P: Brighten the Histogram as LrC 13.0 histogram is much darker than LrC 12.5

[Alexey Danilchenko]

Lightroom Classic 13.0, macOS Ventura 13.6

New histogram look in develop module draws histogram in afancy stule with a line contour that envelops the histogram and stretches all the way from blacks to highlights. The line contour stretches the whole length of the histiogram all the time and this makes it impossible to see the real data distribution or where highlights or blacks need to be adjusted and how much of the range is left. The histogram view is basically useless. This fancy displaying is style over substance change and negates the reason to use histogram - please revert to old style histogram where empty areas are easy to see and there are no fancy line contours. Better yet - make your developers coming up with these fancy ideas to actually use the product themselves.

The clipping iundicators are no help either because I have a situation where clip indicator show no clipping yet when selected shows some small areas of clipping in image - see screenshot with clipping indicator shows no clipping in highlights yet when selected shows blown highlights on swans.
I had no issues using histogram in Lightroom Classic 12 and it was far more useful when presenting information to the user, please reinstate it!

[Alexey Danilchenko]

Thanks Alex for great demonstration

[DdeGannes]

@alexskunz @Alexey Danilchenko ,

Ok I can replicate what Alex indicates in his post.
On my iMac LrC 12.5 is different to what my Laptop Windows 11 and LrC 13.0.1.

[shooting4fun55]

The new histogram sucks!!!!!! Please give us the last version. Sheesh........

[RocknRolla128]

A bug does not cease to be a bug just because a designer made it, and it is counter-productive to use semantics as an excuse to ignore a significant reported problem. If semantics is more important to the coders and designers than the magnitude of a problem, then their priorities are extremely misguided.

[GoldingD]

I have been searching for the why on this change. Why did Adobe do this? Where does Adobe document this change? Where does Adobe inform the customers about this change?

As this was forced down ACR users and Lr users, I searched those community's for complaints. Nada in ACR, nada in PS, but one possibly related in Lr Ecosystem:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-ecosystem-cloud-based-discussions/p-luminance-histogram-onl...

And Adobe response:

"To accommodate the new HDR feature, the Histogram required a redesign"

So that makes me think to relook at the What is New document again:

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/whats-new.html

Where one would think a mention of the Histogram change would be mentioned. Nada. Looking deeper at the section on HDR. Nada.  From that area, another link:

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/hdr-output.html

First place to see an image including the new Histogram, a bit about splitting the Histogram, but nothing past that.

Am I missing a document?

[Justin Hoch]

@RocknRolla128  Rikk said it wasn't a bug. I was just trying to explain why he said that, which is that it appears Adobe's product team wanted it that way and thought it was a good design choice. I'm just a regular user myself. I wasn't trying to discount the complaint or defend Adobe. I'd like to have the old histogram back, too. "Bug" is a technical term for unintended behaviors. not conscious design choices that users simply don't like. I find being accurate in lodging complaints is helpful at getting changes made, so I was trying to clarify the language.

[Geoff the kiwi]

You have the right idea, it is not a 'bug' but 'as designed' so this is the correct forum for the topic.

Some new implementations the team make we may not fully understand and that has always been the reality however the team do listen and will respond to feedback it is well presented as a case whether for new features or to change an implementation...  the Lr Team is after all on your side with the aim of a more featured and stable application 👍🏾👍🏾

[Alexey Danilchenko]

> You have the right idea, it is not a 'bug' but 'as designed' so this is
the correct forum for the topic.

You are either not reading what’s being posted here or not using histogram
apart as some pretty thing to look at. I doubt designers wanted to make it
deliberately unusable - so it is very much a bug. I honestly could not care
less how they resolve it - bring old 12 style back or make new style work
properly without those idiotic lines but they need to fix it

[Geoff the kiwi]

The new histogram was designed as it is so No Bug... no matter what you say!! 

[Alexey Danilchenko]

> The new histogram was designed as it is so No Bug... no matter what you say!! 

Again read what is being discussed here - design that makes item unusable is bug, no matter what you say.

[Alexey Danilchenko]

>As this was forced down ACR users and Lr users, I searched those community's for complaints. Nada in ACR, nada in PS, but one possibly related in Lr Ecosystem

You are right - it is the same useless line style in ACR. Photohop however is fine - still has usable histogram.

[Alexey Danilchenko]

All, I have now made a new post insisting it is a bug here https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/fix-lightroom-13-histogram-to-show-free-parts-...

That one does not request v12 histogram back but requests for v13 to be fixed to be usable again.

[jonholcombe]

I am trying to figure out how Adobe thinks the redesigned V. 13.0 Histogram is an upgrade. It is, in my opinion, less useful, and harder to see. I cannot find any explanation as to why it has been changed, and why Adobe thinks this is an improvement. Does anyone else agree?

[alexskunz]

@jonholcombethe histogram needed updating for the HDR range visualization, but whether the actual rendition had to be this way is a different question of course. 🙂

[Jean Miele]

Whether you call it a bug or a feature, this is a problem. I can no longer determine from the histogram if the image contains a value of zero/pure black or real white/255. The green channel, in particular, now ALWAYS displays a full range of tones from one side of the graph to the other, even when the image does not contain values of 0 and 255. This renders the histogram useless as a tool to check and adjust tonal range. I don't care if we go back to the V12 version, I just want the histogram to do its job: to accurately reflect the tonal values of the image. Adobe, please fix this. It's a bad decision.

[dbruno]

IT IS AWFUL!!!!!!!!!

[Shilton Tan]

I would like the histogram gridlines (present in earlier versions) to be brought back. Channel colours should also be presented in a clear/more obvious manner.

Expected functionality: Histogram is shown over a gridline. Channel colours are presented using solid/more obvious colours. (Refer to the image below, ignore the red circles.)

Customization: Additionally, it might be useful to allow users to choose between turning gridlines on or off, or choosing between the older and newer histogram style. 

Benefit: Gridlines allow us to visualise in a clear manner where the channel values are placed, so that we are able to ensure consistency between photos. Having the channel colours be more obvious also makes it more discernible.

[edited by moderator]

[DavePinMinn]

I've been using V13 since it got released, and until this morning it didn't hit me how unproductive the new histogram is.  Previously, I just shrugged and lumped it in with the "Well, they've gotta change SOMETHING every time, even if it makes a usable tool less useful.  This time it was the histogram"  It's sometimes a bit frustrating that LR has changes that have been requested for years, and ignored, instead spending time on things like this...  Even having been one, I sometimes can't figure out what went through some designer/developer's mind when they decided a change like this was a good idea. 

[alexskunz]

I'd just like to throw these two screenshots in here again to raise the issue that the v13 histogram is ridiculously dark. I'm editing my photos with my monitor at 120nits because I actually print my photos (and don't care about HDR that burns the retina of my eyes).

I really, really can't comprehend how anyone with a sense for ACTUAL PHOTOGRAPHY could come up with a bloody dark histogram rendition like this — and think this this is ripe for a prime time production environment of WORKING PHOTOGRAPHERS.

v13 histogram aka "Prince of Darkness"

v12 histogram aka "wait, users can actually see the distribution of the tones in this clearly — let's kill it"

And that's all...

[arj107]

I have never commented on any forum like this before, but I've been driven here to contribute my opinion of the new histogram. If this is the first and the last thing I ever say, so be it...

The new histogram is vile. Straight trash. Change it back please.

I have been using histograms in many different photo editing softwares for over a decade and this is the worst histogram I have ever seen. It is repugnant. 

I just arrived home from a two week exploration of a foreign continent with thousands of photographs and I can't overstate the agony I feel having to use this despicable disgrace.

I get it, the design team tried really hard. It's a major flop, sorry guys.

It is seriously that bad. Ban me if you want, but obviously I'm not the only one.

[mpphotog]

I agree with the other commenters. This histogram is harder to work with and borders on unusable. What I really need to come back are the vertical grid lines on the histogram. I can deal with the dark colors. Without the grid lines, it becomes harder to make adjustments in the right amount and ensure consistency between photos.

[Barry Headrick]

I also agree with the negative comments about how the new histogram is displayed.  It is dark and lacks contrast, and it is almost unreadable on my monitor.  Also the numbers under the histogram (ISO, focal lenght, aperture, and shutter speed) are hard to read.  The RGB numbers are very visible when the cursor is on the image.

The other panels on the right side of the develop module are ok for readability.  Please change the histogram back to its more visible presentation, or give us a option to choose the display format (old or new).

[ondrejb47127146]

Hello, I often find it difficult to work with the new histogram look in Lightroom Classic. It's harder to see slight color changes when I need to adjust the correct WB or compare colors between images in slightly changing conditions.
And sometimes it just looks messy like lines with color bars.

The older look was (in my opinion) simpler and easier to use when i needed to see small color differences.

[dj_paige]

I have no problem with it.

[Keith Reeder]

Doesn't bother me, either.