Adobe announces Technology Previews for Lightroom on the Web with subject-identifying Search feature

I wish Adobe would put more effort into improving LR performance.....

Again, more time spent fiddling at the edges when the core application is still a poor performer with large files. (by large I mean TIFF's not RAW files, in the size realm of 1-4GB)

If they were using the PS engine, which is lightning fast I would be happy, I can easily work on 20GB PSB's in PS and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them and a 5MB jpeg, the render engine is that fluid.

LR....slow...so slow at times you just have to sit and wait.

Mar 24, 2016permalink

Shifter

I never used Lightroom. Why do so many use it?

Mar 24, 2016permalink

I agree with you here Neodp. Never trust "your" data to a public cloud.

You can make your own cloud service easily these days with a decent NAS. Synology, Qnap etc... and if you are making money from your photography, then the capital outlay is a worth while investment.

Using my private cloud connection I can upload to my NAS service from a web browser, phone, tablet, wherever I have internet connectivity, upload my critical files, access them online, edit them online.... pass them to clients online....

(synology DS1815+ and 6TB WD Reds)

Side effect, data redundancy within the NAS, backups (on and off site) via the NAS.
Plenty of scope for other services being run on the NAS should I want (including Docker VM's, Wordpress, CRM, MDS, Media services...). These NAS boxes are full operating systems, not dumb boxes.

3-5 year disk warranty for peace of mind.
No data charges, no costly contracts, no lock-ins. And you can sync with your public cloud services too if you really want to.

Mar 24, 2016*permalink

Clamman

I wish they'd just make face detection less flaky. It feels like an R&D proof of concept at the moment. Why is it that it will totally miss one of three faces that are the subject of a photo, yet in other shots it will dig out the most obscure, tiny, out-of-focus and under-exposed faces from the background?

Mar 24, 2016permalink

Sirandar

I would be the first to admit that cataloging new images in my collection is a chore.

The real question is whether this technology can be accurate and inclusive enough to meet my expectations and make less work instead of more.

If I need to double check my picture tags for both errors and omissions it will make more work not less.

This seems like an enticement for end users to move their pictures to the cloud as it isn't going to offered cloud free. If it works it might just do that.

In some ways the cloud is good because 99.99% of pictures are destined to be deleted when their owner dies. If they are on the cloud at least these pictures may have historical value.

Mar 21, 2016permalink

Sirandar

From the OP of this subpost: I use Lightroom and all my photos stay raw with adjustments unless I really messed up composure and need Photoshop. Every single photo gets fully and deeply tagged and those I define as "keepers" get a 5 star rating.

New tech and evolution of tastes and style sometimes allows re-visitation of photos you may not appreciate when you took them and tagged.

And in Lightroom a given raw can be split into numerous copies with different PP, and this takes up less space than if you actually convert all the variants to jpg.

Seem like you guys are only using a fraction of Lightroom's capability. I would never even consider leaving raw format unless i have to. Hard disk space is dirty cheap.

Mar 21, 2016*permalink

Sirandar

Interesting ..... I am not all that worried about losing my Lightroom catalog and settings. Lightroom is constantly backing it up and I have a constant weekly entire system backup with a second monthly backup off site.

Will Adobe try to screw me over? ... they already have with CC, but I really can't blame them as few people are willing to pay for software when they can steal it.

I plan on keeping my Oly OMD for a long long time so I really don't care than nonCC Lightroom won't fully support any new camera I will buy.

And Lightroom really is a wonderfully designed database/ developer for raw pictures. It all fits together so well and even the map feature works well.

Mar 22, 2016permalink

NeoDP crying about Adobe? How new and refreshing.

I have approximately 40TB of Disk space.
I don't give a flying f about disk space. I have backups of everything in triplicate.
Hard disks cost peanuts. Backups are automated. Lose a LR catalogue to corruption? Lol all I can lose is what I have done since I last opend and closed the program because it backs up every time I exit.

Your scaremongering is funny.
Can we see some of your ROTC work please in your gallery? Since you keep saying how you ROTC to save time and money and global carbon emissions and the wales......

Lightroom+PS CC cots me £90 a year.
For £90 a year I get everything I need for my LR and PS workflow.

IF YOU DONT WANT TO PAY FOR IT, GOOD FOR YOU, YOU STINGY WHINGER.

Mar 24, 2016permalink

You again say Adobe products do not = professional, then you (on other threads) say use GIMP use GIMP use GIMP.... like GIMP is professional eh? Its not even close. Jpeg? what? png? what? No need for non destructive? what?

Double standards with your ranting all the time. Pure hypocracy. Pure fantasist with a real chip on your shoulder.

And when you are called out, you say "shills" or "ignorant" or "evil conspiracy".

Get off the crack pipe and take that tinfoil hat of while you are at it?

Mar 24, 2016permalink

Yes Neodp. now go hug a tree. I think you need the company. Starting to riddle like yoda, you are. But you are not yoda, more like the bat-nemesis, a joker.

If someone pays to use software they want that is a choice, it neither makes nor implies any assumption, assertion or statement of or about anything photographic in terms of ability.

Your lack in intellectual ability to differentiate between what one chooses to use as a tool to do a task versus what is a skill, aptitude, ability or indeed talent, proven track record or even recorded acclamation of such, shows you are just a bag of wind blowing your own sail.

By your very own stupid definition, me using Microsoft Word and paying for it, means I'm not a professional writer, novellist, song-writer or master wordsmith, because according to you "I chose to pay for the wrong tool" to do my work, whatever that may be.

/duh.

Mar 24, 2016*permalink

Nicholas128

Huge privacy issues with this. I wish Adobe would focus on improving the core functions of LR and PS instead of this obsession with gimmicks.

Mar 20, 2016permalink

quiquae

What new privacy issue does this feature have that hasn't already been introduced by the web interface?

Mar 21, 2016permalink

graybalanced

The privacy issues are there. But for perspective, if anyone has those concerns about LRM yet is using scanned-for-advertisers Gmail as their main email provider, they have already agreed to value convenience over privacy. Lightroom may have your pics in it, but email has messages including personal info, relationship info, accounts info, usernames, passwords, etc.

Mar 25, 2016permalink

To all the moaners: Welcome to the 21st Century. This is *exactly* the sort of thing a workflow/cataloging system like LR should be doing.

This sort of thing is where the tech world is spending billions to take computers from being basic filing cards to being able to actually help categorize and intelligently search for files.

Well done to Adobe for getting it to us early.

I'm all for a debate about the pros and cons of privacy, features vs performance etc, but c'mon guys -- you're sounding like a bunch of Luddites.

Mar 20, 2016permalink

GeorgiJuraj

You are for sure free to have your own views, wishes, requirements and opinions. I would appreciate you beeing able to concede same freedom to those with different needs/opinions.

Mar 21, 2016permalink

Adobe crap?
For kindergarteners?
Who don't know what they are doing?

IMO.

Adobe is OK. Better than most products, no worse than some others.
Adobe is a tool that works. You are just a tool.

I dont know any kindergarteners who know how to use Adobe products, but sure do I know some kindergarteners on here who don't have a clue what they are talking about.

I use adobe and other tools, I know what I'm doing.
And I do it very well thanks. Pays my bills. My clients are happy. How about you?

Please "prove" Adobe is crap for kindergarteners who don't know what they are doing, show us some evidence of this claim. Or is it pure fantasist troll guff?

Mar 24, 2016*permalink

Shifter

Smells of Big Brother tracking our photos to me. Stinks, actually.

Mar 20, 2016permalink

Yep. I wouldn't use this ever.

Mar 24, 2016permalink

OBI656

Adobe PLESE quit development of these junkies applications and give us solid applications as Photoshop, Lightroom... etc without this nonsense application manager and annoying Desktop-Cloud or what ever it is.
So far you ADOBE you are going downhill. Very annoying ...

Mar 20, 2016permalink

Cdog

Adobe, please don't come out with anything new, NOTHING, until performance issues are addressed. This is a REAL issue for actual photographers. It's a pretty blew that needs to be addresses ASAP.

Mar 19, 2016permalink

msadat

how about just working on performance rather than all the features , this thing is so slow

Mar 19, 2016permalink

Glorfindelrb

Lr face detection is the worse available at the moment. You need to go through each shot to verify how many faces are not tagged and proposed names are absurd. Better improve that.

Mar 19, 2016permalink

KrisAK

Huge privacy issues in play here: this doesn't just sync your keywords, it uses "newly developed image analysis technology" to identify the objects and places in your photos.

What's worse, privacy is only briefly alluded to in their blog:

"at no time will anyone else be able to search through or find your photos."

Great. But what about the METADATA your NSA plugin just scraped from my photos? What happens to that?

Mar 19, 2016*permalink

You should probably assume the NSA can access pretty much anything if they want to. Politics is the solution to that, not Adobe's EULA.

Would be nice to see more vendors offering services like this with Cloud services hosted from a local region, i.e. EU rather than USA.

I would want to see a clearer statement from Adobe before using this service, to be sure that data they mine is only used in aggregate and anonymised.

Mar 20, 2016permalink

PhotoKhan

The idea that the same US agencies that monitor traffic and stored data in the US using US cloud based storage wouldn't do the very same by changing services to EU based providers of the same services is an amusingly naive one.

Mar 20, 2016permalink

@PhotoKhan glad I amused you.

I work in IT and many businesses I work with want Cloud based data in the EU because they don't want their data being subject to a foreign power's laws.

Mar 20, 2016permalink

Michael Foran

I wish Adobe would quit with these bell-and-whistle features and improve functions of the program that actually matter to photographers. How about better skin tone control? or the ability to control noise in zones of brightness? i actually do like the program but their focus on gimmicks over substance is a constant irritation.

Mar 19, 2016permalink

billslatteryjr

Technology Previews? Oh, you mean beta. Sorta like calling programs apps. Cool.
Freakin idiots. Grow up.

Mar 19, 2016permalink

M. Mitchell

Instead of cataloging features. I'd like to see more of the Photoshop CC features added to Lightroom.

Mar 19, 2016permalink

Lassoni

If this turns out to be good, it will help organizing images / finding the images, workflow will be smoother

Mar 18, 2016permalink

RyanBoston

Does it have a selfie feature? Can Siri search within the measly 2gb?

😁

That seems to be the road all these companies are trying to go after. Useless features for lifeless people.

Mar 18, 2016permalink

falconeyes

> Useless features for lifeless people

Copied to cookie database :)

Mar 18, 2016permalink

Alai_jw

This seems great, but almost completely useless unless I can store all my photos in the cloud somewhere and have Lightroom on the Web access them. It seems this requires the use of your Adobe CC storage... which as far as I can tell can't even be upgraded? So as a CC Photography subscriber I get a whopping 2GB. Completely freaking useless. If this just connected to Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive, it would be a great tool.

Mar 18, 2016permalink

I don't think it uses your CC storage. I synched a LR album to my ipad, the album showed up in my LR on the web without affecting my CC storage.

Mar 19, 2016permalink

Here it is: https://helpx.adobe.com/mobile-apps/help/lightroom-mobile-faq.html

Does syncing images to Lightroom for mobile use a portion of the cloud storage I get with my Creative Cloud membership?
No, the images synced with Lightroom for mobile are not counted as part of your cloud storage.

Mar 19, 2016permalink

Alai_jw

Interesting, and thank you!

Adobe does not make this stuff very clear...

I still wish Adobe either would provide their own storage for RAWs and Lightroom catalogs or allow us to connect directly to a Onedrive/Dropbox sort of thing.

Mar 19, 2016permalink

Shepherd90

OneDrive has already implemented similar feature

Mar 18, 2016permalink

And google. Google photos has been doing this for some time....

Mar 19, 2016permalink

This is probably using Google as the image search algorithm at the back end. Would be very surprised if Abode has developed their own...

Mar 20, 2016permalink

dlb41

Pretty soon, the photographer will aim the camera in the general direction of the subject, and Adobe programmers will take care of producing a photograph.

Mar 18, 2016permalink

pahountisg

and humans will be irrelevant lol :)

Mar 18, 2016permalink

Rob Bernhard

What? I still have to pick up the camera and physically move it? Pass.

Mar 18, 2016permalink

Aper1st

I thought Bridge did the same thing. I know you have to use keywords and other criteria in Bridge. Maybe Adobe is trying make mooooore simple for us old folks?

Mar 18, 2016permalink

Argent22

Menu -> Settings -> Ansel Adams Mode.

(Aim the camera around randomly and it'll take the shot Ansel would have taken.)

Mar 19, 2016permalink

badbob42mk1

people ask for features, get them, then complain

Mar 19, 2016permalink