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Jean-François Vibert
Participating Frequently
October 25, 2017
Question

Will it be possible to open Lightroom Catalog (for free), after you end your CC subscribtion ?

  • October 25, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 3196 views

Adobe announced when Lightroom 6 / CC became a subscription option : that you can still use your Catalog after stopping your Subscription...

Is it still true for Lightroom Classic CC 2018 ?

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    2 replies

    Soji_Okita
    Inspiring
    November 20, 2017

    I just checked Adobe Creative Cloud Photography FAQ. It has been updated end of october and nothing has changed:

    FAQ | Creative Cloud Photography plans

    What happens to my photos if I end my membership?

    Lightroom Classic CC: You'll still have access to all your photos on your local hard drive through Lightroom for the desktop. You can continue to import and organize photos as well as output your edited photos through Export, Publish, Print, Web, or Slideshow. Access to the Develop & Map modules and Lightroom for mobile are not available after your membership ends.

    Inspiring
    November 20, 2017

    Thanks both, I also found this even more recent text, dated 6th November 2017: https://helpx.adobe.com/in/creative-cloud/faq/CCPp.html​ which says the same thing:

    What happens to my photos if I end my membership?

    Lightroom CC: Adobe will continue to store your original images for one year after your membership lapses. During that time, you can continue to launch Lightroom CC to download your original files from our cloud services.

    Lightroom Classic CC: You'll still have access to all your photos on your local hard drive through Lightroom for the desktop. You can continue to import and organize photos as well as output your edited photos through Export, Publish, Print, Web, or Slideshow. Access to the Develop & Map modules and Lightroom for mobile are not available after your membership ends.

    Which sounds like an official statement.

    (Yes, I know that's the same as Soji_Okita posted, but there seem to be two different pages, one dated 28th Oct and one 6th Nov)

    dl_paige (and all of us) were sure this was the past position, but I feel more comfortable with recent official Adobe confirmation that it still applies.

    dj_paige
    Legend
    November 20, 2017

    Yes, thank you both, Simon G E Garrett​ and Soji_Okita for the information.

    This is a big relief to me as well.

    Mohit Goyal
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    November 20, 2017

    Hi Jean-FranCAoisVibert,

    You should own a perpetual copy of Lightroom to use your catalog after ending the Creative cloud subscription.

    There are two ways to buy Lightroom.

    1. You can buy a standalone Lightroom 6 version, where you can pay once and own that license.

    2. Buy Lightroom CC on a monthly basis and get all the latest update for this software.

    Regards,

    Mohit

    Soji_Okita
    Inspiring
    November 20, 2017

    Hello Mohit,

    Your answer is very unsettling:
    - as said above, it's in contradiction with what Adobe has written earlier. There was no statement from Adobe that the policy has changed.

    From my point of view, such a change will be a sufficient reason for me to leave to use another program.

    - I don't think that Lightroom 6 will be able to open Lightroom Classic CC catalogs, so I'm not sure that your solution to buy a perpetual licence will work.

    As some bodies will not be supported by Lightroom 6, it's not a valid solution on the long term.

    dj_paige
    Legend
    November 20, 2017

    Well, I have no idea whether the policy has changed, but the impact on me is potientially considerable, so:

    Will someone from Adobe please confirm whether LR Classic will continue to function after a subscription lapses, with the exception of Develop and Map modules?


    Sadly, Simon, the only people who read this are the usual Adobe low-level employees who have gotten this question (and others) wrong time after time. High level employees (like Tom Hogarty) don't read this forum. Catch-22. I don't think we'll be getting a definitive answer.

    Maybe Victoria Bampton can coerce Adobe to make a statement, but I doubt any of us can.