The newer Lightroom is not without its audience, however. Pros will want to stick with the subject of this review, Lightroom Classic, the true heir to the Lightroom throne that offers every bit of the franchise's functionality. Lightroom does offer a simpler, cleaner interface than Lightroom Classic, but it lacks some expected tools, including plug-in support and the ability to print. With the release of the rethought Lightroom (sans Classic), the program that photo pros have come to know and love got a younger, and frankly, still fairly immature sibling. HDR tools and panorama-stitching tools, improved performance, face recognition, a mobile app, and cloud integrations also come with Lightroom, as do top-notch lighting, color, geometry, local, and lens-profile-based corrections. They include ACDSee Pro, CyberLink PhotoDirector, DxO PhotoLab, Capture One, and Skyum Luminar, none of which requires subscription payments, but none of which fully equals Lightroom Classic's combination of smooth workflow interface, organizers, and adjustment tools.

Some worthy alternatives are at your disposal, should you insist on a one-time purchase app. But we recommend you swallow that pill, given how good the software is. All these Adobe programs require a subscription, however, which still irks some longtime users. These capabilities mean that many photographers won't need both applications anymore, as long as they don't need to explicitly work with layers. The latest update adds the very Photoshop-like Content-Aware Remove and automatic selection of multiple objects, people, and background for localized adjustments. In recent updates, Adobe has been adding features to Lightroom that used to be exclusive to Photoshop, such as content-aware local edits and selections. Its unmatched feature set and design earn Lightroom Classic a rare five-star rating and a PCMag Editors' Choice award for photo workflow software. Lightroom Classic offers photo pros powerful ways to import, organize, and correct everything they shoot. But which Lightroom should you use? The photo software is now available in two flavors: the consumer-targeted Lightroom and the professional-targeting Lightroom Classic, reviewed here.

Adobe's Lightroom is unquestionably the leading professional photo-workflow software.

Lightroom classic tnt