Lightroom Q&A'sNews

Lightroom 4 Is Here! (…And a Quick Q&A)

Hey everyone! Well, it’s official. Lightroom 4 is out. Not a beta this time, it’s the actual full version in all of its glory 🙂 First off, over at NAPP Scott Kelby and I have created the official Lightroom 4 Launch Site. We’ve got videos that go over all the new features as well as some other places you can go for more Lightroom training. Of course, as time goes on, I’ll be covering more Lightroom 4 stuff here on the site so stay tuned over the coming months for that. Finally, I just finished 4 new online training class over at Kelby Training. Basically, I’ve redone my Lightroom In-Depth series. I don’t have the link just yet, as the courses will go live later today, but (again) stay tuned and I’ll post it as soon as I get it.

In the meantime, Scott and I will be doing a live webcast Q&A today over at 12 noon ET over at Kelbytraining.com/Webast. Stop by and join us if you’re around. But if you can’t, you’ll always be able to watch the rebroadcast on Kelby Training’s website the day after.

Finally, I figured I’d do a quick Q&A of some questions that I’ve seen from previous Lightroom releases so hopefully I can answer some of your questions before you even get to ask them. But of course, if you think of anything else, feel free to leave a comment and ask away.

Q. So is this the real deal? You mean Lightroom 4 isn’t in beta anymore?
A. Yup, this is the real deal. This is the official Lightroom 4 launch. Adobe did release Lightroom in beta back in January. Since then, they’ve put the finishing touches on it and it’s ready for prime time. You can buy it (and download it today) over at www.adobe.com/lightroom.

Q. Are there any new features in the official version of LR4 vs. the Beta we saw back in January?A. Actually, no. Adobe usually adds some new features between the beta and full version. However, this time the beta period was shorter than usual so there’s not really anything new between the beta and full version you can get now. That said, I have noticed performance changes which means they have indeed been tweaking the code behind the scenes. Faster is better right? 🙂

Q. Will I be able to transfer the work I did in the beta the official version of Lightroom 4 when I upgrade?
A. Sure thing. When you download and install Lightroom 4, you’ll be asked to upgrade any old catalogs that you’ve installed.

Q. Will I be able to upgrade my existing Lightroom 3 catalogs to Lightroom 4?
A. Yes. You couldn’t do this with the beta version of Lightroom 4, but you’ll be able to upgrade your Lightroom 3 catalogs to Lightroom 4. After you start up Lightroom 4 for the first time, it’ll prompt you to upgrade. Now, as with all software upgrades, it’s not a bad idea to back everything up before you do any upgrades. Everything should be fine, but again, its’ always a good idea to cover yourself.

Q. Do I need to keep Lightroom 3 or the Lightroom 4 Beta on my computer after I install the full version?
A. Nope. It may not hurt to keep it on there for a week or so while you get used to the new version. But after that, neither the upgrade or full version of Lightroom 4 require the old versions to be around.

Q. How much will Lightroom 4 cost?
A. This is huge news actually. Adobe has dropped the price of Lightroom significantly. The full version (which used to cost $299) will now be $149. The upgrade version will only cost $79. Pretty cool huh?

Q. When will Lightroom 5 be released?
A. Really? 😉

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