Adobe Lightroom

Lightroom is non-destructive editing software that keeps the original image separate from its edits, saving the edited image as a new file. While Photoshop includes doctoring functions like adding, removing or altering the appearance of individual image items, rendering text or 3D objects on images, or modifying individual video frames, Lightroom is a library and development software.^{[clarification needed]} Lightroom can store and organize photos once imported into the platform database, and is currently compatible with TIFF, JPEG, PSD (Photoshop), PNG, CMYK (edited in RGB color space) and raw image formats.^[7]

Initially, Adobe Lightroom was only available on desktop operating systems. In 2017, it was expanded to support mobile operating systems with the release of Lightroom Mobile. Later in 2017, Adobe released a new variant of Lightroom, Lightroom CC, to be more consistent with their mobile software. The existing version of Lightroom was renamed Lightroom Classic CC, and Lightroom Mobile was renamed to Lightroom CC to have the same name as the new desktop version. The three Lightroom variations differ in how they store images and interact with Adobe's cloud storage offering, and in their feature sets. Lightroom CC stores all uploaded photos and raw files on a cloud server, while Lightroom Classic CC stores files locally and has a more extensive set of features.^[8][9] Both CC platforms and Lightroom Mobile also allow users to create, upload, and export Lightroom presets, a batch copy of an image's in-program edits.^{[clarification needed]}

There is currently a large market for Lightroom presets as a tool for both mobile and digital photographers looking to apply a stylized look to their images.Many websites provide these presets free of cost for download. ^{[10] [11]}

Lightroom Classic CC^[12] and Lightroom CC feature the following modules:

This module allows users to browse the directory structure of their catalog, browse and create Collections, access Publish Services, import and export images, edit Keywords, organize images by their metadata, and flag, rate, tag, and color code images.

Supports non-destructive editing of images in batch, such as enhancing and improving digital photographs by changing color balance, improving tone, sharpening, reducing noise, cropping, straightening, and converting to black-and-white. The Develop module also features the ability to synchronize edits from one photo to a selection.

Lightroom provides users with several standard presets for color correction and effects, and supports sharing custom presets online. Presets include all adjustment settings from the originally doctored photo, and can range in price from free to upwards of $200.^[13]

Added in Lightroom 4, this module facilitates geographically organizing photos based on embedded or manually added geolocation data. This is module no longer supported for Lightroom versions up to Lightroom CC 2015 / Lightroom 6.^[14]

This module creates slideshows from photos, to which music or a background can be added.

Allows users to print images and adjusts printing parameters such as layout and orientation.

Allows website owners or editors to create HTML5 web galleries from their images. This module has several templates available to users that create layout suggestions. The design and HTML can be exported locally to the device or directly to a site's server.^[15]

In 1999, veteran Photoshop developer Mark Hamburg began a new project, code-named Shadowland, a reference to the 1988 KD Lang music album of same name.^[16] Hamburg contacted Andrei Herasimchuk, former interface designer for the Adobe Creative Suite, to start the project.^[17] It was an intentional departure from many of Adobe's established conventions. Forty percent of Photoshop Lightroom is written in the scripting language Lua. In 2002, Hamburg left the Photoshop project and in fall of the same year he sent a first experimental software sample, name PixelToy, to his former teammate Jeff Schewe for review; in 2003, Hamburg presented Schewe a first version of Shadowland in a very early UI version.^[16] After research by Hamburg, Herasimchuk, Sandy Alves (the former interface designer on the Photoshop team), and Grace Kim (a product researcher at Adobe), the Shadowland project accelerated around 2004. Herasimchuk chose to leave Adobe Systems at that time to start a Silicon Valley design company. Hamburg then chose Phil Clevenger, a former associate of Kai Krause, to design a new look for the application.^[17]

Lightroom's developers work mostly in Minnesota, comprising the team that had already created the program Adobe ImageReady. Troy Gaul, Melissa Gaul, and the rest of their crew (reportedly known as the "Minnesota Phats"^[18]), with Hamburg, developed the architecture behind the application. George Jardine was the product manager.^[17]

On January 9, 2006, an early version of Lightroom was released to the public as a Macintosh-only public beta, on the Adobe Labs website. This was the first Adobe product released to the general public for feedback during its development. This method was later used in developing Adobe Photoshop CS3.

On June 26, 2006, Adobe announced that it had acquired the technology of Pixmantec, developers of the Rawshooter image processing software.^[19]

On January 29, 2007, Adobe announced that Lightroom would ship on February 19, 2007, list priced at $299 US, £199 UK.

Further beta releases followed. Notable releases included Beta 3 on July 18, 2006, which added support for Microsoft Windows systems. On September 25, 2006, Beta 4 was released, which saw the program merged into the Photoshop product range, followed by a minor update on October 19, which was released as Beta 4.1.

On July 26, 2016, Adobe launched Lightroom on Apple TV, a means of displaying photographs on a large screen using Apple's network appliance and entertainment device.^[20]

In 2023, Adobe announced that the Expert RAW app/function on the Samsung Galaxy S23 series will integrate Adobe Lightroom.^[21][22]

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic CC (unofficially: version 7.0) was officially released on October 18, 2017. It is the first version of Lightroom that is not available with a perpetual license (one-time purchase price); instead, it must be licensed through a monthly subscription model, with the fee initially set at US$9.99/month. Once the user stops paying the monthly fee, the program will be limited to viewing existing catalogs, without the ability to apply further changes to images.

Adobe Lightroom CC is the online cloud-based version of Adobe's Lightroom application and can be installed alongside Lightroom Classic CC. It is included in the same US$9.99/month photography plan. Lightroom CC has the ability to sync developed photos between a laptop, tablet and mobile devices.^[23] Its user interface is similar to that of Adobe's mobile version of the applications.

• Comparison of raster graphics editors

•   Media related to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Current versions
• Talk given by Troy Gaul, Adobe's lead Lightroom programmer in 2009 at the C4 conference, covering Lightroom's history, code and architecture up to version 2.0