As with most point release updates, Adobe’s goal for this release is to provide additional camera raw support, lens profile support and address bugs that were introduced in previous releases of Lightroom. There are also a few new features for CC subscribers.
New Feature – Reference View
This is a new view mode in the Develop Module that provides a dedicated 2-Up view that lets you place a Reference (static) photo next to an Active (editable) photo. This is helpful when making a group of images from a single event look similar. Other examples where you might use this feature are:
- To match the look of a photo for preset creation.
- To adjust for white balance consistency in photos.
- To fine-tune a camera matching profile to the appearance of a camera generated JPG file.
Reference view
There are a number of approaches to accessing the this tool, but below is probably the simplest.
- In Library module, drag photos you want to edit to a collection
- Go to the Develop Module
- Click on Reference View button
Its on the Toolbar, and you may need to show the Toolbar if hidden (i.e. tap the T key)
- Drag your Reference Photo onto the left pane. You can change your Reference Photo by either dragging a different image onto the left pane or using the ‘Set as Reference Photo’ context menu in the Library Module.
- Edit the active photo. Use the Reference Photo to guide your editing decisions.
In addition to the horizontal 2-up view it’s also possible to display the reference and active photos as vertical 2-up. It would have been useful to also include split views. May be next time.
Reference view – vertical
In general, the tool is most useful when used to visually match photos to a reference photo. It’s also possible to adjust by the RGB values associated with pixels directly under the cursor. However, the RGB values themselves are displayed under the Histogram, which means you are constantly having to switch your view from the photo to the histogram. Personally, I find this rather tiring on the eyes, and would prefer that the RGB values are displayed at the cursor position rather than the histogram.
While above describes a work flow where the reference photos and all of the other images are from the same event it is possible to set any photo in your catalog as the reference photo.
Note that by default, Lightroom will clear the current reference photo when you switch away from the Develop module. To lock the current reference photo to the Reference window, click the Reference Photo lock icon 
in the toolbar before switching away from the Develop module.
Other new features include:
- You can now filter or create a Smart Collection for images that have Snapshots associated with them.
- You can now export a Collection Set as a new catalog.
Other performance improvements include:
- With Lightroom CC (2015.8) / 6.8 there are a number of activity prioritisation changes designed to improve the responsiveness of your Lightroom experience. As a result, you should notice improvements in photo editing responsiveness when background tasks (such as Preview Generation) are running, moving files between folders, running catalog backups, etc.
- You can now zoom to fit and zoom to fill. Particularly when using ultra high-resolution (i.e. 4K and 5K) monitors, prior versions of Lightroom would not completely fill the Loupe window.
New Camera and Lens Support in Lightroom CC (2015.8) / 6.8
- Canon EOS M5
- Fujifilm X-A3
- Google Pixel
- Google Pixel XL
- Hasselblad X1D
- Leica TL
- Nikon D5600
- Olympus E-M1 Mark II (*)
- Olympus PEN E-PL8
- Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ2500 (DMC-FZ2000 and DMC-FZH1)
- Pentax K-70
- Samsung Galaxy S7
- Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
- Sony Alpha a6500 (ILCE-6500)
- Sony Alpha a99 II (ILCA-99M2)
- Sony DSC-RX100 Mark V
* denotes preliminary support
Additional lens profiles have been included for: Apple, Canon, Google, Go Pro, Leica, Nikon, Ricoh, Samsung and Sigma cameras and smart phones.
New Tethered Shooting Support in Lightroom CC (2015.8) / 6.8
Installation Instructions
Select Help > Updates to use the update mechanism in the Creative Cloud app.
Disclosure: As an Adobe Community Professional I receive a free subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud.
