Hibler Loc: Oklahoma

I have light room 5.7 thinking about updating do I update to classic or just plain light room plus Photoshop if I update can I update light room without it connecting to my 5.7 light room or do I use some other software
Thanks in advance Dale

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

When I updated, the instructions were relatively easy to follow, including transferring my existing photo files.

Hibler Loc: Oklahoma

I do not want to transfer my files to the new lightwood I want to start all over

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Your only option for LR/PS now in 2019 is the subscription model that includes both (LR Classic and Photoshop) at $9.99 / month. There are more expensive plans, but for the software you only need the $9.99 plan. The new software does not overwrite or update your LR5 software. Rather, it installs into a new and separate directory. When you open the new LR software, it will detect the existing LR5 catalog and will ask if you want to import that existing data into the new software's catalog. You can choose no. Even if you allow the import, the highly recommended action, nothing about your old LR5 software and catalog are updated / modified.

You can encounter quite a bit of confusion trying to keep both software versions active. The new LR software doesn't remove your old LR5 launch icons. So, unless you take corrective actions, you could easily end up working in one version when you meant to be in the other.

If you don't want to migrate your existing images into the new software, what is prompting the idea to upgrade?

Hibler Loc: Oklahoma

I have all of 5.7 Backed up I will delete it once I get the new loaded

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Hibler Loc: Oklahoma

Thanks Dale

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

You’d want LR Classic withPS

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

If you go for the subscription, you get everything. I prefer Classic because of greater functionality.

ronaldwrightdallas

if you are trying to restart your use of Lightroom so you can re do keywords etc. just create a new catalog in the new version of Lightroom. then simply import any of the photos you want to be in your Lightroom catalog. this will of course lose any modifications made to all of the photos etc. but it will start over with no input from the old Lightroom.

if you have a lot of photos with a lot of editing etc, this will become a very large chore until you get caught up.

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

If you want to keep the old edits:

In your old LR catalog, select the photos that have edits you want to keep. (Make sure they are not missing files)
File -> Export as Catalog (give it a temporary name). That will give you a catalog containing the edits you want to keep.
Open the temporary catalog in the new version of LR. That will convert the temporary catalog to the new format.

If you haven't yet started a new catalog, you're done. (If that's the case you could have named the temporary catalog with a name you want to keep). Note that when the new version of LR loads an old catalog it will change the name slightly so you can tell which is the new version. After that you can rename the catalog to anything you want. At that point you can double click the new catalog or just open LR and use File -> Open catalog to navigate to the newly named catalog.

If you have already started a new catalog with the new version, open that catalog.
File -> Import from another catalog
That will add your desired photos with their edits to the new catalog.

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

I’m wondering why you feel the need to upgrade from LR 5.7 if it still meets your needs? I still use 5.7 in concert with ON1 Photo Raw. And... as ON1 improves and adds more capability, I can see the day when I won’t need 5.7 any longer. Easing the transition is facilitated by ON1’s capability to read and convert the LR sidecar files to ON1.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Here is the comparison of the Photographers Plans available to you today.
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/compare-plans.html?promoid=952G4WLC&mv=other

The plan on the left is probably the one you want. It included the Lightroom "Classic" CC application that is basically the same as the Lightroom you already have. It also included the new Lightroom CC application which is confusing to most of us. When you subscribe to this, I'd skip installing the "new" Lightroom and just let it install the Lightroom Classic CC application and let it install Photoshop CC.

The plan on the right is the new Lightroom CC application which includes 1 Terabyte of cloud storage. The new Lightroom CC application is more of a mobile application than a desktop application. The plan on the left includes this, but only provides 20GB of cloud storage.

The plan in the middle includes everything of both the plan on the left and the plan on the right for double the money.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

The Adobe subscription plan, which can cost as low as just under $10 a month, includes Lightroom Classic (a desktop application) as well as a second LR application for use on phones or other mobil devices. You can go to the Adobe website and review their offerings. The plan will also automatically include Photoshop, which you might want to use in the future.

As you said you do not want to input your current LR catalog into a new catalog that you will set up I'm wondering why not? Is that catalog a bit confused? If that is the case, you could benefit from reading the online LR help manual regarding the Library Module section.

When the new application is installed you will simply open and name a new catalog. I think that keeping both the old catalog and a new catalog will be confusing and could lead to errors unless you are very aware of what you are doing when you use the LR catalogs. You can set your new catalog to be the one that automatically opens if you want to do that. You can also convert your existing catalog, there will be an option for that that should pop up automatically, when you get the newer version of LR and you might want to go ahead and do that, too.

Dirtfarmer has correctly explained the process of merging catalogs if you choose to do that.

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

Actually, if you use your current LR catalog in a newer LR application, LR will update your old catalog and give it a new name (maybe by appending "-1"). You will still have your old catalog in your old LR format and a new catalog with a similar name in the new LR format. You won't lose anything.