Why I Personally Use Lightroom Classic CC instead of Lightroom CC in 2020
A few weeks ago I wrote a post on the differences between Lightroom Classic CC and Lightroom CC, going over the BIG difference between the two programs, how the features differ, along with questions to ask yourself when deciding which one was right with you (not read it? Start there and then come back here so this post makes sense!)
This week, I wanted to jump in and tell you the reasons why I personally use and in most cases, recommend, Lightroom Classic CC over Lightroom CC. I know for myself that I love hearing the “why” behind other people’s decisions, as it helps me make my own, so hopefully this is the same for you!
You can either watch a Facebook live I did on this very subject (it’s at the end of the post!) or you can simply read the blog post - whatever works for you :)
So without further ado, let’s go over why I use and love Lightroom Classic CC…
Before we dig in, I just want to let you know about our FREE Lightroom Starter Kit - if you’re new to Lightroom Classic and just getting started (or heck, even if you’ve had it for a while but aren’t sure what you should be doing in there!) then this will be INVALUABLE. Go here to grab your copy:
#1 - Photos stored locally, not in the cloud (Volume 1)
One of the big differences between Lightroom Classic CC and Lightroom CC is how and where your photos are stored. With Lightroom Classic, you store the photos locally, on your desktop, or in an external hard drive (I recommend the latter) With Lightroom CC, the photos are stored in the cloud, in Adobe’s online servers.
I personally prefer to have my photos stored locally, and here’s why…
I have nearly 4TB worth of photos stored so far, and that number will only keep growing year on year. That means that the Lightroom CC plan at $9.99 is not enough for me at 1TB.
It costs an another $9.99 per month for each extra TB of storage, which means that I’d be paying a HUGE amount of money each month just for photo storage. (To put this in perspective, I back up all my photos to SmugMug at $60 per year, for unlimited storage AND it doubles as my viewing gallery!)
And that number would only rise as I keep going - AND I’d have to pay that every year for the rest of my life :)
If you are a low volume shooter, or only take photos with your phone camera etc, then Lightroom CC is perfect for you….but for anyone who shoots more than that, you will be paying a LOT over the term for photo storage.
#2 - Photos Stored Locally not in the Cloud (Volume 2)
I’m always “future proofing” as much as I can, and trying to save myself work and time in the longer term.
Should I decide in the future that I’m done with photography, or the amount dwindles to next to nothing and I no longer want Lightroom, with Lightroom Classic CC, I simply stop paying for it, and my photos are safe and sound on my hard drive and I need do nothing. In fact, I can continue to use the Library module in Lightroom, but not the Develop module. Totally simple and painless.
If I used Lightroom CC, then I would need to download every single photo from the cloud in order to not pay for the storage. That seems to me like a massive headache further down the line!
Again, if you are low volume shooter, this isn’t a problem! But if you take 10,000 photos a year, and you’ve been using it for 5 years - that’s a LOT of time and energy used up in the future.
#3 It has a Photo Book Module
One of the things I love to do is create photo books. I usually create an family photo book for each year, with photos taken over the year. It’s one of my favourite things to look back on, even now, and I know these will become even more precious as time goes by.
Lightroom Classic CC has been a lifesaver for me because they have a Book module within the program, which means I can create my photo books without ever leaving Lightroom.
There’s no need to export all the photos as JPEG’s and then upload them all again to another site - just pop them into the book that you can create as you go along.
(I say can, because I’m never that organised! I tend to do it all at once at the end of the year, but if you are more disciplined than me, do it every month!)
I also create other little books from time to time (they make great gifts for grandparents, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day etc) and I love it because it is SO simple to do in Lightroom Classic CC.
You can’t do this with Lightroom CC, so that’s another reason I prefer Lightroom Classic!
#4 It has a soft proofing feature
Have you ever uploaded a photo somewhere, such as Facebook, or even to the printers, and the photos just don’t come back they way you envisaged them?
That’s because of something called colour space, which I’m not going to get into here but is important!
Soft proofing allows you to see what your images will look like in your chosen colour space or printer profile. This means you can “preview” what the image will look like, and make adjustments if necessary!
Again, if you are a very casual shooter, this is probably not of importance to you, but for me, knowing that what I put online accurately reflects what I saw when I was editing is important, and of course I want my prints to look good! And if you are in business, this is CRUCIAL.
Again, Lightroom CC doesn’t have this feature!
#5 - The Plug Ins Available on Lightroom Classic
Again, this may not be a deal breaker for everyone, but I love and use many plug ins for Lightroom Classic, and these are just not available on Lightroom CC.
For example, I upload my photos for viewing by friends, family and clients on an online gallery. With Lightroom Classic, I simply need to click a button and poof! They get uploaded to a gallery I can share with who I wish, and I don’t need to worry about downloading and uploading.
I use SmugMug for this, but you get plug ins for Pixieset, Zenfolio, Shootproof, so whatever one you use probably has a plug in for it.
There are other plug ins too that just make life easier - Instagram, Amazon Prime etc, so it’s worth listing out what you want to do, and see if there is a plug in that will enable you to do it from Lightroom Classic.
#6 - Lightroom Classic has more features!
Now, to be fair, each one of these on there own is not a deal breaker, but together they’re important.
I use smart collections for easy and quick organisation, and I’d hate to lose that feature! Using a graphic watermark is also another important feature, as is using virtual copies, and the snapshot and history feature, and the…..oh, you get the idea.
Lightroom Classic is simply more robust, and gives you a complete end to end solution, with more features.
Missing one or two of these features might not have deterred me, but when taken together, I’d be using a system that simply wasn’t what I want and need from a photo management and editing tool.
There you go! 6 reasons why I personally use Lightroom Classic CC over Lightroom CC as my main photo management and editing program.
Now YOU may look at these and think “I couldn’t care less about my photos being in the cloud, and I don’t need any of those other features!” in which case, Lightroom CC is probably enough for you!
But if you are looking at this list and thinking “Yeah, I’d like to be able to do all of that…” or even thinking that ONE of those (like paying for storage for years) is a deal breaker, then it’s Lightroom Classic for you.
Don’t forget, you can download your FREE Lightroom Starter Kit especially for Lightroom Classic right here:
Over to you!
Let me know in the comments - is any of these features more important to you? Or one that I missed out on? I love to hear from you, and your insights and experiences may help someone else on the same journey!
See you next week,
💖Audrey
P.S If you love to watch, then take a look at the Facebook live I did on this very subject! And if you’re not yet following me on social, c’mon over! I share a lot of photography wisdom and inspiration there too, so be sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook too.
