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Learn Lightroom

Organize, edit and export photos with Lightroom's nondestructive workflow.

Free to start. Built from a single prompt. No credit card.

Adobe Lightroom is a photo organizer and editor built for working through many images efficiently. It comes in two forms: Lightroom Classic, a desktop app for Windows and macOS that stores photos in a local catalog, and Lightroom, a cloud-based app for desktop, mobile and web. Both edit nondestructively, saving adjustments as instructions instead of changing the original file. Edits run from white balance and exposure to masking and color grading. Learnr builds a personalized Lightroom course from a single prompt, pairing each tool with the photography reasoning behind it.

How to learn Lightroom, step by step

Choose Classic or cloud Lightroom. Lightroom Classic keeps files on your drives and suits large local archives; cloud Lightroom syncs originals across devices. Pick one, learn where your photos and catalog live, and back them up separately from your edits.
Cull quickly with flags and ratings. Go through a shoot using P to flag picks and X to reject, then rate the keepers with stars. Filter to picks before editing so you spend time only on the best frames.
Edit in the Basic panel top to bottom. Set white balance first, then exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites and blacks. Hold Alt or Option while dragging the whites and blacks sliders in Classic to see clipping, and keep the histogram in view.
Refine color with HSL and color grading. Use the color mixer to shift individual hues, like taming oversaturated oranges in skin or deepening a blue sky. Color grading adds tints to shadows, midtones and highlights for a consistent mood across a set.
Make local adjustments with masks. Use Select Subject or Select Sky masks to brighten a face or darken a sky, and linear or radial gradients for natural light falloff. Heal distractions with the healing tool rather than cropping them out.
Create presets and export for each use. Save edits you repeat as presets, sync settings across similar photos, then export at the right size and color space, usually sRGB for the web. Learnr lessons on exposure and composition help your edits start from stronger photos.

What you'll learn

Import, rate, flag and keyword photos into collections
Edit RAW files for white balance, exposure and tone
Use the tone curve, color mixer and color grading
Make local adjustments with subject, sky and brush masks
Build presets, sync edits and export for web or print

What's inside your Lightroom course

A sample path Learnr builds for Lightroom. Your real course adapts to your goal and level.

1. Classic versus cloud Lightroom and catalogs
2. Importing, flags, ratings and collections
3. Basic panel: white balance and tone
4. Curves, color mixer and color grading
5. Masking, healing and lens corrections
6. Presets, syncing and export settings

How long does it take to learn Lightroom?

Most photographers learn importing, culling and Basic panel edits in a week or two. Confident use of masking, color grading and a consistent editing style usually takes 2 to 6 months of editing your own shoots, and it continues to develop with your photography.

What you need before you start

An Adobe plan that includes Lightroom and a supported computer, phone or tablet. RAW files from a camera or phone give the most editing room, but JPEGs work. Basic exposure knowledge helps.

Common mistakes to avoid

Moving files in Finder or File Explorer behind Lightroom Classic's back, which breaks catalog links. Move and rename photos inside Lightroom instead.
Applying a heavy preset and calling the photo finished. Presets are a starting point; adjust white balance and exposure for each image.
Pushing clarity, saturation and shadow sliders to extremes. Overprocessing creates halos and crunchy skin, so compare against the original often.

How Learnr builds your course

Type your topic

Tell Learnr you want to learn Lightroom, or get as specific as you like.

Get a personalized course

Learnr instantly builds a full Lightroom course tailored to your goal and skill level.

Learn and level up

Move through bite-sized lessons and interactive practice, earning XP and keeping your streak.

Lightroom questions, answered

What is the difference between Lightroom and Lightroom Classic?

Lightroom Classic is a desktop app with a local catalog and the deepest organizing tools. Lightroom is cloud-based, syncs across desktop, mobile and web, and has a simpler interface.

Is Lightroom the same as Photoshop?

No. Lightroom organizes and edits many photos with global and local adjustments. Photoshop is a pixel editor for heavy retouching, compositing and design. Many photographers use both together.

Should I shoot RAW to use Lightroom?

RAW is recommended because it holds more highlight, shadow and color information, giving edits more room. Lightroom can still edit JPEGs, just with less latitude.