Is An Adobe Lightroom Subscription Worth It? f/107
Siuslaw River At Sunset
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Show Notes
Happy 2023!
I use a lot of photo software for my photography - Lightroom, Photoshop, ON1 Effects, ON1 Resize, Topaz Sharpen AI, Luminar Neo, Radiant Photo… I admit it, I like software tools. I don’t use every tool every day, some are more specialized or niche than others. My core processing tools are Lightroom and ON1 Effects. These are my bread and butter.
These days, subscriptions are common place. Like it or not - subscriptions are here to stay. Adobe was the first to make the pivot to the subscription model, leaving perpetual licenses in the rear view mirror. Other vendors have waded into the subscription waters, and I think it’s a matter of time before perpetual licenses become the exception and not the rule.
I have been a subscriber to Adobe’s Photography Plan for several years now. I got curious if the Adobe subscription has been worth the money for me and my photography. I took a look at the features Adobe has delivered since November 2019 and asked a simple question about each feature - would I pay to upgrade for that feature? Listen to the episode for my thoughts and my more complete analysis is below. For me, the subscription pencils out and I’m getting value for my yearly outlay to Adobe.
2023 Photo Workshops
It is the start of a new year and a great time to think about where you want to take your photography in 2023. I wholeheartedly endorse attending a photo workshop - not a photo tour, a photo workshop - to improve your photography and spark your creativity. This was one of the very first topics I talked about, way back in Episode #3 of the Stop Down Photography Podcast. If you are new to the podcast, you may have missed this episode. Have a listen.
I am hosting workshops in 2023. All of the workshops for 2023 are listed on my workshops page. Some workshops are sold out. There is space open in my two Oregon workshops in November of 2023.
The Oregon Coastal Adventure, Nov 7-10, 2023: Headquartered in the heart of old town Florence, Oregon on the Siuslaw River, this workshop concentrates on the central Oregon coastline. Locations include Heceta Head, Heceta Beach, Yachats, and the breathtaking Cape Perpetua. We’ll also venture inland to Sweet Creek for an excellent forested hike along a picturesque creek.
Bandon Beach & Beyond, Nov 13-16, 2023: Based in Bandon, Oregon with its amazing sea stacks, this workshop explores Bandon and the southern coastline of Oregon. Locations include Shore Acres in Coos Bay, Port Orford, Lone Ranch Beach, Sisters Rock, and the endless pockets of rugged coast between Bandon and Brookings at the southern border of Oregon.
Whether you join me on a workshop or sign up with another photographer, make 2023 the year you immerse yourself in several days of photography. You’ll be glad you did.
My Lightroom Subscription Analysis
The context for my examination of my Lightroom subscription has two primary constraints:
I care about Lightroom Classic, the desktop-centric application
I am the type of person that historically upgrades my software every year
So, how did I judge the Adobe Lightroom releases? I reviewed the Adobe Lightroom release notes for the versions released from November 2019 through October 2022 and looked at each feature in each release. The question I ask about each feature is simple:
If Lightroom were a traditional, perpetual license, would I pay to upgrade to have that feature?
The summary of my analysis is yes, for me, the Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop subscription is worth the money. The features that Adobe has put into Lightroom have been compelling enough to
Adobe released four major versions of Lightroom in the last three years
Versions 9.x, 10.x, 11.x, and most recently 12.0
I would have paid for three of them
The 9.x, 11.x, and 12.x releases have features that are compelling to me and I’d pay to get them
Assuming a perpetual license for a Lightroom upgrade would be in the $100-$120 range:
3 paid upgrades would be about $300-$360
My subscription plan costs $120/year, or $360
If it were Lightroom alone, the subscription (probably) costs a bit more than yearly paid upgrades. However, the subscription also provides a license for Photoshop which I also use, has also gotten feature updates, and back in the day costs hundreds of dollars for a single license.
Detailed Lightroom Feature Analysis
A summary of the features in the various releases of Lightroom since November 2019. A feature in bold is one I would pay for in an upgrade. A feature in italics is one I might pay for in an upgrade.
| Date, Version | Feature |
|---|---|
| October 2022, 12.0 | Content Aware Remove Subject & Object masking AI portrait adjustments New cameras & lenses AI adaptive presets |
| June 2022, 11.4 | Preset intensity control Subject & Sky batching (Adaptive Presets) Mask Invert New cameras & lenses GPU accelerated export Loupe info overlays Faster smart preview purging New locales Premium & Adaptive presets |
| October 2021, 11.0 | Major Masking overhaul Sky & Subject select View metadata for target photo Customize metadata panel Metadata edit-only mode New cameras & lenses New catalog layout (reduce storage) Batch edit improvements Auto save XMP improvements Filter by date: year, month, day Premium presets Camera matching for Canon picture styles |
| June 2021, 10.3 | Super resolution Tethered Live View for Nikon Native support for Apple Silicon New cameras & lenses Faster metadata management File location for develop presets Premium presets |
| March 2021, 10.2 | Performance improvements New cameras & lenses |
| October 2020, 10.1 | Color grading panel Performance improvements with brushes and gradients Tethered Live View for Canon Enhanced Zoom New cameras & lenses Control catalog naming during upgrade |
| June 2020, 9.3 | Performance improvements UI improvements (curves) Local Hue adjustment ISO adaptive presets Centered crop overlay New Defaults presets New cameras & lenses Multi-Batch export Metadata - 3D projections RAW defaults with ISO adaptive preset Catalog backup update TIFF compression Facebook collections Survey View HEVC on Windows 10 AVI on macOS |
| February 2020, 9.2 | Improved RAW defaults PSB Support New cameras & lenses Choose monitor for secondary window Auto sync improvements Photoshop Elements 2020 support GPU acceleration for Lens Corrections and Transform eGPU Enhance Details on macOS |
| November 2019, 9.0 | Pano fill edges Multi-batch export Export presets (sharing) Filter folders/collections with colors New cameras & lenses Clear history above step Filter based on depth map Delete multiple photos Crop enhancements, see post-crop vignette while cropping Keyword performance improvements |
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