Switching from Lightroom Classic to Lightroom?

If someone were to ask me, "Hey Brian, what are the most important things you want from your photography software?" I'd answer with this, "I want to be able to manage my photos easily, edit them as I see fit, and share them with anyone... all from any device no matter where I am." To summarize:

• Manage from anywhere.
• Edit from anywhere.
• Share from anywhere.

Those are the needs I developed for myself after years of taking and editing photos, and what's funny is that I never even realized I cared about them until I decided to make the full switch from Lightroom Classic (LRC) to Lightroom. Also, it wasn't until the past few years that Lightroom matured enough to the point where it could meet these needs (mostly).

And yet, what is important to me can be a completely different story for you. But before you can decide, you first need to articulate to yourself what your needs are...

Your needs vs my needs

I've created a lot of content about Lightroom, both in written and video form. I even created an entire course to help Lightroom users take full advantage of this cloud-based platform. One of the most common themes with responses, especially from Lightroom Classic users, can be best categorized as defensive. Some of it is argumentative and, to a much lesser degree, hostile.

And I get it (well, not the hostile comments; there's no excuse for that). There are loads of Lightroom Classic users who have been using that app for almost 20 years! It's not easy or even desirable for some to make that change despite my best intentions to help clarify fact from fiction.

What I realized is that, despite Lightroom offering just about every feature that MOST photographers need, there are still plenty of us who rely on LRC features that aren't available in Lightroom. To those LRC users, especially the ones considering switching, I recommend doing what I did above: physically write—or type—out the list of your must-have LRC features. Be specific. Be deliberate. And, most of all, be honest with yourself.

What does that look like? I can only use myself as an example. When I began considering my switch from LRC to Lightroom, I asked myself just how important some of the features offered by the former would affect me if I used the latter.

• Smart collections
• The Maps module
• Sending multiple images to Photoshop
• 3rd-party plugin support
• HDR/Pano merge on mobile

These are the features I came up with when I switched over in 2017. NONE of these features have yet to be added to Lightroom Desktop or Mobile. And you know what? Despite the lack of these features, I wouldn't switch back to LRC if you paid me (ok, maybe if you paid me a ton of money 😆). Joking aside, I mean it. I absolutely love Lightroom. It meets my most important needs, the ones I bulleted at the beginning of this article, better than any other app. In fact, no other app comes remotely close.

And because of that, I am beyond content with my decision to switch from LRC to Lightroom. I have no regrets. In fact, I see it as my responsibility to help others in similar shoes make the best decision based on their own needs.

Baby steps to switch from Lightroom Classic to Lightroom

Are you thinking about making the switch but want to take it slow? No worries! I totally get it. Take some time to watch this Lightroom Everywhere LIVE episode. I share some practical ways that LRC users can familiarize themselves with Lightroom without migrating an entire catalog or syncing every photo. I hope it helps!