What’s new & improved in Lightroom Classic
Lightroom Classic has recently rolled out a major update (version 15.x as of Oct/Nov 2025), bringing a wide range of new features, performance enhancements, and smarter editing tools that make managing and polishing photos easier than ever.
Clean Shots, Zero Distractions
People Removal — Automatically detect and remove unwanted people from photos. Great for travel photography, crowded scenes, or cleaning up backgrounds.
Reflections Removal — Easily remove window/glass reflections that distract from your subject. Useful for shoots through windows or in urban architecture scenes.
AI Edit Status Panel — Lets you view and manage all edits done by AI-powered tools (e.g. Denoise, Super Resolution) in one place. This gives you greater control and transparency when mixing manual and AI edits.
Your Best Edit Starts Smarter
Assisted Culling — A new Early-Access feature to help you quickly sift through large batches of photos and mark the best shots for further editing. Great for weddings, events, or travel shoots with many similar frames.
Auto Stacking — Automatically groups images based on time or visual similarity, which helps tidy up lots of captures into manageable stacks. Perfect for burst shots or rapid-fire sequences.
Dust Removal — Instantly detect and remove dust spots caused by your camera’s sensor or lens. Handy especially when shooting outdoors or using older lenses.
Zoom-while-Cropping — Now you can zoom in while cropping — allowing precise control when framing or re-composing.
Color Variance Slider (Point Color) — A subtle but powerful new control for tone/color: it helps fine-tune color contrast or even out colors in complex scenes, useful for portraits or mixed-light environments.
Performance & Workflow Improvements
GPU-Accelerated Preview Generation — On supported devices, Lightroom Classic now uses GPU to generate previews. This means faster preview rendering and smoother browsing, especially helpful when working with large catalogs or RAW files.
Faster & More Responsive Editing — Overall tools responsiveness improved — especially during adjustments, masking, cropping, and other interactive tasks. Editing high-resolution images should now feel more fluid.
Better Tethering Support for Cameras — New tether support includes additional camera models (e.g. certain Leica cameras), making tethered shooting more accessible directly through Lightroom Classic.
Other Useful Enhancements
Catalog & Export Improvements — Easier catalog management, improved backup options, and smoother export workflows.
Broader Camera & Lens Support — Lightroom Classic continues to add support for new cameras and lens profiles, ensuring compatibility with the latest gear.
More Editing Options for RAW / DNG — Tools like Denoise now support more types of RAW (including Linear Raw DNGs, monochrome raw, HDR/pano DNGs, etc.), giving photographers more flexibility and freedom when processing images.
What This Means for You (and When to Use What)
If you shoot a lot of photos — maybe events, travel, wildlife, or just everyday photography — the new tools in Lightroom Classic can save you time and improve quality:
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Use Assisted Culling + Auto Stacking right after importing to quickly narrow down large shoots (e.g. dozens or hundreds of frames) to the best candidates.
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Use People Removal and Reflections Removal when you want clean, distraction-free photos — for instance, when preparing images for portfolios, prints, or social media.
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Turn on GPU Previews + enhanced performance for smoother editing, especially if you work with large RAW files or high-resolution edits.
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Use Color Variance, Dust Removal, and new RAW support to refine images with subtle or complex adjustments — old lenses, low light, or monochrome shots will benefit especially.
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Take advantage of enhanced catalog / export / backing-up options to keep your workflow organized, secure and efficient.
Recommendation & Next Steps
If you haven’t updated yet, update to the latest version (15.x) to unlock all the features and bug fixes. (As of Nov 2025, 15.0.1 is the most current version.)
Try a small batch of photos first: import, then test Assisted Culling + Auto Stacking + Dust Removal to see how much time you save.
For editing, experiment with Color Variance and AI-based removals on older photos or tricky scenes — often you’ll get surprisingly clean results with minimal manual effort.
If you use tethered shooting (studio, product photography, etc.), check if your camera is supported to streamline your workflow.
