How to Learn Lightroom

Anyone who needs their digital photos to look perfect stands to benefit from learning a program like Adobe Lightroom that allows users to immediately edit and alter their photographs. However, even for an accessible program like Lightroom, users may find that guided skills training will help them on their path to Lightroom mastery. The number of options for learning Lightroom might be overwhelming at first glance. There are books, video tutorials, classes, and more to choose from; it all depends on your learning style and personal preferences.

Here, we’ll discuss the various methods of learning Lightroom so you can decide how you’d like to get started.

What is Lightroom?

Adobe Lightroom is compact photo organizing and editing software that allows users to catalog and edit photographs from any device using the Adobe Creative Cloud. Using Lightroom, users can examine and edit photographs on the fly immediately after taking them without having to leave the site. This makes Lightroom ideal for photographers who want to create perfect photographs for advertising, social media, or personal printing, as Lightroom lets them take a photo and immediately start the process of editing. Lightroom provides tools for color correction, altering contrasts, modifying brightness, and basic editing functions such as correcting red-eye or blurring/sharpening an image. Since Lightroom is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, it is also optimized for photo sharing, letting users work with the same photo across multiple devices and including tools to help users prepare their photos for publication.

Adobe Lightroom is closely related to Adobe Photoshop. The major difference between the two programs is that Lightroom is optimized for mobile devices and on-the-fly photo editing, whereas Photoshop is optimized for desktop use and has more precise and granular editing tools. Lightroom is best suited for users who want to take a photograph and immediately begin editing it to suit their needs, particularly photographers working on-site, away from their desktop computers. Lightroom also lets users create and import preset filters and settings to help them quickly edit their photos.

Read more about what Lightroom is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Lightroom?

Adobe Lightroom is a powerful photo editing tool with a number of features that make it useful for both professional and hobbyist photographers. Whether a photographer is taking photos of models for a series of print advertisements or just taking vacation photos for their own personal social media account, the ability to edit photos quickly and efficiently will greatly improve the quality of their output. This versatility makes Lightroom an ideal choice to learn for anyone who is regularly taking photos as a part of their day-to-day life.

Lightroom lets users make on-the-fly edits to photographs, altering colors, shade, contrast, and other digital details with only a few clicks. Owing to its easy-to-use sliders and built-in/customizable presets, users can begin editing their photos within seconds, easily letting them identify the issues that need to be changed to get a perfect shot. Recent updates to Adobe Lightroom allow users to build and edit rudimentary video animations, opening a whole new world of possibilities for creative photographers.

Lightroom is also a powerful tool for archiving and publishing photos. Linked to the Adobe Creative Cloud, Lightroom lets users easily share their photos across multiple devices and programs. Users can take a picture, edit the basics of the color and contrast in Lightroom, then import that photo into Photoshop to perform more detailed photo editing. Then, they can import the newly edited photos into a program like Adobe XD in preparation for publication on a website or digital advertisement.

In-Person Lightroom Training

For some students seeking to learn Lightroom, in-person training options may seem appealing. These courses offer students a way to learn Lightroom while meeting fellow aspiring photographers and graphic designers. There are several points to consider when choosing to learn a skill in person and selecting an in-person learning course. In these classes, students can learn from skilled instructors who are immediately available to respond to questions and offer feedback. Most in-person training facilities provide students with the necessary tools to learn, which is appealing for Lightroom because it bypasses the need to purchase many expensive subscriptions. The drawback to these courses is that they can be far more limited than alternatives, as students will be restricted to attending the in-person courses they can physically attend. For students living outside of major cities, there isn’t even a guarantee that any in-person course will be available.

Noble Desktop helps students find the right in-person Lightroom course through their Classes Near Me tool. Noble offers their own in-person courses, teaching students Adobe Lightroom Classic. The Noble campus is located in Manhattan but is conveniently located near several public transportation hubs and welcomes students from all over the city, as well as Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Noble's in-person courses are worth checking out for students located anywhere that makes traveling to Manhattan reasonable.

Live Online Lightroom Training

Some students may find that they aren’t located near any campuses teaching Lightroom in-person or aren’t interested in commuting, but they still want to learn Lightroom. These students may wish to consider live online training. These courses replicate the experience of an in-person course by letting students engage with live instructors who are teaching in real-time. Students aren’t just watching video recordings of lectures, and they can receive in-the-moment feedback and responses to their questions. The primary drawback to these courses is that, in most cases, students will need to ensure consistent access to the technology required for experiential learning.

Noble Desktop teaches all of its courses with an option for live online instruction. These courses, including Noble’s Adobe Lightroom Classic and their Photo Retouching Certificate program, provide students with hands-on instruction in Adobe Lightroom. Unlike more traditional self-paced online courses, these classes operate like regularly scheduled in-person training seminars. Students will be expected to attend live sessions through teleconferencing software like Zoom and complete additional work outside the classroom.

Other service providers such as Ledet Training and headTrix, Inc. offer live online Lightroom training courses. Students interested in comparing the options available can explore the available live online Lightroom courses using Noble’s Classes Near Me tool.

Free Online Courses & Tutorials

Some students may not feel comfortable enrolling in an immersive skills training course without a background in Lightroom. Those students may wish to take advantage of some of the free introductory courses and online tutorials. Noble offers a free introductory seminar helping students understand the basic functionalities of Lightroom and how it differs from Adobe Photoshop. This seminar is an ideal way to introduce oneself to Lightroom and decide whether to learn Lightroom, Photoshop, or both.

Adobe also provides new Lightroom users with a seven-day free trial of the program. During this time, students can take advantage of the free offers available through Noble alongside the free tutorials and training videos offered by Adobe. Once students have exhausted the free tutorials available through Noble, they may consider looking at the options for free courses available through other service providers such as Udemy or Coursera, both of which offer free tutorials in the basics of Lightroom.

Read about more free Lightroom videos and online tutorials.

On-Demand Lightroom Classes

Some students may find that they cannot commit to a regularly scheduled instruction course because of outside responsibilities or work commitments. While this can make certain kinds of training untenable, students also have the option to enroll in self-paced Lightroom courses. These classes let students learn at their own pace and dedicate themselves to learning Lightroom when their lives allow them to dedicate the time. These courses are also ideal for students who prefer self-paced learning instead of sticking to the schedule of a classroom environment, allowing them to move more quickly or double back on ideas that are confusing them. The downside to these courses is that they require a specific kind of self-motivated student, as some students find it hard to work without a consistent schedule.

Students should also be aware of how different self-paced courses are proctored. Some courses are free, some require up-front fees, and some are part of a subscription to training services. Some courses are gated behind modules, and some provide students with all the materials up-front. Some courses make heavy use of pre-recorded videos, while others will use digital (or physical) workbooks.

Students interested in exploring their options can find and compare on-demand Lightroom courses by using Noble’s Classes Near Me tool.

Which Learning Method is Right for Me?

Given the many different avenues for learning a program like Lightroom, students may be unsure how to pick the right method for them. Since everyone learns differently, students will need to self-assess their own learning goals and needs to select a Lightroom training program. This can be intimidating, but it can also be very freeing, as it lets students shape their learning experience, rather than be limited in how they can approach their Lightroom training.

However, the most important first step is considering the practical concerns that may impede or restrict one’s training. The most significant of these is scheduling, as some training programs and bootcamps may be restrictive in when and how they are offered. Students with full-time jobs or family responsibilities may be unable to commit to a Lightroom bootcamp that runs from nine to five every day for three weeks. These students may want to prioritize flexible scheduling options or may lean towards self-paced courses. However, some students may find these courses too aimless or require too much self-motivation. If their schedule permits, those students should consider live instruction.

Why Learn Lightroom?

Adobe Lightroom is an ideal skill to learn for both professional graphic designers and amateur photographers. By using Adobe Lightroom, creatives can alter and catalog their photographs immediately after they’ve been taken, giving photographers the tools that they need to create ideal photographs on the spot. This makes Lightroom an ideal program to learn for creative professionals who plan to regularly take and alter digital photos. Photographers will obviously benefit from being able to alter photographs immediately, but Graphic Designers, Web Designers, and marketers like Social Media Managers all stand to benefit from learning Lightroom.

Lightroom is also closely linked to the other creative programs that make up the Adobe Creative Cloud, particularly Photoshop. Users who learn how to use Lightroom may find it much easier to learn how to use other Adobe creative software in a professional capacity, and learning Lightroom will help creatives optimize their workflow when this skill is paired with training in Adobe Photoshop. Few creative professionals only use a single creative design tool, so learning the whole of the Adobe Creative Cloud will both make prospective employees more well-rounded, and it will make their lives easier as they can utilize multiple different programs.

Read more about why you should learn Lightroom.

Level of Difficulty, Prerequisites, & Cost

As with many products that are part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, Lightroom can seem like an intimidating program, given the number of tools available. However, the program is built to be easily accessible to new users, particularly because it is designed for mobile functionality. Learning the basics of the program can be done in a few dedicated days of training, but the program is still deep enough that experts can benefit from months of hands-on experience and training. This means that the difficulty of learning Lightroom is primarily up to the student, being easy on beginners but deep enough to challenge those who want to learn the most advanced uses of the program.

Adobe Lightroom has no formal prerequisites to learn, though users should understand how to use basic digital photography tools, particularly digital cameras. On a more general level, those who want to learn Lightroom to help take and edit photographs professionally should understand the fundamental theories behind visual composition and design. Like the rest of Adobe’s creative tools, Lightroom can significantly enhance a creative’s ability to build stunning work, but it can’t replace an eye for design.

Like the other programs in the Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Lightroom is licensed through a monthly fee as part of a Creative Cloud subscription. This allows users to customize how many different programs they want to license. A baseline subscription to Adobe Lightroom costs $9.99 a month and comes with one terabyte of data storage (enough to store a quarter of a million photos). Lightroom can also be packaged with Photoshop for a monthly fee of $9.99 (with limited data storage) or $19.99 a month (with a terabyte of data storage). Adobe also has a complete creative subscription package, which includes a license to all of Adobe’s creative software for $54.99 a month.

Read about how difficult it is to learn Lightroom.

Learn Lightroom with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers a wide range of Lightroom courses designed to fit the practical and professional needs of all students. Participants can take these courses both at Noble’s Manhattan location in-person, or they are available through live, online instruction. Even if taken online, these courses boast small classes taught by experienced instructors who can respond to student needs in real-time. Taking a class online through Noble provides students with the same high-quality instruction and professional skills training as the in-person courses, with the advantage of being available to students from all over the country. Noble’s courses offer a free retake option within one year, allowing students to hone their skills at no cost.

Noble’s Adobe Lightroom Classic course gives students hands-on experience using Lightroom to edit, share, and publish photographs. Students will practice manipulating photos and learn strategies to optimize these photos for different purposes, such as social media advertising, web design, and physical printing. Students will also learn how to utilize the Adobe Creative Cloud integration to share, publish, and archive their photos safely and effectively. This course will provide students with the experience they need to use Lightroom Classic for professional and personal purposes.

Noble also offers Lightroom instruction as part of its Photo Retouching Certificate program. This training program teaches students the skills that they need to take and edit their own high-quality digital photos for professional use. Students will learn the best ways to take a digital photo and then be taught how to edit those photos using both Lightroom and Photoshop. Students will learn how to optimize their photographs by taking advantage of Lightroom’s editing and sharing capabilities alongside learning how to make more advanced and complex manipulations in Photoshop. Completing the course provides students with an industry recognized certificate of completion, and participants are also eligible for a free retake within one year to continue honing their retouching skills.

Key Takeaways

• Adobe Lightroom is a photo editing and storage application used by Professional Photographers and Graphic Designers as well as hobbyists. It is an accessible program that is easy to pick up and use but takes time to master.
• There are several avenues available for students seeking to learn how to use Lightroom. Students may consider learning Lightroom through live instruction (either in-person or online), self-paced instruction, on-demand training, or they may use free training resources and tutorials to self-teach.
• Each training method has its advantages and disadvantages, and students should assess their needs and preferences before enrolling in a Lightroom training program.
• Lightroom is a perfect tool to build creative career skills or simply improve one’s own photography skills. It is an accessible program, and learning to use Lightroom has no formal prerequisites.
• You can learn Lightroom comprehensively with live, instructor-led training at Noble Desktop.