
Hello, seeing similar issues. Printing using ColorSync to Epson P800 looks horrible, so much so that I recalibrated my monitor, but prints still looks awful. Using Ventura 13.1 with latest LR Classic as well. UGH!
I don’t know whether this might be worth a try? https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/color-sync-choice-greyed-out-in-ventura/m-p/13347735
Also make sure you have the latest drivers. Unlike the crash bug above, I’m not seeing a lot of reports of color differences.
Have you tried printing? I have MAJOR issues. The Adobe forum is reporting them as well.
Here’s what I wrote there:
Had a client purchase a set of boxed cards and went to print them, using my usual template I’ve used for years. It printed entirely off center and nothing like I’ve had before. I’m using my iMac, Ventura 13.1, Lightroom Classic, 12.1 Release, with both the Epson P900 and P800, resulting in the same printing problem on both. So I went to the LR Print Module, Page Set up thinking I’d have to redo that for some unknown reason … and CRASH. Tried opening again … CRASH. AND AGAIN …
I’m totally flummoxed and unable to complete the client’s order. I don’t know what to do, other than turn away a client, and give up entirely, but that is clearly not a solution since it’ll continue to occur. I have a show coming up in January and I don’t know what I’m going to do about that.
Is Adobe still reading these? Where is the problem? Adobe? Apple? Epson? Please help.
Prior to attempting to get into the Print Module I was just using my usual user template and going to print the work. The printer printed but the presets I had were clearly not followed and I had a fully useless print.
I’m seeing the same thing as well… checking online a number of other people have the same issue. So far I’ve not seen any workaround that resolves this. I’m quite surprised as well that this key feature/function is not operational.
BTW, I have similar setup (with an Epson P800 and Ventura 13.1), and completely removed the printer from MacOS, but same issue/crash occurs.
Oh that does sound frustrating! It sounds like it’s specific to Ventura, but whether it’ll be down to Apple or Adobe to fix, it’s not yet clear. I’ll go and add it to our Ventura warning post.
For anyone who wants to follow the story, here’s the bug report on the Adobe forums: https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-print-module-page-set-up-crashes-lightroom-classic-v-12-0-1/idi-p/13326937
There’s some good troubleshooting to try in the comments there too. TheDigitalDog’s explanation of how to do a completely clean install seems to work for some Epson users.
In the meantime, printing from Photoshop may be a workaround to keep you in business.
I did as suggested: deleted the printers and added them back. Uninstalled LR and reinstalled it. It still isn’t working for me. I’m just so very frustrated. I do hope they can figure this thing out. I have over 30 boxed card collections (8 different images per box), and each collection can be done in three sizes. But here I sit, stuck!
R7 Tethering still doesn’t work
R7 tethering is new for this release. What kind of problem are you having? Are you getting an error message or what’s happening for you? On which operating system?
Nikon tether still doesn’t work on macOS Ventura. Incredible!
Adobe has to wait for Nikon to update their SDK before they can work on integrating it into Lightroom. I don’t know whether Nikon’s caught up yet.
I’m a fan of Solo Mode in the Develop Panel, but it’s not happening for me within the new Masking panels in 12.1, do I need to enable it somewhere?
It may be just my configuration, but I have found this latest update to very laggy when it comes to masks, selections, etc. It was running acceptably fast before this latest update, now it’s bordering on painful. My PC (a Dell, just a couple of years old w/ 16 GB of RAM & plenty of free disk space) doesn’t seem to be able to handle this version. Ugh.
Can I get you to try something? Simply uninstall then reinstall? If that doesn’t do the trick, more detail on your system spec and also your GPU setting in Preferences would help. I’ll look out for similar reports.
Thanks for the suggestion. I did an uninstall/reinstall and there was no appreciable improvement. However, disabling the Nvidia GeForce graphics coprocessor did (counterintuitively) improve the performance, even in the masking-screen-update area.
That’s often the case if the graphics card is a bit too low a spec. Do you know the spec of your card?
I can confirm the same for my configuration. 4 years old Dell Lattitude 5591, 16 GB RAM, DirectX: NVIDIA GeForce MX130 (31.0.15.1654), Windows 11 with all latest updates. LRC GPU mode – Auto. After update to LRC 12.1, Develop module operations became extremely slow. Task Manager shows 60-70% load on GPU for few seconds after any edit in Develop module. Disabling GPU speeds up the work significantly.
Graphics Processor Info:
DirectX: NVIDIA GeForce MX130 (31.0.15.1654)
Init State: GPU for Image Processing supported by default with custom export support
User Preference: Auto
Can you try setting GPU to Off in Preferences please? And let us know if this makes a difference?
Hi, as I wrote, Disabling GPU (setting to Off in Preferences>Performance) speeds up the work significantly.
Thanks Romualdas, we’re looking for similarities to figure out why it was working on for you before but not now.
It looks like there was a driver upgrade for your graphics card on 6 December, it would be interesting to know if that helps at all.
We’ve only heard a few reports and are trying to find similarities. It’s possible there’s a regression that’s specific to certain graphics cards and drivers.
Derek, what’s your graphics card and driver version?
Sounds like some useful fine tuning. As usual I’ll wait a week or two to avoid the desperate trip to the forums because something broke. 🙂
I’ve verified that backups of all the lrcat files (Release 12.1 & 11.5) can be successfully backed up to a NAS using Carbon Copy Cloner.
Thanks for checking it Matt!
With this update, I can no longer use the Select People feature because my 2018 6-core I7 Mac Mini has less than 2GB of VRAM on the GPU (1,536 MB), with no capability to update this. This is a big increase in requirement from the earlier version, and will probably affect quite a few people. A Mac Studio would be nice, but £££££.
Let me check into that for you. It was working for you in 12.0 but you’re getting an error message in 12.1, or what’s happening?
The same with me: 2018 6-core I7 Mac Mini. But what means ‘less than 2GB of VRAM on the GPU (1,536 MB)’? The specs are:
– macOS Monterey Version 12.6.1
– Memory: 16 GB 2667 MHz DDR4
– Video: Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB
Unexpected crash on using Select People mask
Adobe suggests:
Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw have a minimum system requirement of 2GB VRAM. To minimise the chances of a crash, it is recommended to upgrade your device configuration to have more than 2GB VRAM.
But is this possible on my Mini?
I think an external GPU would be the only upgrade possibility but I’m waiting for the US to wake up to get more details on this.
Bad news I’m afraid guys. 2GB of VRAM is listed as the minimum system requirement, and while many things in Lightroom still work with less, Select People is one that won’t. It’s been causing crashes on machines with less than 2GB, so it’ll be blocked with a warning message in future.
Colin & Antoon, you might want to go vote on this feature request: https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-ideas/p-ai-masking-should-obey-preferences-gt-performance-gt-use-graphics-processor/idi-p/12480845
It’s basically a feature request to be able to override the block on Select People on machines with less than 2GB of VRAM (even though doing so might cause crashes). If Adobe gets enough votes, there’s a possibility they might consider it, although it’s a bit of a slippery slope for them to purposely allow known crashes.
You wrote, “New bugs…
Will be added as they are confirmed”.
Goodness! I thought the purpose was to rid the programs of bugs, not add them in once they were confirmed as bugs!~ (I hear laughter is the best medicine).
LOL Sadly bugs are inevitable with the faster pace of development. Fix one and break something else in the process!