Moving to CC

[Badger51]

I currently am a Lightroom V6 user.

If I start with Lightroom Classic and later suspend my membership, can I continue to use Lightroom v6.x?

[Peru Bob]

Yes, but you may need to reinstall it after uninstalling CC.

[AxelMatt · Accepted solution]

Yes, you can.  But you cannot use the catalog from the CC version to continue working in Ligthroom 6

[Just Shoot Me · Accepted solution]

As the other 2 replies state.

1) Yes you can continue to use LR 6 for as long as Adobe keeps the authentication, activation, servers alive. Could be 1 year to 5/10+ years from now. No one Knows how long they will be alive for.

But you more than likely will need to remove all Adobe software and then reinstall LR 6.

You need to get the latest update for that version NOW and Save it on your drive and make multiple copies of it.

2) You will not be able to use the newer catalog file designed to work with LR Classic in the older LR 6.

So any work you did on the newer LR Classic will be lost for the most part. The catalog is NOT Backword compatible

[Nancy OShea]

That would be counterproductive.   LR6 will never be updated again. It is what it is.  There's little point in upgrading if you don't intend to stick with the latest software and updates. 

[Badger51]

I am torn.  I am a casual user of LR and am attempting to become more proficient.

My current and likely future camera are supported by LR 6.

But I suspect there may be work flow improvements and new features in LR Classic.

I also am troubled by the subscription issue...it's not that I mind the payments so much.  But it bothers me that if, at some point in the future, I say that the current program suits my needs and I no longer wish to receive upgrades, etc....I would not have the option to use the program on new images.

But I know that none of us are able to change that directly.

[Abambo]

The Lr Classic subscription is not only Lr Classic but Photoshop is also included in the pachage (Photography plan). For anyone thinking seriously about photoediting, this is a strong point.

Think about the subscription as your phone. As long as you pay for the subscription, you are allowed to make calls and to surf...

If you stop your subscription, you will loose Develop mode and Map mode but you will still be able to export your pictures with the current settings. I won't say that this would be for me, but that may be an acceptable situation...

[edit: corrected typing error]

But without wanting to take business away from Adobe: If you are happy with Lr 6 and it works as expected, continue using it for a while. As soon as you buy a new camera, however, you will need new software when doing RAW shooting. You can work around with Adobe DNG converter, but to be honest, that is only a crutch.

Also: Look careful at the features that the latest version of Lr has and that are not included in your current one. If there is the killer feature, go for it.