Adobe Unveils Lightroom CC: Speed Boost, RAW HDR and Pano, Face Finding, and More

lightroomcc

Adobe today announced its latest version of Lightroom, called Lightroom CC. The update brings faster performance, some revamped tools, and a set of powerful new creation features.

Here’s a look at the major new things found in Lightroom CC, which will also be sold as a standalone program called Lightroom 6.

Performance Boosts

Unlike previous versions of Lightroom, Lightroom CC now uses the GPU on your computer, which gives you faster-than-ever performance. Adobe says it could help speed up the program by 10x for some users.

HDR Merge

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Create HDR images directly in Lightroom CC by combining multiple photos captured at different exposure settings. This creates a single image with high dynamic range — it can even create a DNG RAW file.

Panorama Merge

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Stitch multiple photos together to create panorama shots — again, you can have a RAW file be the end product.

Facial Recognition

facialrecognition

New facial recognition features built into Lightroom CC allow you to quickly find and categorize photographs of people in your life. Want to find all the photos you’ve taken of a friend or family member? It’s only a few clicks away.

Filter Brush

Photographers can now use a brush to modify gradients created using the Graduated Filter and Radial Filter. Lightroom CC features a new Filter Brush feature that lets you erase parts of the gradient or paint any part of a gradient into any other part of the photo.

Improved Slideshows

You can now create advanced slideshows directly in Lightroom CC using photos, videos, and music. Spice them up using effects such as panning and zooming.

Finally, Some Hidden Gems

Here’s a short video that introduces some of the new “hidden gems” found in Lightroom CC — features that are improvements but not necessarily big enough to merit a great deal of excitement. It’s a look at performance gains, better local adjustment tools, HTML 5 compatible web galleries, and more.

How to Get It

Lightroom CC is available through a $10 per month subscription to Adobe’s Creative Cloud Photography plan, which also gets you access to Photoshop CC, or for $149 as a standalone program branded as Lightroom 6. The standalone program will have the same new features as Lightroom CC, but it will lack the mobile and Web components of the subscription service.

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