Lightroom 6.1 Standalone and Dehaze feature

[Fredbare]

Some quick information that if you have LR 6 standalone and update to LR 6.1 then one can still use the Dehaze effects.
Although the 'slider' doesn't appear in the Effects tab one can use develop presets as a work around.
Prolost has a set of free presets one can use but it's easy enough to 'roll your own' if you open one of these free presets with a text editor and emulate the settings.
Works like a charm.
I was somewhat 'miffed' that LR6.1 didn't include the Dehaze update so though it might be useful information to others.

P.S. I have no 'association' with the Prolost website (they also sell some presets) - just in case anyone might think so

[Simon Garrett]

I guess it's hardly surprising that Adobe have found ways of making the subscription service "better" than the stand-alone version. Clearly they want people to take out the CC subscription but ended up giving a sort-of-commitment to keep LR available stand-alone, including future versions.

However, they clearly regret that 2013 commitment (http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjour...ive-cloud.html), and are rolling back on it. For example:

Q. Will there be a different version of Lightroom called Lightroom CC?

A. No.

That meant LR5, not LR6. And:

Q. Will there be features of Lightroom 5 that are exclusive to Creative Cloud members?

A. No.

Quite right. For LR5.

They always said that CC allows them to release new features incrementally, and now we see it. New features in LR CC but not in LR6. I seem to recall one or two new features in dot releases of LR in the past, but no more I guess. They want to nudge people towards CC. I suspect that gentle nudge will become more of a sharp shove as time goes on.

[Manfred M]

To me this has little to do with the subscription model and more to do with providing a compelling reason to upgrade the software. The real question is whether or not the new feature is enough to make you want to upgrade (which in the case of Photoshop means moving over to the subscription model).

The jump from Photoshop PS3 to PS4 was much easier to justify because of the introduction of the "content aware" features and at the time the cost of upgrading to a new version of the software back then was by no means inexpensive. To me, this was a compelling reason to do so. Is this dehaze feature as much of a "killer" upgrade as the "content aware" imagery? I suspect not, as I had to look back around 8 months to find images that would benefit from this feature (those cold Canadian winters ensure that there is little haze to worry about).

To me this is not a "killer" function that would get me to rush to upgrade, but then as I have been a CC subscriber for some time, it is a nice to have that I will apply to some of my summer shots to help crisp them up. I suspect that as impressive as some of the demonstrations are, the real use will be much more mundane and a light touch to cut a bit of haze will be a more common use of this effect.

[DanK]

The only aspect of this that surprised me is that they exempted LR from the subscription-only model in the first place. I don't like the subscription model, but I couldn't figure out why they would exempt a single product from the model they were imposing on all the others, particularly after they included LR in the photographer's subscription package.

It seems to me that there are only three choices: use Adobe products but don't subscribe and therefore fall increasingly far behind current versions, subscribe, or use products from other vendors. For me, the choice is clear.

When I feel like getting worked up about an unavoidable monthly payment, I open a beer and think about my ISP. Like most people in the US, we have a bundle of services: internet service, basic cable, and a few cable TV add-ons. We also have VOIP phone service. The charges are exorbitant, and every two years, when our contract expires, we try to chip away at it. This year, we told them to get rid of VOIP, since we could buy another service for far less. The agent told us that this would move us to a different package, which would cost more!

So, $10/month for always up-to-date versions of my primary editing software seems OK by comparison, even though I would much prefer the old model. My one major complaint is that the semi-automatic updates do not always go smoothly. This round cost me hours, first because it did something to my LR catalog that made exporting impossible, and then because it removed print settings that I had made so long ago that I couldn't for some time figure out where the error was.

[Fredbare]

Gentlemen,
The point of the post was to point out that there's an effective way of adding the DeHaze function to the standalone version of LR 6.1.

However I do think that Adobe are pushing people to the CC model and once they pass a certain threshold of subscribers I expect them to discontinue the standalone version and the subscription price to increase.
I doubt the day after Adobe launched LR 6 they though "Oh dear we meant to add a DeHaze function we better get this right in the next 2 months and add it to the CC version" ;-)

[davidedric]

Hi,

There is no doubt that subscription is the preferred Adobe model, and they will subtly, or not so subtly, persuade us in that direction. However, there doesn't seem any reason to suppose that the "perpetual" model will disappear in the near future.

So far as the de-haze filter is concerned, Jeff Schewe, who is pretty close to the developers, has posted that the filter was indeed not ready at the time of CC 2015 launch.

Dave

[Mike Buckley]

The Prolost presets that Fredbare mentioned are explained in a bit more detail here.

[NorthernFocus]

A friend of mine turned me on to this link where you can find a simple plug-in for the he-haze tool for standalone LR6.1 or higher. The plug-in works fine. I haven't actually used the tool on anything yet other than to test it so won't comment on the usefulness etc.

[Mike Buckley]

Dan,

Does that plug-in slider include negative values?

[NorthernFocus]

Dan,

Does that plug-in slider include negative values?

yes

[davidedric]

However, so far as I know it will not offer the dehaze option in the local filters and adjustment brush, which CC now offers (or will, once Adobe set out the latest release shambles)

Dave

[Mike Buckley]

However, so far as I know it will not offer the dehaze option in the local filters and adjustment brush, which CC now offers (or will, once Adobe set out the latest release shambles)

Are you referring to Lightroom CC (as opposed to Photoshop CC)?

[davidedric]

Hi Mike. Yes I am.

Dave