December | 2022 | Computer Darkroom

The latest updates to Camera Raw (15.1), Lightroom Classic (12.1) and Lightroom Desktop (6.1) have been released to customers. These updates include new camera and lens support along with bug fixes. There are also new features in Lightroom Classic and Desktop.

Masking Enhancements [Lightroom Classic]

The Masks Adjustment Panel has been divided into sub-sections of Tone, Color, Presence and Details. Each of the sub-sections can be expanded or collapsed individually using an exposure triangle. Additionally, holding down the eye icon will temporarily hide settings for the Local Adjustment Section. It also disable the sliders for that section to provide better visual indication to the user.

Enhanced Mask Adjustments

A Solo Mode and Expand/Collapse All to Local Adjustment sub-panels has also be added to the Masks Adjustments Panel.

Local Adjustment sub-panels controls

A new preference to enable/disable Auto Hiding of Masking Window. This preference can be toggled through the tri-dot menu at the bottom of Masking Panel. This is a welcome enhancement as it will give users the ability to disable the annoying behaviour whereby the Masking Panel would appear/disappear when any of the adjustment sliders is moved.

Toggle Auto Hide Masking Panel

Two new commands ‘Delete Empty <Mask Name>’ and ‘Delete All Empty Masks’ have been added to assist with cleaning up Masks which contain components for which no results were found. (e.g.: Sky Mask on an image with No sky which got created either through Presets or any Batch operation.

Another welcome addition is the new item ‘Update AI Masks’ command, which gets enabled when AI masks needs updating because either it is missing, or a new Spot has been added or Image has been rotated. It can be used to update all the AI Masks.

‘Update AI Masks’ & ‘Delete Empty Masks’

‘Done’ Buttons [Lightroom Classic]

When Lightroom Classic 12 was first launched many users were upset with the removal of the ‘Done’ button for the ‘Crop’ tool from toolbar below image content area. They even created a thread on the Lightroom Classic Community Forum requesting that it be returned. Was any heed paid to this popular request? Nope! Instead, the ‘Done’ button has been removed from remaining tools in Develop module, namely ‘White Balance’, ‘Target Adjustment’, ‘Guided Transform’ and ‘Defringe’. FWIW, I suspect any that still remain will also eventually disappear.

GPU Support for Secondary Image Editing Pipeline [Lightroom Classic]

Great title and looks like a really super feature. So, what is it?

It’s about extending th ‘ GPU’ supporting ‘Image Processing’. to apply ‘Dehaze’ and ‘Clarity’ adjustments while generating previews, thus the Library previews should now be reflecting any Dehaze or Clarity edits that have been applied to the images(s)

How do I use it?

It depends on the ‘GPU for image processing’ preference; and (ii) it can be toggled specifically, using the checkbox that only becomes visible when the user presses on the Alt/Option key in the Performance tab of Lightroom Classic Preferences. However, if the GPU preference must indicate: ‘Limited graphics acceleration is enabled’ or ‘Your system automatically supports full acceleration’ before the extended GPU support can function.

Photoshop Elements 2023 Support [Lightroom Classic]

Import from Photoshop Elements 2023 catalog into Lightroom Classic is now supported

Tethered Capture for Canon [Lightroom Classic]

Native support for Tethered Capture with Canon cameras on Macs with Apple Silicon no longer requires a restart in Rosetta emulation mode.

Color Calibration Panel [Lightroom Desktop]

The Color Calibration panel available in both Camera Raw and Lightroom Classic is now also available in Lightroom Desktop. However, as is often the case with Desktop, the panel has a new home (i.e. the ‘Color’ panel).

Color – Calibration Panel

Export Presets Groups [Lightroom Desktop]

The use of presets is a very common workflow in Lightroom Desktop and many users even create their own. Until now exporting these as a group has not be possible.

Other new features in Lightroom Desktop are:

Search in People View
Use names from People View for labels in People Masks
Compare View Drag and Drop from Filmstrip to Canvas
“Fit’ View now available in Zoom dropdown
Clicking on the likes count of an edit or remix posted by you will show the users who liked the edit/remix
When importing via drag/drop into an album, if the image is a duplicate of one already imported, Lightroom will add the one already in your catalog to the album (and still not import the duplicate).
New menu options for cleaning up the mask list (updating/recomputing masks and deleting empty masks)
Click sync status in the info panel to prompt LR to retry syncing. Useful for images that are stuck

Premium Presets [Camera Raw, Lightroom Classic and Desktop]

Adobe has added a new batch of Premium Presets called ‘Seasons’. There are a total of 45 presets spread across the four seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Like all presets they are an acquired taste.

New Camera Support

Details of new camera support added since the last release can be found here

New Lens Correction Support

Details of new lens support added since the last release can be found here

Disclosure: As an Adobe Community Expert I receive a free subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud.

Anyone who visits Adobe’s Lightroom Classic Community Forum will be familiar with the frequent questions and ideas regarding keyboard shortcuts (KBSC). Typically, the questions are fairly easily answered by referring users to the list of the most common built-in keyboard shortcuts for each module, which can be found under the Help menu. For example, the screenshot shown below is the built-in list associated with Library module.

Unfortunately, the built-in lists are not the full list of KBSC, and this can often be frustrating, especially if you’re looking for or forgotten a KBSC not included in the built-in list. Adobe do provide a more extensive list as part of the Lightroom Classic on-line User Guide. However, these are not always kept up to date by Adobe, which can be just as frustrating as them not being immediately accessible from within the application itself. The good news is that third party alternatives do exist and better still, they’re are kept up to date. For example, Victoria Bampton (AKA The Lightroom Queen) publishes what is probably the most comprehensive list of KBSC anywhere. These can be obtained from a dedicated page on Victoria’s website – Lightroom Queen Keyboard Shortcuts.

Another irritation often expressed by users is the inability to modify the KBSC to reflect their priorities rather than what Adobe have programmed into the application. Is this You?

Well, after many years of users asking Adobe to provide such a feature, a third party has stepped in and delivered what Adobe have failed to do. This third party being John R. Ellis, a name familiar to Lightroom Classic users who frequent Adobe’s Community Forum for Lightroom Classic. John has developed Plugin that provides users with a means of remapping existing or adding new KBSC in Lightroom Classic. John’s ‘Any Shortcut’ plugin is compatible with the 16 languages supported by Lightroom Classic, which means that shortcuts not available on localised keyboards can easily remapped to a more suitable alternative. The plugin is also compatible with Mac and Windows and is available here. Note that there is a small charge for the plugin ($9.95), but for this you get unlimited upgrades. John also provides comprehensive guidance on how to install and use the features included with the plugin.