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Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Rick Churchill
It looks like the next major update to the Mac OS will render Lightroom 6.14 inoperable due to the fact that although it is a 64 bit application it seems to have a number of 32 bit segments. The Mac gives the warning “Lightroom…. is not optimised for your computer and needs to be updated”.

Adobe some time ago said that Lightroom 6, the stand-alone subscription-free app, would not be updated in the future. Whether it will do a one-off update because of the backlash that will occur when users find it no longer works when they thought they had a 64 bit programme, I do not know. The Lightroom disc I have says it requires 64 bit support in both Windows and Mac OS environments so it may run on my Windows PC (which I use just for games as I have installed a hefty graphics card) under Windows 10.

In preparing for the worst I am thinking of several options, one of which is to buy a Mac Mini and to keep it running on Mojave OS just for my photographs. As I will not be using it for video production I do not require hardware for intensive graphics work so perhaps a lower spec refurbished model would suffice. Any thoughts?

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Tony Still
I've been concerned about this too.

I am currently running 6.12 and get the warnings that you get. However, when LR is running, I can see no 32-bit items in Activity Monitor. I have all of Adobe's online/update components disabled (since I don't use them and suspect that I couldn't anyway without a subscription) and I'm hoping that the core app might just keep working.

There are various dangers in my hope: it may be that 32-bit components are used transiently and that LR won't launch without them. If that's the case, it feels open to a simple fix or possibly a third-party hack.

It would be a shame to lose LR but I'm not convinced that I'm about to pay £10/month for it.

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Rick Churchill
Roy gave me a tip which I have carried out. I have added a second copy of the Mojave OS to my Mac as a separate volume; it takes about 12 GBytes. If Lightroom fails after the update then I hope I can (somehow) move Lightroom to it.

I understand the 32-bit components are transient but whether Lightroom will launch without them I do not know. Like you I'm not going to pay £10 a month.

I thought of converting all my images to the DNG format. I understand this to be a universal RAW format which other photo editors will recognise. The pain of losing Lightroom however would be the Collections where, for those unfamiliar with Lightroom, aliases of images are stored under various categories like "Family" whereas the actual image file is kept in chronological folders. With 23,000 pictures I don't think I would have the will to do it all over again with a new photo cataloguer!

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Rick Churchill
Just thought of a question. It think I would like to disable superfluous Adobe stuff. How is this done?

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Rick Churchill
If Lightroom does not work under OS 10.15 (whatever that may be called) and a solution is not forthcoming I will be prepared, having made an additional volume on my hard drive with another copy of Mojave OS. However this will become outdated and unsupported by Apple and perhaps vulnerable to attacks if connected to the internet so my intention is to somehow move Lightroom, my picture files and probably Affinity onto it and have no email or web access. If I want to send a picture by email then I will export it to a shared folder then restart the computer using my normal default OS and use the email from there.

Although it may not come to this, is there an easier way in moving these Apps to a new volume rather than having to delete and re-install them? My Lightroom is on disc and Affinity was downloaded. (If I have to re-instal Lightroom I hope the last update for Lightroom 6 to bring it to 6.14 will be available from Adobe.)

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Trevor Hewson
You could just clone your current setup, then delete everything except what you need to preserve. Euan won't like it though :)

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Euan Williams
Wouldn't he? I do this sort of thing quite a lot with partitions ;)

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Tony Still
I have been looking at Luminar as a possible replacement for LR; lots of people seem to like it. This is available as a perpetual licence and a lot less expensive than LR. It is a LR-like tool and could complement PS, Affinity, Pixelmator or whatever in the same way that LR does.

Luminar grew a DAM (posh name for repository of photos) late last year and has a LR migration tool on its development roadmap (see website). The interesting question is whether Luminar will be able to replace LR before LR dies on us.

I was considering a talk on such issues, also including dealing with unsupported cameras (too new, <cough>) for a subsequent meeting if there's any interest.

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Roy Rainford
Will be interested in a talk on Luminar.

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Roy Rainford
A review for Luminar is on https://stuckincustoms.com/luminar-review/ plus a coupon code for a discount. There is also a 'Spring Offer' of 15% on the link given by Tony above. Thought it worth a punt at £45. Installed and running on my mid 2010 iMac. Starting the learning curve!

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Tony Still
Roy, you have got further than I have because I've not even started the free trial yet.

If I do give a talk, would you be able to supply your 'experienced photographer' opinion/experience/examples as a cameo appearance? The quality of your photos puts mine in the shade (by two or three stops 😖).

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Rick Churchill
Thanks Trevor but I don't have enough space on my SSD 1TByte drive to clone the existing volume.

Have looked at some reviews of Luminar. Be careful of the "Stuckincustoms.com" review, it is from someone involved too closely with the team developing the software. Although we are promised the ability for Luminar to import a Lightroom catalogue the deal breaker for me is if it does not import Collections This is where I search for photos in various categories: Friends and Family>Family>Brother or Boats, Cars, Planes & Trains>Planes>Models>Spitfire etc. Can you imagine the time required to rework this on a collection of 22,000 photos?

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Roy Rainford
Will do what I can in support Tony but depends how far I have gone up the learning curve.

Wise words from Rick but the "Stuckincustoms" coupon code works plus discount from Luminar which 'sold' it to me. The 'jury' will remain out for some time on Luminar. LR will take some beating.

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Tony Still
Thanks Roy. May and June meetings are arranged so I'd see this as the July feature - does that work for you?

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Roy Rainford
Tony, since the venue will have daylight in July, not good for viewing subtle changes in images, I suggest a meeting in winter. Will discuss.

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Trevor Hewson
Roy, I'm sure Tony can fix the technology so we can all scrutinise the pictures at close range on our iPads rather than rely on a distant screen. :)

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Derek Wright
I received a very compelling email from ON1 talking about their latest iteration
ON1 Photo Raw
which claims that it can import LR catalogs and files and enable the same images to be created from the source image plus the applied adjustments.

It is a fixed price product - however ON1 do release updates - sometimes for a fee.

I have also read in the Lightroom Queen forums that Adobe are not increasing the subscription costs to existing subscribers.

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Tony Still
Good spot Derek, I didn't know that ON1 had anything in the way of catalogue features but it looks like it can emulate LR in a number of ways. It is twice the price of Luminar of course.

There's an update due "real soon" so a free trial period once that appears would be useful.

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Rick Churchill
I’m impressed with reviews of ON1 Photo RAW 2019 as it says that it “includes a bolstered Lightroom Migration Tool that not only replicates folder, collection and metadata structures but can now also re-apply edits previously made, including local adjustments.”

The video on migration from LR reinforces the fact that it includes Collections and advises that the ON1 software interprets the LR adjustments made to the RAW image into similar ON1 adjustments. It says “It includes all your basic adjustments”. Not sure whether this includes Cloning or the Adjustment Brush or indeed anything outside of the LR basic first tab like HSL or Transform. The examples, of course, show absolutely no difference between LR adjusted and ON1 adjusted images.

Reviews of the product says it "can" do this but I can’t find anyone who has actually tested it. As there are two different methods that you set up Lightroom to store image adjustments, either with a separate “side-car” file to each image or within the catalogue file, I am concerned that not both methods are covered.

I like the fact that Collections are migrated and also I like the ability of ON1 to use layers like Photoshop/Affinity although I don’t think the selection tools are as well refined.

Someone needs to take the plunge. I’ll only do so if LR really is going to need replacing.

You may wish to look at this ON1 Support page

Re: Lightroom 64 bit but not as we know it!

Avatar Tony Still
A review here suggests that local edits may be a bit hit and miss. However, this is something that might improve in later versions and it certainly shows willing. The LR catalogue can be kept even after LR stops working so that it could be reimported.

Also, the sidecar files that LR can export look like they include local edits so they're another route to preserving all that non-destructive editing (I base that comment on a quick look at one sample - if you're interested, the sidecar files will open in TextEdit and are human-readable).

Like Luminar, I believe there is a free trial period so the import functions could be tested before spending any money.
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