This week Adobe released their big yearly updates to Lightroom and Photoshop. It’s always generates a lot of questions, so I thought I’d write a Q&A post to help answer some of the most common ones. If you read this and it doesn’t answer your question, feel free to post it in the comments below. Just know that if your question involves anything to do with computer specs or error messages I probably won’t be able to help. Okay… let’s get to it!
Q. Where is the ”Done” button in Lightroom Classic?
A. It’s gone. However, I can tell you that as a teacher for nearly 20 years in Lightroom, it caused more harm and confusion, than good. Many people didn’t understand why it was there, and what the difference was between “Close” (in the panel itself) and “Done”. Put simply it was redundant, and it was MUCH further away to click than the actual panel you were using at the time. So… now they have added a new icon in the top left (see below) of the tools which will always take you out of the tool and return you to edit mode, which is exactly what “Done” used to do. It’s closer to the tools you’re using so now you don’t have move your cursor away from the tool panel you were in, to below the photo to click Done. Also, the ”Close” option is still at the very bottom of every panel, just like it used to be, so you have 2 ways to be ”Done” with a tool. Trust me… this is a good change. It’s easier, faster, less moving around the interface – and you’ll be used to it in a day or two ?
Q. When I make a mask, there is a red overlay over the person’s face and it won’t go away.
A. This is the way masks have worked for the last year (since the October 2021 update). You will always see a red overlay on the mask until you adjust a setting for that mask. Then it will automatically go away.
Q. Is there a way to transfer Masks made for people or other things from Lightroom to Photoshop.
A. No. There is no way to do this and there is no workaround to make it happen. Photoshop has select subject, sky, and other selection tools so if you want a mask in Photoshop you’ll have to create it there.
Q. Are you updating any of your courses with the new updates?
A. Yep… My Photoshop and Lightroom System will both be updated (for FREE for ANYONE that already owns them, even if you purchased 6 years ago) in the next few days. However, keep in mind that the new features in Photoshop are very small and are probably not features I would have added to the Photoshop System to begin with. So the update to that course will be very small and nothing about the course will actually change. And the Lightroom features, while impactful, are simple. There are only 3 new features when you think about it. And if you watched my video on the updates, you probably already know how to use them. At some point I will also update my “LR Masking Deep Dive” course but that is not in the immediate future.
Q. What’s the deal with the Curves adjustment being part of the Masking Panel in Camera Raw and not Lightroom?
A. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, check out my Photoshop update video here at the 13:10 timecode. When you add a mask in Camera Raw, you also have the ability to use Curves adjustments on those masks (not just globally). A lot of people have been asking for this for years. While Camera Raw and Lightroom typically stay on par with each other, this is not the case with this feature and I don’t have information on why, how or when this would change.
Q. I’m having trouble updating Adobe products?
A. Please watch my video here. I don’t have any other input or technical advice other than pointing you to this video, or contacting Adobe if this video doesn’t help.
Q. I’m really upset because the latest versions won’t work on my computer / operating system. What can I do and can you help me?
A. I understand your frustration. This has happened every year when updates for any program on any computer come out. It’s not just Adobe. Microsoft does it. Luminar does it. On1 does it. Capture 1 does it… and you can name any app from any software company in the world, and they do the same thing. Adobe is just the biggest so you hear it more. While I do know this can be frustrating, hopefully you can understand that I have zero control over this, and I have zero ability to help. Best I can suggest is to complain to the company. If enough people complain and they lose enough business (which doesn’t seem to be the case since they all do this every year), then maybe they’ll change something.
Q. I’m getting an errors when I use the new portrait masking features in Lightroom or Photoshop?
A. In this video (click here) I mention some settings with graphics cards. Maybe give that a try and change your settings to see if it helps. If it doesn’t then do some research to see if your graphics card needs updating. I’m hearing more and more reports from people that had quirky behavior and updated their graphics card drivers, or changed their settings and everything worked great. I’m not able to help you do that but a little Google searching should get you there. Finally, if all of that fails, then you’ll have to contact Adobe tech support.
Q. I don’t see the new features in Camera Raw or Photoshop?
A. It’s possible you updated to the newest version of last year’s Photoshop – or – you haven’t updated Camera Raw to version 15 (which is a separate update than Photoshop). Watch my video here on the versioning to make sure you’re really using the latest version of Photoshop.
Wrapping Up
As I mentioned earlier, feel free to leave your questions and if it’s something I hear a lot of I’ll update this list. Also, if you read this and it doesn’t answer your question, feel free to post it in the comments below. Just know that if your question involves anything to do with computer specs, or error messages I probably won’t be able to help and my answer will most likely be “Contact Adobe”.
Thanks and enjoy!
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.
I am having problems importing photos after the new update. I used to be able to create a folder and import it directly into my folder tree and know were all my photos were. Now it seems to want to dump into one folder and then I have to move them were I want them to be.
Hi David. Nothing has changed in the Import area. It’s possible that maybe you had settings hidden or not hidden that may show up now. But the Import is the same today as it was 10 years ago, so I’d poke around a bit. There’s definitely a setting you’re missing and if you start clicking around areas that may have settings, but not fully showing I think you’ll find it. Thanks!
HI,
I intermittently find that my color overlay is not automatically checked off in LrC. Once I check it, the color overlay does not automatically shut off once I adjust it. I have gone through every adjustment and reset of presets I can think of (one time when this happened, I had mistakenly created a preset). It was working a little while ago (as in 20 minutes ago), so I am afraid I hit something by mistake and am not recognizing my error. In the past I corrected it by hitting reset preset to default settings, but it is not working this time. Any thoughts?
I wondered if your System courses for Lightroom and Photoshop have been updated for recent changes?
Excellent blog. You have hit the nail on the head on several issues and benefitsI I have observed with the new update of photoshop and ACR.
Swapping Lightroom Classic Panels is something I have asked for over the years. As a left handed user this makes editing much easier since you don’t have to go to the opposite side of the screen. Photoshop has had this for as long as I can remember.
I have an earlier version of your Lightroom course which has been fantastic. When you update one of your courses, how would I access the update?
One thing worth mentioning is that if you’re working on an old image and don’t update it to the current “process” version (in the Calibration panel), some new features will be grayed out.
I would like to receive a simple process for importing my photographs into Lightroom. I don’t use a card anymore so all my pictures are located all over my computer.
What would you suggest?
Thank you… eqsylvester1@gmail.com
630-697-4345
Hi. That is too much to write in a comment but it’s covered in my Lightroom system course if you have that. https://mattk.com/lightroomsystem
Thanks.
It is possible to share any mask between lightroom classic and photoshop by using presets. Develop mask presets are shared between lightroom classic and camera raw. Make a mask preset and it will be available in both programs
Nope.
I purchasd Light room Classic Virtual Summit 2021(VIP member). Is this available for update that you mentioned above?
I own and love your LR and PS courses. May I ask how you keep your presets organized. I’m searching and finding develop presets in several different places (including different harddrives) on my Windows computer.
Hi,
I seem to be having problems in Lightroom when I try to use the AI masks on a merged photo. This seems to happen with both the Merge to HDR and Panorama merge.
Could you check this? It might be my hardware.
I bought your first set of AI preset for subjects and sky when they first came out. I love them. When I saw that you now have a new set of presets for people I got them also. My question is can I use them on my Desktop and Laptop? Are there use restrictions?
Hi Matt,
I own the exact same computer as you have, same specs and all. Yesterday I installed the latest Adobe Lightroom update, and now my masks are not working as you have demonstrated in your tutorials. Now, when I attempt to mask the background, an object, or a subject, a window pops up and says “Something went wrong” and below that is says “There was an unexpected error and your request could not be completed”. Do you have any idea what might be going on? I also watched your tutorial on speeding up Lightroom and turned my graphics card to Auto. It was clicked OFF when I checked, but this has not helped either. I’m wondering if you had any initial issues when you updated your computer?? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks Matt!
Hi Matt,
Forget my previous email. It is working now. I had not rebooted LR after clicking the GPU onto Auto. My bad. So sorry.
Thanks for all that you do BTW! You have no idea how much I value your advice and tutorials.
Best,
Jules
Is there any way to transfer the masks created in Photoshop Camera Raw into the active photo in Photoshop. Select Background in Camera Raw gives a way better result for, say, a portrait with fly-away hair one wants to preserve than Select Subject in main Photoshop using Cloud Select?
I can’t see how to do it and it would be really useful and hugely time-saving to be able to apply the mask created in Camera Raw to the actual photo for edits.
Any comments about the new dynamic range button below the histogram in the new update of LR classic?
Today was the first day since “then” that I haven’t gravitated down to the “done” button that isn’t there before remembering!!! Turns out old dogs can learn new tricks… Thanks for all your training and excellent explanations. I’ve recommended your videos to SO many people who are just starting out. Good work, Matt.
I have created a user preset in Lightroom than includes a tone curve. Once Lightroom masking is updated to include the tone curve (as in the update for Camera Raw), is there any way to copy the tone curve to the mask panel tone curve?
There is not.
The first day or two after the update things seemed to be the same as before except, of course for the updates themselves. Today, when I click the masking button (on LRC) the drop down happens as usual but if I want to do additional masking the drop down doesn’t happen. Instead the Basic Adjustment Panel is replaced by the masking panel but there is no Drop Down offering masking options like Subject or Background or Radial Gradient. I found that I can go Tools > Masking and get the options that way but it is much more convenient the way it used to be. If I go to another photo the Masking thing works well for the first Mask only. Also, between the Masking Adjustment panel and the Basic Adjustment panel there is the section that contains the Before/After switch on the left and ‘Close’ on the right. In between those two is ‘Delete All Masks’. Click on that and the masks will be deleted and the Mask button up top will work properly once again for just one mask.
Hi Larry. You need to click Create New Mask at the top of the panel.
Hi Matt
Did all the updates Tuesday. Edited a pic yesterday (Thursday) But today (friday) when i go into PS a lot of my blend modes are grayed out. I only have a few i can use.
I only use camera raw and photoshop. I thought perhaps it had something to do with the fact that last night i checked off the boxes to have the HDR update show up in camera raw. But i unchecked and restarted to put it the way I had it yesterday and still only a few blend modes.
If I open pics that i edited before the update all the blend modes are there.
I am baffled not just that some modes are unavailable but that yesterday they all seemed to be available.
Not sure if this is an update issue or I have inadvertently done something.
Any light you can shed on this is most appreciated. Thank you.
I really like your videos! When I updated LRC my collections lost some photos. I don’t why and I don’t know how many.
I kept my preupdate catalog. How can I go back to the old version retrieve my collection info?
I really like the new features in Lightroom and PhotoShop but have encountered a problem with the metadata panels. The Description and Keyword panels are different sizes and the information I’ve put in them for photos prior to the updates is now partially hidden to the left of the new panels. This continues to happen when I enter new words and I re-open the panels later. Also, the photos file name no longer appears in the Document title for either new photos or old, even though I have checked the box in preferences.
Hi Matt…updated LRC. When I went to open and work in LR it said to update catalog which I did. Now does not show all files. What do I need to do?
Hi. It just means you updated or are opening the wrong catalog. Poke around the folder where your catalogs are and try opening one of those (File > Open Catalog menu).
After seeing Adobe Max this week I am truly confused. I have been using Lightroom Classic for years but they were showing presets that were on the right panel rather than the left. I finally realized they were showing Lightroom, not Lightroom Classic. What the heck are the differences and can I get to the presets in Lightroom from Lightroom Classic?
The same presets are available in LR Classic (just on the left side).
Hello Matt,
When travelling I access LRC on my MacBook which although having some operational limitations has always been acceptable.
Recently, when trying to update and add some important new functions, I failed as my Operating System (High Sierra) was too outdated and incompatible with the changes.
Apparently I needed to upgrade my OS to Monterey but any MacBook prior to 2015 is unable to upgrade OS.
Looks like an expensive exercise ahead! (New MacBook!!)
Hi Matt, I need a course on how to use the masking tool in Camera Raw. Do you know where I can find such a course? Thanks, Diane
Yes. Check out my Lightroom Masking Deep Dive course: https://mattk.com/lightroom-masking/
I’ve already done the entire course and like all your courses it was simply put and very straight forward. I can’t wait to start using it. One question is do these new portrait features apply to dog photography?
Hey Chris – I have the same question as I’m wanting to gat sharper eyes on a couple of F2F shots of a dog 🙂
I doubt it but you could try it and let us all know. Thanks.
Is anyone else experiencing a huge slow down of LrC since the latest updates to version 12. It’s like watching grass grow at times.
Hi Jim, I am having an extreme slowdown when I use any masking in LrC. That was the reason I was reading through these questions, to see if anyone else is experiencing this! I backup my catalog every day with optimize. Glad I am not alone in this!
Thanks for the video, FAQ about the new portrait features. I was interested in trying it out, however, in my case, it fails almost 100% of the time at finding people. The “problem” in my case is that my images are scans of photo albums with one or more photos per page. I tried it on a page that just had a single photo (plus a bunch of blank page around it), and it also failed. I tried cropping the photo to remove the distracting surroundings, LRC still failed. Then I took the same image into PS and cropped it (deleting the unused pixels), brought it back to LRC: now it was able to identify the person. I am not totally surprised that LRC has difficulty recognizing people in this case, but what I consider to be a bug here is that when I “focus” LRC on the image of the person by temporarily cropping away the information outside the photo of the person, it still cannot find the people in it. Hopefully this ability will be added.
What I like most about your teaching is that you do not micromanage someone’s learning, i.e., you hold back parts of your lessons until you have completed the previous chapter/lesson. I know that it sounds crazy but there are some who do that even after you have paid for the entire video set.
You give reasons why you should learn a certain way and why it is beneficial to the student. I have learned so much from you and I never feel stupid for not getting it on the first try. Thanks.
Thanks! I have taken classes like that and didn’t like them at all so it’s not something I would do 🙂
When using the all masks preset on a single person portrait, I want to adjust the skin. The masks create face and body and I want to adjust both of them the same so the face and neck look the same. Is there a way to combine those two masks to get one that I can adjust or a quick way to apply the same adjustments on the non-adjusted mask?
Not in the preset, but you could make a new mask and have them combined when they are created.
I found in Lightroom that just hitting the return key on my keyboard after using the clone, crop or mask tool returns me to the basic panel. Much easier than close or 3lines button.
Matt, thanks for this update but my question is with respect to the interaction between PS neural filters and the things that LR can now do. Would you use both the neural filters and the new adjustments in LR? If so what would be your workflow and if you would not use both tools together, when do you use each tool?
Hi Richard. For me, I have never used a Neural Filter other than a tutorial. Sure, the new restoration one works kind of cool but I don’t restore photos except for maybe once a year. And the rest of the neural filters are hokey to me. I haven’t found one that is worth using. But the workflow would remain the same. Do your LR adjustments > Jump to PS and do those > Back to LR. Hope that helps.
I have updated Lightroom Classic v12 and Photoshop v24. My problem is that I am unable to transfer any more than about 4 images from LR ie Edit in>open as layers in Photoshop. When doing potostacking I used to be able to transfer 20 to 100 images, although it did take a long time. Why has that chaanged?
Hi. I’m not able to help with this one.
There doesn’t seem to be an option to edit in the new photoshop only the photoshop 2022, so when i go to send it over to photoshop to edit from lightroom it won’t?
The new update is PS v24.0 which is PS 2023
The update for PS 2022 is v 23.5.2
When you install the v24 version it asks if you would like to remove previous versions. Un-check that box. Then you will have both versions on your computer.
In Lightroom go to catalog preferences>external editing and on the second half of that panel you will see that you can add another external editor. Add PS 2022 and your tiff etc preferences there and exit the preferences pane.
Then when you right click an image in LR and say “edit with” it will show you both PS options. I always keep the old option on my system until most of the bugs get worked out.
When I encountered this same issue, I closed both Photoshop and Lightroom and then re-opened Photoshop and then Lightroom and it went to 2023 Photoshop
If I create preset for let’s say whitening of teeth of Person 1 and than apply it to another photo with more persons, LRC applies it to all people. Is there any way to show LRC to which person I want the preset to apply?
Hi. This is by design (not saying it’s right) and there is no way to change it.
Matt, I fully enjoy your videos and have so for years.
So much to learn and to grasp.
Do you do videos on On1. Many new features lately.
Rene
Hi… I do not. I no longer use it so it’s hard to make videos for software I don’t use.
Hi Rene. I don’t use ON1 anymore so it just makes it hard to do a video (and sound enthusiastic). How do you feel about it. Would people rather me do videos on ON1 even though I don’t use it? Just curious. Thanks!
Victoria Bampton recommended delaying upgrade for a while to see whether bugs emerge from the experience of early adopters. Based on my recent experience with printing and Mac OS upgrades, this makes sense to me. You’ve been using this new version of LR for quite some time now, so I’m interested to know whether you’ve encountered any train-wrecks with the really important stuff like colour management, printing, catalog management.
Hi Mark. I would normally agree if it’s a normal “dot” update. But telling people to wait when a big release comes out would be like telling a kid they have to get up, go to church, eat breakfast, take a shower, and do their daily chores, finish holiday homework, etc… before they can open up their Christmas Day presets 🙂
No update has ever had widespread issues. It’s always a very small (but vocal) minority percentage. So I’ll always take my chances because numbers are on our side. Of course everyone needs to make their own decision if it’s worth it and if you do this for work, then yes, I’d probably always wait. Hope that helps.
You, and Ms. Bampton are great!! I have been checking every day for a “dot” release… ! Maybe they should just do one so Mr. Segal, and I, can get on with our Lightroom lives!
Thank-you for covering so much Lightroom stuff and for communicating so well!
Yeah, I think you’re good to go. Bugs are looking very minor. I suggest waiting a couple of days on mission-critical machines because the catalog upgrade process makes it more difficult to roll back, but 12.0 is looking wonderfully stable.
Thank you so much for alerting us to updates!
Re LR Classic: Can you explain why I cannot apply the newer masks and adjustments to old photos ? For example a 2012 photo in Develop mode only shows LR6type adjustments
Right click on the photo and select Settings/Update to Current Process Version.
In Lightroom Classic if you select a photo that was edited prior to the update, you will not see the changes. You only see the changes on Photos edited after the update.
Right click on the photo and select Settings/Update to Current Process Version.
The simplest of questions: why no Adobe PDF support in Lightroom?
Lightroom is a photo editing software.
First off I want to say a big thank you for putting these videos together. It has helped a lot. I don’t have a question but some comments. When doing the masks in Lightroom and there are several people in the photo so lots of masks if a person wants to add some extra to the facial features etc, just be careful you go click the button create and not the reset button which is very close to it. It will wipe away all the masks. Comment #2 I notice when it detects people it may not detect everyone especially if a young child is sitting on their mother’s lap. Easy fix just go in and mask the child with a brush or etc. Comment #3 when using the brush to mask something, instead of going in and clicking subtract to take away some of the mask that leaked d onto the other areas you didn’t want masking, a person just has to click option and the curser will switch to “-” sign. One less step that has to be done and saves a lot of time. I also use the command key to turn on auto mask as you have told us a while back. That’s it. Thanks again
The new Bridge interface color preference is disappointingly limited. Any word on that?
Thank you!
Nope. I actually haven’t even installed the new Bridge yet.
The new Bridge interface color is much more limited than the previous version . . it’s either black or white, with no custom color (like medium gray) available. Any word if this will change, or is there something I’m missing ? The Photoshop interface color is much more customizable.
Thanks for all your instruction and updates!
Do you have a video on repairing old damaged pictures?
I would like to see that video also.
Hi. I don’t have anything on this.
When I choose a number of masks in portrait mode and create the masks, when I choose the mask I want to work on the adjustment adjusts the whole face not just the part I want to adjust. If I do only one at a time it works