Adobe Lightroom Classic was released to customers on 14 May 2019. The headline new features in this update are ‘Flat-Field Correction’ and ‘Texture’.
Flat-field Correction
With this feature you can reduce shading, or lens cast, from your digital photos. Typically, shading can occur from a variety of different reasons and can result in both asymmetrical vignettes as well as colour casts introduced by certain lens characteristics.
Flat-Field Correction is available in the Library module. To apply the correction, select all your photos in a natural interleaved order and choose Lightroom > Library > Flat-Field Correction.
Lightroom Classic 8.3 – Flat-field Correction
Only Correct Color Cast
- Only corrects the color cast but not the light falloff. Deselecting this option corrects both, color cast and light falloff.
Only Convert RAW Files
- Ignores photos that are not camera raw files. Deselecting this option converts all selected photos, including JPEGs, TIFFs, and PSDs.
Delete Originals After Successful Conversion
- Deletes the original photo file after the conversion process ends. Deselecting this option preserves the original file on disk.
For detailed information, see Adobes explanation Flat-Field Correction.
Texture
With this new slider you can now smooth or accentuate details such as skin, bark, and hair. You can adjust the Texture slider negatively to smooth skin and retain fine pore details thus creating more natural-looking skin. When you move the Texture in a positive direction details such as bark or hair are accentuated without affecting less detailed areas of the photo such as out of focus areas. Adjusting the Texture slider does not change the colour or tonality in your photo.
Lightroom Classic 8.3 – Texture Slider
Texture can be applied to your photos either as a global adjustment or to specific parts of the photo using the local adjustment tools. To apply texture, select a photo and switch to the Develop module.
Texture applied as Local Adjustment
For additional information on the Texture control, view this article from Max Wendt, a Senior Computer Scientist on ACR and the lead engineer of the Texture project
Import photos from devices using the Files section
When you import photos from ‘storage’ devices, such as SD card and CF card, the photos are now selected from the Import grid’s ‘Files’ section by default. In previous versions, it used to be from the ‘Device’ section. This change is significant in that it uses much simplified code path within the OS/application. For smart phones and tablets the default remains as ‘Device’.
Support for new cameras and lenses
For a full list of supported cameras and lens profiles, see these resources: