Today’s Question: After multiple updates to Lightroom Classic over the years, I’ve noticed an increasing number of photos that indicate the process version is out of date. How concerned should I be about updating photos to the latest process version?
Tim’s Quick Answer: In my view the only reason you should update the process version for a photo is if you want to refine the adjustments for a photo and want to be sure you’re taking advantage of the latest updates to Lightroom Classic.
More Detail: In effect, the process version for a photo in Lightroom Classic reflects the version of the Develop module. In other words, and image set to an older process version will reflect the adjustment options and effects that were available in an earlier version of Lightroom Classic.
In general, I recommend using the latest process version when optimizing a photo, so that you’re able to take advantage of all the latest features and improvements (and bug fixes) in Lightroom Classic.
However, if you’re not going to be refining (or at least reviewing) the adjustments for an image, there isn’t a significant advantage to updating the process version. In fact, updating the process version could result in a change of appearance to a photo that could be problematic.
If you’re happy with the way an image looks based on the adjustments you had previously applied with an earlier version of Lightroom Classic, there generally isn’t any need to update the image to the latest process version. If you’re going to be reviewing and possibly refining the adjustments for the image, however, I generally recommend updating to the latest process version. Just keep in mind that the appearance of the photo may change as part of this process, so you may have a little bit of extra work involved in getting the photo to look its best.
You can update the process version for a photo using the Process popup in the Calibration section on the right panel in the Develop module. You can also update the process version by clicking on the lightning bolt icon on the Histogram panel in the Develop module that appears for images that are not updated to the latest process version.
