Every October, Adobe releases updates for Lightroom. The most current version of Lightroom is now version 12, which was just released this October 2022.

This might be my favorite update ever! I thought last year’s was amazing. But this year’s update has it beat hands-down!!!

Below is a list of my top 5 improvements this update and ones I will use EVERYday as a professional photo editor!

1. ADAPTIVE PRESETS

Adaptive Presets are not new to Lightroom. However, they have improved so much with this last update, using them has already become a part of my new workflow! You really won’t believe what they can now do!

2. SELCECT BACKGROUND

Last year when Lightroom came out with their A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) feature/masking tool, it was mind-blowing. But this year they stepped it up to be even better. Now with one-click you can instantly highlight/mask the background of your photos and edit it separately from the subject.

Until this last update, it was at least a 2-step process to get the same results.

3. SELECT PEOPLE

The A.I. Masking Tool now also includes a feature that lets you select people in your photo. Working in the background, Lightroom detects all of the people in a photo and creates a small thumbnail of their faces.

as you hover over the faces you are able to choose just the one person you would like to add edits to. And once that person is chosen you have further options to edit their features individually.

I have to say it again…mind-blowing!

4. SELECT OBJECTS

The A.I. Masking Tool also lets you select any object in a photo, and creates a mask for that object allowing you to make changes to that object without effecting the rest of the image!

5. CONTENT AWARE

Content Aware has been available in Photoshop for quite a few years. It works brilliantly at removing unwanted objects and distractions from an image. However, in order to use it, the image had to be taken into Photoshop.

Now, we are able to remove unwanted objects from and image without ever leaving Lightroom. It’s awesome and time-saving.

However, full transparency compels me to tell you, it still isn’t as good as the Content Aware tool in Photoshop. But give them time. I am sure it will get better and better as time goes on.

watch them in action

Now that I have briefly explained the newest updates, take a few minutes and watch them in action. It will blow your mind!

Now that you’ve seen what they can do, have fun trying them all out. I have little doubt they will quickly become part of your editing workflow as they have mine!

If you found this helpful, I have many tutorials on my You Tube Channel where you will find weekly Lightroom editing tips and shortcuts. Be sure and SUBSCRIBE so you’ll never miss them. And please share this with a friend who also loves to edit!

If you have editing questions, never hesitate to reach out. I am always here to help. DM me on Instagram @alisamccormick and let’s chat! I am an open book and love to help others grow on their editing journeys.

Until next time, Happy Editing!