You may or may not know that Adobe released some new updates this past week. They’ve updated just about every app they have, but I’m specially going to be covering the photography related questions for Lightroom and Photoshop here.
Q. What version of Photoshop should I install?
The easy answer is always the biggest number. But right now (Nov 2019), the version you want is listed as v21 in the Adobe updater.
Q. Why is the Photoshop icon now rounded instead of square?
My guess is that because “apps” on tablet or phone devices are rounded. So any Adobe desktop app, that also has a counterpart on the tablet and phone, also gets rounded. There’s no official word on this, but this answer sounded as good as any 😉
Q. What version of Lightroom Classic should I install?
Same with Photoshop. Choose the biggest number. Right now (Nov 2019) the version you want is listed as v9 (or 9.something) in the Adobe updater.
Q. What version of Lightroom CC should I install?
First, it’s not called Lightroom CC anymore. It’s just Lightroom (more on that in a minute). Next, I probably sound like a broken record right now. But it’s the same. Choose the biggest number. Right now (Nov 2019) the version you want is listed as v3 (or 3.something) in the Adobe updater.
Q. I have opened Photoshop and/or Lightroom but I don’t see the new features?
That’s because every fall (at Adobe Max), Adobe updates their version number (like most other software companies do once a year). When they do this, they actually release a whole new version of the application, rather than simply updating the existing version that’s already on your computer.
This means that you may still have Photoshop 2019 or Lightroom 8 on your computer and you’re opening that by accident.
This is especially true if you’re using app icons in your dock or some shortcut. Those shortcuts still point to the old versions, so you’ll need to go in and delete them and add the shortcut or dock items to the newer Photoshop 2020 / Lightroom Classic 9 versions.
Q. Is it safe to delete the old versions of Photoshop or Lightroom?
You may be wondering if you have to keep old versions or if it’s safe to keep old versions of Photoshop or Lightroom. Once you’ve updated and you’re satisfied everything is working well, you can remove the old versions. Just open your Adobe Creative Cloud updater (yes, they still call the updater Creative Cloud) and click the three dots (…) next to the older version and choose “Uninstall”.
Q. Why is Lightroom asking me to update my Catalog? Is it okay?
Adobe constantly tweaks and enhances the database that runs Lightroom to make it faster and perform better. At some point, a major “tweak” is needed which is why this upgrade happens. They usually keep it to once per year with the new version. And yes it’s safe. But, I always recommend to backup your catalog (or your whole computer for that matter) before updating anything.
Q. Will all of my presets and stuff transfer to the newer versions automatically?
Your presets and extra stuff you’ve added to Photoshop and Lightroom should move over automatically. As always, you should check this first. However, plug-ins aren’t always that easy. It’s up to the plug-in developer to make sure their stuff is compatible with the new version so if there’s a plug-in you use, check with them to see what to do to make it work with the newer versions of PS and LR.
Q. Are the latest Adobe updates compatible with Mac OS Catalina?
A. Please check out this link to see any compatibility issues (click here)? I personally haven’t updated to Catalina yet so I can’t speak to it.
Q. I noticed that Adobe dropped the CC after Photoshop and Lightroom?
Yes, it appears they did. I don’t have any official news on this other than my guess, which is that the term “cloud” is not fashionable anymore. Remember back in the early 2000’s when every software company had a “Suite”. Wall Street and consumers loved “suites” of products. It made them feel like they were getting a lot. Adobe even moved to CS (Creative Suite).
Well, eventually in the early 2010’s the word “cloud” was very fashionable. Everyone was talking about the cloud, including Wall St. So Adobe named their products Creative Cloud (CC).
Now the word “cloud” is no longer fashionable. It seems like AI is the “in” thing right now. But thankfully Adobe realized that Photoshop AI would be dumb, so it seems like they’re just pulling back and naming everything in a simple way now – just Photoshop and just Lightroom.
So you have Photoshop, Lightroom Classic (the same Lightroom that we’re all used to), and Lightroom (the newer cloud-based version). Again, this is my guess. I could totally be wrong, and according to my wife and kids I usually am.
Q. Is this move to call “Lightroom CC”, just “Lightroom” really a move by Adobe to force us in to the new cloud version of Lightroom, and stop all support and development for Lightroom classic?
All I can say is that I attend 5-6 online and in-person meetings with the Lightroom team each year. And the thing that usually precedes every meeting is a statement from the product managers that they are actively still working on Lightroom Classic and that Classic is still a very important part of their software development efforts. They make sure to tell us this each and every time.
I can’t predict the future but if I had to take a stab at it I’d say this. Right now, for most DSLR/Mirrorless based shooters that shooting many gigabytes (if not terabytes) of photos each year, Lightroom Classic is still the application for you.
You’ll notice that every non-internety-cloud-based feature that Adobe adds gets added to both LR Classic and Lightroom these days. The new Lightroom (cloud one) doesn’t get any new and fancy editing features that Classic doesn’t get as well. You do see better online integration happening though. If I had to guess why it would be because it was built in the modern day.
Remember, LR Classic first came out in Jan of 2006. Where were we back then?
- That’s 18 months before the first iPhone and well before the first tablet came out.
- Nobody even knew the word “cloud” then and the thought of backing up to the cloud wasn’t even something any of us imaged.
- Facebook had been out for 2 years, but only college students were using it. Most of us weren’t yet.
- Instagram wasn’t even out yet.
- Most of us didn’t have photo websites either.
- Sharing or viewing photos with a device other than a laptop or desktop, was essentially non-existent as a form of photography expression. Everything we did was either viewed by us on your computer or printed.
What I’m getting at is that when Lightroom came out, the world we live in today wasn’t even imagined yet. If I had to guess, Lightroom Classic just wasn’t prepared or built for the online-ness and connected nature of today’s world.
Could Adobe try to rig it to make it work. Of course, and I’m sure they did. You may not notice this, but Classic does work with your iPhone and Tablet. But like many of us see, sometimes there’s syncing issues. You know when I NEVER have a syncing issue? When I use the new Lightroom. Everything syncs perfectly.
So my guess is Adobe realized they needed a product for the future. Heck… So did every other software company. Name me one software app that was used back then, that hasn’t totally gone back to the drawing board and totally reinvented itself (if they have an online strategy that is).
That’s why I think we have the new version of Lightroom. Is it for everyone? No. Plenty of people are happy just being hard drive based and emailing themselves copies of their photos to their phone or tablet. And Adobe has shown ZERO signs that they’re shutting down classic. We got over 20 new features this past year and some great updates to performance, noise reaction, and the new texture slider.
So if I get back to my crystal ball, I would say this. In the next few years, not much will change. LR Classic users will still be Classic users. But… I think the non-Classic version of LR will get better. They’ll get the features of Classic that everyone loves in to it. Cloud storage will get cheaper. And we’ll have a clear migration path from LR Classic to Lightroom. And many of us that are holding out today will WANT to switch. We won’t have to and Adobe won’t make us. But we’ll want to.
Our photos will still be on our hard drives if we want to, just like always. We’ll be able to back them up just like today to 10 hard drives if we choose. But we’ll also be backed up in the cloud automatically and everything will be available everywhere, on the device we want it. Adobe won’t own our photos (remember, they’re your photos and you can put them on drives just like always). Just like Backblaze or Amazon or whatever cloud service you use doesn’t “own” your photos. You can always access them as long as you pay to keep your service active. If you no longer pay to use their service, guess what. You eventually won’t be able to access your stuff.
That’s my prediction. Like I said… I’m usually wrong, but who knows 🙂
Also, let me know if you have any more questions about the new update and I’ll do my best to get them in to this list.
Have a good one!
I love teaching and photography... In that order. I feel that enjoying photography, and photo editing can get WAY too complicated. So my personal mission (and favorite thing to do), is to create education that simplifies the process of taking great photos, and how to edit them to get the results you’ve always wanted.
Hi Matt,
After watching your video on the Adobe LR 2020 update (more than once), it seems as though the functionality of my LR which has been completely updated is not working as advertised. My adjustment brush has no effect on color change of any kind.
Any suggestions on the problem?
Thanks,
Marc
Hi Matt,
I or my studio editors have been using LR classic for over a decade.
I now shoot raw medium quality, it gives me roughly 35 MB CR image. I import, edit, then export 100 quality jpg, 300 DPI, no restrictions on length or width- No restrictions anywhere. Been doing this for years & years, depending on how we cropped, my jpgs were 10-15 MB. Now all of a sudden on two different computers my highest exports of JPGs are 5MB, some only 3MB. What the heck! Help please
Hi Terri. Unfortunately I don’t know how to troubleshoot that one.
Ever since the new update Photoshop is so slow I feel like I’m back in 1999. Also it keeps crashing more often. My system : iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5 Memory : 24 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Graphic card : AMD Radeon R9 M390 2 GB
Hi. I’d suggest contacting Adobe as there is no setting that would control that.
I stopped using Lightroom and Photoshop because of this. I also have iMac 27″ 5k Late 2015 machine.
Hi Matt, photoshop save does not appear back in lightroom. What am i doing wrong.?
Joe
Am I a able to use Topaz Studio 2 and ON1 as plug ins for the latest Photoshop 2020 and Lightroom Classic running on the latest version of Mac OS operating system. I haven’t upgraded yet as I want to use both of these programs as plug-ins.
Hi Meg. Yes, you should be able to. To be sure, maybe check with Topaz’s and ON1’s websites to make sure they have support. Best place to go is always the source and send ’em an email if you can’t find it on their site, just to be sure.
Should we be using Photoshop 2020 if we are using Lightroom Classic?
Yep. For certain things that can’t be done in LR.
I just got started in PS and learned how to make a border for images for my photo club competitions. I made them using the method: CTL A, right click, stroke, etc.
What happened to stroke in PS2020? With the latest update, when I right click after CTL A, no option. How do I simply put a quick border around an image?
Thanks for taking the time to respond. Very irritating. I finally got the process down, and they change it!!
Hi. I’m not sure how to troubleshoot that one. I just tried it and it works. Alternatively you can go through the menu Edit > Stroke.
This is either a question or a suggestion for Adobe. In LR, is there a way to have the “Folders” a different color than “Collections”?? Just a quick way to remember what catalog you are working in.
Hi Matt,
I uploaded all the new updates. I keep getting a message that says “Photoshop CC 2020 will not launch” when I try to export an image from LR Classic to edit into PS. If I click on the icon in the dock twice, the image from LR then seems to load up to PS 2020. Any ideas on how to fix this? Thanks Gail
Hi Matt, I really enjoy your stuff, thanks a million. I am recently using LR Classic on both my desktop and Mac book pro. Works well. I have only 2 licences so my poor husband, just starting photography, is using my old Mac with LR 7. It seems that our catalogs are not compatible. Is there something we can do so that I can export photos from my more recent LR version to his older one ?
Hi. Not really. There are settings in your version that wouldn’t be backward compatible. You could always sign out of one (laptop or desktop) and have him sign in and it would work that way.
Thanks Matt!
I was working with PS 2020 yesterday, but today it’s reverted to 2019 and some work I did yesterday isnt in my recent list. Any ideas?
Hi Glenn – There was an FAQ dedicated to a question similar to that.
Q. I have opened Photoshop and/or Lightroom but I don’t see the new features?
Hi Matt,
I have PS and LR (Both rounded corner versions) installed on my PC as well as my iPad. Shouldn’t I be able to access photos synced to the cloud from either version? If so, how is that enabled? Thanks!
Ralph
Just updated LR and PS to the new 2020 version. I launched LR and went to “Edit In’ on a photo, choosing Photoshop and nothing happened. Went to Preferences and saw the Edit in program was Photoshop 2019 which I removed during the update. I see no option to change the Photoshop program to the new one so I cannot move from LR to PS. I hope I’m missing something otherwise I have a big issue.
Hi Jeff,
Did you ever get an answer for this? I finally updated to Ps 2020. I made sure it worked properly, “edit in photoshop” from lightroom, plugins work, then deleted Ps 2019. Now I can’t “edit in photoshop” from lightroom anymore. Photoshop works fine on its own, as does Lightroom.
Very frustrated. I have a feeling it is something to do with deleting Ps 2019, as that is the only thing different.
I am hoping someone has the solution for this.
Thanks
Hi, I am also having the same issue. When I am in LR Classic, i am able to edit in PS CC 202. However, when I am in LR CC, it does not recognize my photo editor as PS CC 2020. It gets stuck trying to send the image to PS. When using LR cloud base…are we not able to export to PS CC 202? this is a big issue for me if it can’t be done. Matt, please let us know what to do about this issue. Thanks
When opening Creative Cloud and choosing to review the aps, and clicking on Lightroom Classic CC – I am told that I must upgrade the OS to Ver 12 or later. I now have 10.11.6 on the desktop Mac.
My Mac pro laptop has Ver 10.11.6 and there was no problem doing the upgrade. CONFUSING.
Hi Thomas. If you were indeed able to upgrade, then you’ll have done something I’ve never seen happen before I’d consider it a bug in the system – but I’ve never seen or heard it happen. Maybe re-check what OS and what version of LR you really have. If you do have 10.11, I don’t think you have LR 9.
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/system-requirements.html
In opening my Lightroom CC and providing my password I get this dialog box for a Lightroom Trial to try for 7 days. After the trial I can purchase Adobe Lightroom. I can check a box to “Join Now”., or two other buttons to “License This Software” or “Start Trial”.
It seems like Adobe has forgotten my Subscription payments of $10/month over the last 10 years.
On my laptop Mac pro, no problem – the catalog was updated and Lightroom Classic CC opens fine. Totally confused.
Hi Thomas. The Adobe subscription hasn’t been out close to 10 years so you must have been paying some one else 9.99 a month 😉
It’s common for you to have to re-login after a new install. Honestly, with security breaches these days, I’d welcome it to make me re-login often.
When I said 10 years I was in a panic. I started the Adobe subscription service when it was initiated. I have been a faithful user during those years and am concerned this latest problem will impact my photo business. Perhaps I can work around with the laptop now showing Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic CC 7.5 release Camera Raw 10.5
Hi. Can you log-in? It’s fairly common to have to re-login after an update.
I decided to upgrade the OS on the laptop but the install froze up before it completed. The Mac book pro is in the repair shop. Thanks for your comment and help.
Matt – going off-topic for a sec. Thanks for the nice calendar templates. You know what would also be useful? A template for a single-page 2020 calendar, with a twelve months shown on that page, along with a photo of my choice.
Did you watch the Video Dan. It shows you how to make something like that.
Hi Matt;
I’m thinking of ordering your Lightroom and Photoshop course bundle, will you be updating those with all the new features?
Is anyone using Canon Print Studio Pro successfully with PS after the upgrade to Catalina?
No – I have to use 2019. Have you found a fix?
As of now, according to Adobe, they have not update the Canon Pro for Catalina. They told me to keep going to their website and check to see if it shows the update in their download/sytem page.They are working on it. Hopefully soon
So I am not going crazy here. Mine doesn’t work either. It is not working in 2019 version anymore as well.
As of 1/29/20 Print Studio Pro is working just fine in Lightroom ruining under Catalina. However, it is NOT showing up in the menu in Photoshop.
Have any of you found a solution on the Studio Pro working with Photoshop 2020 on Mac Catalina? I have downloaded the latest drivers, not sure that that has anything to do with Studio Pro. Thanks in advance.
Again you have helped unravel my frustration. I loved watching the update video, but could not see the new stuff until I read this. It was my ” Oh, I get it” moment!
After updating Photoshop to ver 21 every time I open it I get the error message, which stops the loading of the program saying I have too many shapes? I can click OK and the program continues to load. What is the number of shapes allowable and how to do I remove some or all? Thanks for always sorting this sssstuff out for us. Took me a while to figure out Photoshop CC was done before I just installed Photoshop 2020.
I’m still a little confused on the Photoshop update and which version I should have on my desktop.
In addition to dropping the “CC” from the name, the logo changed from a hard square to a rounded corner square. The logo was a way to tell the “difference” between Lightroom Classic and Lightroom Cloud, so I figured that rounded corner Photoshop was Photoshop for the iPad.
Apparently, I’m wrong.
Where is Photoshop for the iPad in this product screen?
Hey Dianne – The version you should have on your desktop doesn’t revolve around the shape of the icon. Always go with the highest number.
Photoshop for the iPad is only available to download via the iPad (through the App Store). Apple (not Adobe) will not let you download apps outside of the App Store on your device. It’s just like Lightroom for the iPad. You don’t download it on your desktop in the Adobe Creative Cloud updater… you need to download it on the iPad in the Apple App Store. From there, you’ll sign in with your Adobe account which is how they know you are a subscriber. Hope that helps.
I tried many times to install LR classic on my Mc Book Pro. I did but I get a message to update my data. Never succeeded. Why?
Matt, thank you so much for this comprehensive and informative article! The latest updates in the CC software got me a little confused but your article came just in time to clear everything up.
Thanks again and please, continue writing these great posts!
All the best from Munich, Germany
Martin
I live on the edge with technology and always update everything every time right away. I have had no problems with LR or PS on a MacBook pro running Catalina. The latest update to Photoshop (second update since Catalina) seems to hang frequently when I’m in the layer style menu or trying to add a stroke. I work mostly in LR and have no issues with anything there.
Okay, thank you. However, I still have a problem with Photoshop 2020 on my PC. The bar, below the menus, with the three traffic lights and Adobe Photoshop 2020, that I can clearly see in your video, is missing. Why? How can i get it back? Hitting F dies not help…
Hi Jeremy – I saw your comment somewhere else on this. I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t see these colored icons appear in any videos I see done on Windows. I don’t have a windows computer to try it on, so I’m not even sure where you tell you to begin. Does the windows interface even show those icons? I always thought they were a Mac only thing.
I just re-read your question/comment Jeremy. You stated you don’t see the traffic lights, etc., that you “clearly see in” Matt’s video. That is because he is on a MAC and not making the videos from a windows based PC.