Today’s Question: Thank you for your video about the “new” Lightroom CC [https://youtu.be/yYVhtou5pVI]. One thing I’m concerned about is the synchronization feature. When I’m traveling with limited access to the Internet, would I still be able to use this new version of Lightroom? The synchronization feature sounds great, but what if I’m not always online, or if I have a really slow connection?
Tim’s Quick Answer: No, you don’t need to be connected to the Internet to make use of the new Lightroom CC. You can add photos locally, and they will synchronize to the cloud whenever you are connected to the Internet. A slow connection simply slows that synchronization, but doesn’t prevent you from working.
More Detail: The new Lightroom CC announced by Adobe yesterday revolves around cloud-based synchronization, so you can access all of your photos from virtually anywhere on just about any device. The software previously known as Lightroom CC is now referred to as “Lightroom Classic”.
While Lightroom CC uses an Internet connection to synchronize your photos to the cloud so they are available from just about any Internet-connected computer or device, you don’t need to be online to make use of Lightroom CC.
You can add photos to Lightroom CC locally on your computer without being connected to the Internet, with no limits on what you’re able to do with those photos. When you have an Internet connection available, Lightroom CC will synchronize your photos (and the settings for the photos) to the cloud. A slow Internet connection would obviously slow that process down, but it won’t prevent you from working locally.
As noted in the episode of Tim Grey TV referenced in today’s question (https://youtu.be/yYVhtou5pVI), the new Lightroom CC is certainly a new product that doesn’t necessarily include all of the features a photographer would require in their workflow. But it does include an impressive set of technologies that are worth exploring. In other words, just because Lightroom CC might not have everything you need today for your workflow, it may very well provide an ideal solution for you at some point down the road.