Install two versions of Lightroom Classic CC

[Dennis Minty]

Is it possible to have 2 versions of Lightroom Classic CC installed at the same time. I want to use V7.5 for the book module and V8.0 for everything else since the Book module in V 8.0 has serious bugs. For example, it will not retain any edits or new pages.

[JohanElzenga]

Officially not, but you can probably do it by renaming the existing installation and then installing the other one.

[ManiacJoe]

Having the two programs installed side by side should not be a problem since this is the default way Adobe does major version upgrades (7.x to 8.0).

The problem is going to be the sharing of the catalog between the two versions as the upgrade in software usually comes with an upgrade in the catalog structure that the old software does not understand.

[JohanElzenga]

ManiacJoe  wrote

Having the two programs installed side by side should not be a problem since this is the default way Adobe does major version upgrades (7.x to 8.0).

The problem is going to be the sharing of the catalog between the two versions as the upgrade in software usually comes with an upgrade in the catalog structure that the old software does not understand.

Nope, it’s not. What you say was true so far, but this time it is different. LR 8 is not really an upgrade. It’s LR 7.6 with a different version number. That means two things: First the versions do not install side by side. LR 8 will replace LR 7.5, unless you use a trick to fool the installer into thinking there is no old version. And secondly there is no catalog upgrade. If you do manage to install both versions side by side, then they will both use the same catalog and even the same preferences.

[ManiacJoe]

Good to know!

Thanks for the correction.