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Question

Can't open Camera Raw from Bridge with valid Lightroom Classic subscription

Forum|Forum|7 months ago
June 30, 2025
2 replies
353 views

I can't open Adobe Camera Raw from Bridge even though I have a valid Lightroom Classic subscription, which is stated to be acceptable to be able to use Camera Raw.

I have the Lightroom Plan with 1TB which includes Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic.

Upon attempting to open Camera Raw through Bridge, I am greeted with this message:

"Camera Raw editing requires that a qualifying product has been licensed"

I have tried reopening LrC and Bridge to no avail.

I am aware that LrC uses the same engine as ACR and has the same functionality. I want to open ACR specifically.

Please advise.

Rob_Cullen

Community Expert

"Camera Raw editing requires that a qualifying product has been licensed" That is because ACR is a PLUGIN for Photoshop and you would need Photoshop to have ACR.

You do not need Bridge if you have, and use, Lightroom-Classic.

And you don't need ACR if you have, and use, Lightroom-Classic. (LrC does not use the independent ACR plugin. The camera raw rendering is built into the LrC UI)

The editing features in LrC are almost exactly the same as ACR (and better in some circumstances- especially batch processing of images.)

I would suggest you use Lightroom-Classic exclusivley as you photo management and editing tool. Keep Bridge only for the odd one or two things that might be different.

You would need to import your photos to the LrC catalog, but then you have one app to learn rather than three.

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .

gary_sc

Community Expert

Hi Rob, it's not entirely accurate to say that if you have LRC, you don't need Bridge-ACR. I have both and use both for images that I want to keep for posterity and interest. Those go directly into LRC. However, I often have images that I only need for the short term (e.g., a monthly newsletter, images of items I wish to give away or sell, etc.), I rely upon Bridge and ACR.

Let me ask @jrstaig if he has Photoshop on his computer. Typically, that is how ACR is installed on the user's computer. If he wants ACR, he might have to install PS.

If he has PS installed and does not have ACR, then there's an issue that needs to be addressed.

On the other hand, every once in a while, there's someone on these boards who culls images in Bridge and then imports their good images into LRC, and that for me is a major head scratcher. :>)

J

jrstaigAuthor

Participant

I do not have Photoshop on my computer nor do I have access to it, as my subscription is Lightroom and LrC only.

According to https://helpx.adobe.com/bridge/kb/camera-raw-editing-not-enabled.html , Lightroom Classic is a valid qualifying product to be able to use ACR, and therefore ACR should be made accessible from LrC or Bridge. As it seems that this is not true, Adobe has blatant false information on their website.

My reason for requiring ACR is that even though it has the same processing capabilities as LrC, it has one feature that no other software has: the ability to create profiles/presets with LUTs. This cannot be done with LrC or any other application.

kglad

Community Expert

in the future, to find the best place to post your message, use the list here, https://community.adobe.com/

p.s. i don't think the adobe website, and forums in particular, are easy to navigate, so don't spend a lot of time searching that forum list. do your best and we'll move the post (like this one has already been moved) if it helps you get responses.

<"moved from using the community bugs">

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