Lightroom Classic | Common Questions

What is Lightroom Classic and who is it for?

Whether you are a beginner or pro or somewhere in between, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic includes all your essential tools for amazing photography on the desktop. With Lightroom Classic, you have access to powerful one-click tools and advanced controls to make your photos look amazing. Easily organize all your photos on your desktop and show them in a variety of ways.

Get Lightroom Classic as a part of the Creative Cloud Photography plan.

Where can I learn more about new features in the latest version of Lightroom Classic?

See the What’s New page for details. Please note that some features may not be available in China.

How does Lightroom Classic differ from Photoshop?

Lightroom Classic includes all the tools you need for most digital photography tasks in one intuitive solution. It's your go-to app for organizing and enhancing your images, every day. It helps photographers work faster and more efficiently with one image, a set of images, or a large image library. Photoshop is the industry standard in digital image editing, with advanced tools that photographers, graphic designers, and other graphics professionals use when they need complete control to perform detailed, pixel-level editing and work with multilayered files. Get both Lightroom Classic and Photoshop as a part of the Creative Cloud Photography plan.

Technical questions

What are the minimum system requirements to run Lightroom Classic on desktop?

See the system requirements for information.

Does Lightroom Classic work the same on PC and Mac?

Yes. Lightroom Classic on your desktop has the same features and delivers the same best-in-class results no matter which platform you use. Get Lightroom Classic as a part of the Creative Cloud Photography plan.

What file formats does Lightroom Classic support?

Lightroom Classic supports most native camera raw file formats in addition to PNG, DNG, TIFF, and JPEG formats. In other words, it supports the formats primarily used in digital cameras. Lightroom Classic also supports the PSD file format for enhanced integration with Photoshop. For a complete list of raw format support by camera make and model, see the Camera Raw page.

How does Lightroom Classic handle my photos when I make edits?

Lightroom Classic offers a nondestructive editing environment, which means your original photographs are never changed. Instead, the changes you make to your photographs are stored in metadata as a series of instructions. Whether you’re viewing them onscreen or making prints, Lightroom Classic is simply applying those instructions to the original, untouched photo file. This provides you complete flexibility and control, because any change you apply to an image is 100% reversible at any time.

Can I access my images in Lightroom Classic on desktop after my membership ends?

Lightroom Classic on desktop will continue to launch and allow access to your files after your membership ends. However, the Develop and Map modules are disabled.

Is Lightroom Classic on desktop compatible with Windows 10?

Yes. Learn more ›

Is Lightroom Classic on desktop compatible with macOS Mojave (v10.14)?

Yes. Learn more ›

Free trials

Can I try Lightroom Classic for free?

Yes, you can download a trial of Lightroom Classic and other applications in Creative Cloud from the Creative Cloud Desktop apps page.

Purchasing options

How can I purchase Lightroom Classic?

For enterprise and business, you can purchase Lightroom Classic as part of our enterprise membership. Go to the plans page. 

For individuals, you can purchase Lightroom Classic as part of Creative Cloud photography plan. Go to the Creative Cloud Photography plan page.

Learning Lightroom Classic

How do I get started with Lightroom Classic?

Learn how to get started with step-by-step-tutorials as well as comprehensive product support from Adobe and our knowledgeable community. Additional materials can be found on the Lightroom Classic Learn & Support page and Lightroom Classic product page.

Where can I find the user's manual?

You can find web and PDF versions of the Lightroom manual on the Lightroom Classic User Guide page. Please not that some features may not be available in China. 

Where can I get help with download, installation, sign-in, and activation?

For assistance, visit Contact Adobe Support page.