burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Adobe has announced the impending end of support for Lightroom 6.

Downloads of the program are available until the end of the year (12/31/2023).

Syncing Lightroom 6.14 with Adobe Cloud ends earlier, in August of this year.

I'll post the link to details below.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

If you are one of the last holdouts, know that you are not alone. Also know that it is becoming harder and harder for developers to support older hardware and operating systems. At some point, the old software will no longer work on new computers or versions of operating systems.

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/lightroom-6-end-of-support.html

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The software hasn't been "supported" in terms of updates since Dec 2016. Removing the download just stops re-installs by owners who've failed to download and securely save their own local copy. But, the software does require a 'call out' to Adobe.com to complete the install, doing a 1-time confirmation of your user-name, password and LR6 license key. That might also be a functional change Adobe is making, whether you have the install-file saved or not.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I'm sure it is common knowledge that Lightroom 6 has evolved to Lightroom Classic, version 12.4. Lightroom 6 was released in 2015!

Why holdout on getting the technical improvements and innovations? If it is about subscription hate, get ON1, Luminar or even Photoshop Elements.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

It seems some people just hate to see other people saving money year over year.

Bill_de Loc: US

Not everbody needs the latest camera, nor the latest software. There are folks still shooting film and loving it.

I think 'most' people here can determine what works best for them, keeping in mind that just having fun may be the ultimate goal.

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CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The Devil wouldn't buy our empty souls. He sets up a subscription.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I have more fun with the subscription than I ever did with the stand-alone, but I get the resistance to subscriptions. Not everyone wants or needs to stay current. Before subscriptions, I'd use my old version for several years, upgrading when the new OS broke the old code, or when the new software had features I wanted. That meant skipping 1-3 versions. When I DID upgrade, I'd go through an annoying learning curve. Now, I just learn a few features every quarter year or so. Learning in small bites is easy.

Mac users who don't want subscriptions should seriously consider Affinity Photo, in addition to the apps Bill Sprague mentioned, above. Added to Apple Photos and the most excellent Raw Power, you have a great little system with Photos as the hub, Raw Power as the raw file converter, and Affinity Photo as the advanced bitmap editor. No subscription, long version life, and under $125 (plus the Mac, of course.)

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

There are people who use the software daily and some who use the software infrequently. The infrequent users don't want to spend what seems to them a significant amount of money for something they will only use once. For them there are other options at the present. Subscription models are expanding to more and more things (including non-software) so the future will probably limit the ability of those people to keep using their 'obsolete' software.

The daily users will benefit from the subscription software due to the frequent updates. Even so, we can't tell them how to spend their money. If their budget includes hardware but not software, it's their problem. But as such, I don't believe they have a right to complain about it, nor do we have a right to complain about their choice.

I've made my choice and I'll stick with it.

Hip Coyote

People who have not at least tried the LR CC are missing some very substantial improvements, particularly the masking capabilities. Masks can be generated and merged, faces enhanced, etc. Stuff that would take quite a bit of time in PS (which I am not so good at.) The capabilities are quite robust. It has allowed me to go back and enhance some photos that needed that added oomph. As a micro 4/3 user, I also use the Enhance capabilities at times to allow me to crop when I typically could not with my smaller file sizes (and avoid significant grain.) I also use the cloud version and phone version of LR when traveling allowing me to edit on the fly and have those edits readily avail to me when I get home. The added bonus of Portfolio is also something I enjoy. Have a website and paying for it? Portfolio is included in the subscription which is a bonus. Basic website but perfect for my purposes.

I am also a fan of the cloud for many things. I recently had a computer blow up. Total hard drive failure. I bought a new computer and was up and running in an hour or so simply by logging on to the various sites (Adobe, MS, Topaz, Quicken) and downloading the program. Data was backed up on Dropbox and a few hard drives as well as Carbonite. If saving $120 a year in this expensive hobby is your goal, then certainly keep the legacy versions, but for the meager sum of 10 bucks a month, it is worth it to me.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Fair enough!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Wow! I thought support had ended years ago. I'm using Luminar Neo exclusively now, as I want to learn all its features. I'm very satisfied.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Where do you think the idea of subscription software originated. "I'll give you my soul if you show me a way to continue making money from software I've already sold."

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Paul,

You have an ongoing theme about making what you have work. I have a theme about enjoying the benefits of ongoing advancements. They don't seem to match well!

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Well, let's see. I got Lightroom 6 in mid 2015, a short time after it was introduced. It was selling for $120 or so at the time, but cost me $90 thanks to a "hidden" upgrade offer on the Adobe website. I'd used LR5, LR4, LR3 and original LR before that (1st version cost $299... I don't recall all the later version prices, but know that LR5 was around $120, so was LR6 but it was the 1st time Adobe offered a reduced cost upgrade fore LR5 users).

So Lightroom 6 (now 6.14) has served me for 8 years and still does all I need it to do, quickly and efficiently.

Someone who had to have the latest and greatest "CC" and subscribed shortly after it was introduced will now have used it for five years.

They've spent $600 for five years ($120 a year) use of Lightroom CC.

I've spent $90 for eight years ($11.25 a year) use of Lightroom CS6.

Of course, with that subscription they get the latest Photoshop too (I bet not all install it... a lot only use LR Classic). I'm "stuck" with old Photoshop CS6, although it still does everything I need it to do. I did pay a separate upgrade for PS CS6. That was a couple years before the LR6 upgrade and probably cost around $250... so I've been using it for around 10 years ($25 a year cost).

A "selling point" of the subscription is auto updates. But I've had "auto updates" turned off for a long time, ever since it caused some problems for me in Lightroom... an auto update reset some things to defaults and made a mess on my computer in the middle of a big job.