Upgrading from Lightroom 5.7

Question

Hello all. I am retired and a user of Lightroom 5.7 desktop. I take photos in fits and starts sometimes a few months apart but when I do I take a lot of travel and family photos. So I also use Lightroom in fits and starts and am nowhere near exploring its full potential I am thinking of getting an I pad pro for art and it made me think I should commit to a photo plan. I also have a laptop and I have had some issues in remembering how to synch catalogues! I have about 30 k photos on my PC many of them jpg of my late wife and these are backed up to an external drive. I am trying to work out the optimum upgrade path with minimum disruption.
- if I subscribe to the £9.99 monthly plan would I simply download an app to all three devices then start working on any new photos in the cloud.? Would I be able to download photos from the cloud onto my desktop and back them up locally into my existing folder structure? Can I merge my existing folder structure into the desktop app or would I use the app in conjunction with Lightroom 5.7
I am slightly reluctant to commit to a £20 monthly plan knowing it may not get regular use

Sorry as you can see I am a little confused!

JP Hess · Answer

The plan you are referring to gives you access to three different programs, Lightroom Classic, Lightroom and Photoshop.

Lightroom Classic functions much like Lightroom 5.7. It utilizes a catalog on your computer, stores images in folders on your computer, and enables you to share collections of smart previews with Lightroom (for the cloud) which can be opened and edited on other devices. The changes made on other devices will affect the master images in Lightroom Classic and vice versa.

Lightroom is the version for the cloud. Images that are imported direcctly to Lightroom will have the Masters stored in the cloud, and will impact the 20 GB limit. The smart previews used by Lightroom Classic do NOT impact that limitation. The files imported directly to Lightroom will also be imported into Lightroom Classic. Editing done in either program will affect the images on all devices. That's the same whether the images are imported into Lightroom Classic or Lightroom.

You will find that Lightroom Classic functions much more like the Lightroom 5.7 you are accustomed to. However, many users seem to prefer the new Lightroom for the cloud. Personally, I prefer Lightroom Classic. Lightroom does not have all the features that Lightroom Classic has. Both programs are still being developed and improved. I cannot recommend one over the other because I don't fully understand your situation or your preference. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. Careful consideration on your part would be a good idea.

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