No plans to kill off Lightroom Classic, says Adobe

There’s been a lot of doubt and confusion since Adobe’s announcement about Lightroom CC. Standalone Lightroom has disappeared. The old Lightroom CC is now “Lightroom Classic”, and a lot suspect that Adobe plan to eventually phase it out.

According to a blog post on the Adobe Lightroom Journal, though, Adobe say they’re absolutely not planning to kill it. They say that they “remain committed to investing in Lightroom Classic in the future”. They it has an “exciting roadmap”, and even prompt users to hold Adobe accountable. Of course, we’ve heard this kind of thing before.

The blog post is put together more like a Frequently Asked Questions page, of which I’m sure Adobe have received many. One particular question deals with Lightroom Classic.

Q. Is Lightroom Classic being phased out? How long will it be until Adobe kills Lightroom Classic?

TH: No, we’re not phasing out Lightroom Classic and remain committed to investing in Lightroom Classic in the future. We know that for many of you, Lightroom Classic, is a tool you know and love and so it has an exciting roadmap of improvements well into the future. But please hold us accountable as we make updates in the following months and years to let us know if we’re meeting your expectations.

Adobe have gone back on their word before, though. Along with the announcement of Lightroom Classic was the fact that Lightroom Standalone was disappearing completely. Which is the exact opposite of the statement they made in 2013.

Q. Will Lightroom become a subscription only offering after Lightroom 5?

A. Future versions of Lightroom will be made available via traditional perpetual licenses indefinitely.”

Of course, I would imagine Adobe would argue “Well, Lightroom Classic is not Lightroom. It’s Lightroom Classic, and there won’t be any new versions of Lightroom, so it doesn’t count”.

But, that won’t instil confidence in many users of Lightroom Classic that it will continue to be developed along with Lightroom CC, and not simply abandoned at some point.

So, if you’re a Lightroom Classic fan, be sure to hold them to their request of keeping them accountable.

Still no word on when we’ll see Lightroom Zero, Diet Lightroom, or Caffeine Free Lightroom yet.