The Match Exposure feature is also nice, and something Lightroom Classic users have had for years – however they did put a different spin on it.

Enjoy and feel free to leave your comments below.

Hi everyone. There’s something I’ve noticed over the years.

Photographers can get very attached to the idea that there’s one “right” way to work. That we should organize photos a certain way, and edit them in a certain order, all the way down to folder names and that we absolutely need to use one program or the other.

I understand it. A formula is easy to follow right? It’s comforting to think there is a set of rules around photography and photo editing because we follow rules. Do this… do that… and your photo will be good.

But I don’t believe that, and I never have. 

I think the best workflow is the one that makes sense to you and gets out of your way.

For some photographers, Lightroom Classic is a great fit. They like having everything in one place. They like the organization, and the catalog, and the keywords, and metadata and the other modules like Slideshow, maps, etc.

And for other people, it just never clicks. Some would rather keep their photos in normal folders on their computer, open those folders, see what’s there, pick a photo, and start editing.

There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m kind of in the middle.

I used Lightroom Classic for many years. As soon as Lightroom Desktop came out with the local section, I switched immediately and that is what I use for most of my photography now. But I also use Bridge and Camera Raw often for various projects. And that’s really what got me thinking and why I created my Skip Lightroom – Bridge and Camera Raw course. I realized I should have made it 10 years ago because a lot of people like this workflow better.

If you have Photoshop, you already have access to Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw.

Bridge gives you a really simple way to browse and organize the folders you already use.

Camera Raw gives you the world’s best editing tools most photographers need, which also happen to be the same in Lightroom Classic. And of course Photoshop is there if you need to go further (which is less and less these days). It’s a very straightforward workflow.

Folders → Bridge → Camera Raw → Photoshop when needed

That may not be the best workflow for everyone. But for some photographers, it may be exactly the workflow they’ve been looking for. That’s why I made Skip Lightroom: Bridge and Camera Raw Workflow. Not because Lightroom is bad, but because people have told me they don’t want to use it and it doesn’t feel natural for them.

So if you’ve ever thought, “I just a simple way to view my photos and edit them,” this might be a much better fit.

Click here to find out more about the new Bridge / Camera Raw Course.

As I wrote earlier, I’m a little surprised at some of the messages I’ve received that people think I’m crazy for doing a course like this, considering I’ve taught Lightroom for 20 years. I’m curious to hear from any existing Bridge / Camera Raw users on why you like it, just so I know I’m not crazy 😉

Find out more about my Art of Masking course (Click Here)

PS: Don’t forget the early bird special for the Photoshop Summit VIP Pass ends today. Click Here for more info.

Click here to watch my free “Fast Action, Razor Sharp Bird Photography” Class.

Here’s a link to the incredibly boring and legal-marketing-speak announcement if you need a nap today. 🙂
But, since that announcement, I’ve received a bunch of messages asking my thoughts and what it could mean for us photographers, so I figured I’d let you know what I think (which isn’t much to be honest). 

I’d also be interested to hear your comments and what you think this all means so feel free to leave one below.

Don’t Expect Anything Soon

First, I think a lot of people automatically assume that every Topaz feature will magically appear in Lightroom next week. But I doubt that’s the case and remember that the press release reads “The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026”. In the short term, I don’t think you’ll see any changes.

Adobe Isn’t Buying a Photography Company

This is the first thing I think is easy for us photographers to overlook. Sure, Adobe makes Lightroom and Photoshop. Those are the products we use. But Adobe isn’t primarily a photography company.

It’s a global software company serving photographers, graphic designers, filmmakers, marketing teams, agencies, publishers, Fortune 500 companies, educators, and enterprise customers. Its decisions are driven by a much broader market than photography alone.

The same goes for Topaz.

Most photographers know Topaz for Photo AI, Gigapixel, and its sharpening and noise reduction tools. But Topaz has also invested heavily in AI models for video, web services, cloud infrastructure, and technologies that help large AI models run efficiently on local hardware. Those capabilities have value way beyond photography.

In fact, if you went through Topaz’s website menu you’d see: Photo AI, Web apps, Astra, Premier Panel, Topaz Video, Gigapixel, and Enterprise solutions. Of all of those Photo AI and possibly the web apps are the only things of interest to photographers – so basically 2 categories out of 7.

In other words, Topaz does A LOT more than photography. After watching their direction and product releases over time, I’d actually bet Topaz has been positioning itself for an acquisition for years now.

So I think Photography is definitely part of this acquisition, but it’s only one part and possibly a small one.

Why Adobe May Want Topaz

Adobe has obviously been aggressively investing in AI over the recent years.

Topaz seems to fit that strategy. Adobe has traditionally done well with building complete creative workflows and Topaz has done well with specialized enhancement models: Upscaling, Noise reduction, Sharpening, Video restoration.

In many of those categories, Topaz has some of the best results available. And as you probably know, Adobe has already partnered with Topaz by integrating some of its AI models into Photoshop and Lightroom (neither of which I like the implementation of). So the two companies were already working together before this acquisition. I’d guess that this acquisition simply brings more of that technology in-house.

Does This Mean Topaz Is Going Away?

Obviously I don’t know anything more than you do. But based on Adobe’s announcement, no I don’t think so. Adobe has said that Topaz’s products will continue to be available as standalone applications, and Topaz CEO Eric Yang will continue leading the team.  

“After the transaction closes, Topaz Labs customers of all sizes can expect continued support and investment in future innovation and Topaz Labs products will remain available as standalone offerings through the company’s website. Upon close, Topaz Labs CEO Eric Yang will continue to lead the Topaz Labs team.”

Could that change someday? Sure. But today there’s nothing I’ve read that Adobe plans to immediately eliminate the standalone products.

The Possibilities for Lightroom

This is where things could get interesting. Imagine opening Lightroom or Photoshop and finding:

• Better AI sharpening.
• Better AI noise reduction.
• Better image upscaling.
• Faster local AI processing.
• Higher quality detail enhancement.

Those improvements could absolutely come from Topaz technology. In fact, Adobe has specifically said it wants to expand Topaz’s enhancement models “across Firefly and the Creative Cloud”. Whether those improvements arrive this year or three years from now is another question. Large acquisitions usually take time before customers notice any impactful changes, if any at all.

What About Pricing?

This is probably the biggest concern I’ve heard and who the heck really knows right? It’s not like they’re going to announce an acquisition and tell everyone that pricing is going up.

I get it, and it’s understandable that people worry whenever software companies merge.

Sometimes acquisitions lead to better integration. Sometimes they lead to new subscription models. And Sometimes almost nothing changes. At this point, I have no idea.

My Biggest Hope

Personally, I’m more interested in seeing fewer reasons to leave Lightroom.

Today’s workflow for many photographers looks something like this:

• Lightroom
• Topaz
• Back to Lightroom

If Adobe can bring more of those enhancement tools directly into Lightroom, that makes editing simpler.

But here’s the big kicker… I don’t mean the crappy Vegas Slot Machine-like Generative Credit thing we have today.

Photoshop and Lightroom (not Classic) now have Topaz upsizing and sharpening as options. But they cost you a ridiculous amount of your credits for a poor experience. And if you haven’t heard my thoughts, just watch the last 2 minutes of this video (start video at 10:10).

I’ll save you the time though. I think it’s an extremely poor use of the tools and I hate to mention it because I don’t want to encourage anyone to use it. Don’t get me wrong… Lightroom and it’s developers are fantastic. I have to assume Topaz, and their developers, are great. And I doubt either side – if you asked them honestly – actually think this implementation is a good thing for you and I.

That’s not the integration I’m looking for. I want to click on Noise reduction or sharpening, natively and with a seamless experience, and have it work great and not have to worry about it costing me extra.

But Let’s Keep Some Perspective

One thing I always try to remember is this: Software doesn’t make great photographs.

Great photographs still come from:

• Good light.
• Strong composition.
• Interesting focal points.
• Intentional and tasteful editing.

Whether Adobe owns Topaz or not doesn’t change those fundamentals. It may make certain tasks faster, or improve image quality and workflow. But it won’t replace the creative decisions that actually make an image compelling.

Wrapping Up

Overall, I think this acquisition has the potential to be positive for photographers. Adobe gains some great AI technology. Topaz gains the resources of one of the largest creative software companies in the world. And hopefully, all of that means we end up with better tools inside Lightroom and Photoshop while Topaz continues to innovate.

That said, I also think it’s important to remember that both Adobe and Topaz serve markets much larger than photography (Enterprise customers, video creators, AI services, cloud infrastructure, and commercial creative teams). 

As I wrote earlier, photography is an important part, but not the only one by far. 

Why This News Doesn’t Interest Me Much As a Photographer 

For me, I guess I’d say that overall this is interesting news, but that’s about it.

First, I started using Topaz apps for noise reduction in my wildlife photography. Eventually Adobe added this feature that does nearly as good as Topaz does in most cases. 

But I was always honest in saying Adobe’s noise reduction didn’t work as well for me for very high ISO photos that needed a lot of cropping – I felt the results looked a little painterly. So for those photos (maybe 10-20% of what I ever edit) I used Topaz – until they raised their pricing to crazy levels last year. That said, they did do right by their existing users and grandfathered them in to a good yearly price, so I can’t be too salty about it. Also, I’d suggest you don’t give up that pricing if you have it because you’ll never get it back. 

But for new users, I started recommending DxO PureRaw for noise reduction. It was cheaper and no subscription, and didn’t have a bunch of other features that I didn’t want that Lightroom already did better.

As for sharpening, I used Topaz a little but sharpening was never a big deal in my workflow. If the photo isn’t sharp, you can’t make it sharp. Now, Topaz did have some pretty crazy AI sharpening tools but a lot it was generative ai based. So the detail you added back wasn’t the real detail in your photo, and that doesn’t interest me (as a hobbyist photographer) very much.

Upsizing has never been high on my list of priorities as Adobe always did fine for that in my opinion. And I don’t do video, or work with AI art, or Premier – nor am I an enterprise business – so nothing else Topaz has really interests me. 

As a user that sometimes uses Topaz as a plug-in, I do hope this technology makes its way (NATIVELY) in to Photoshop and Lightroom to the point where I don’t have to worry about the very poor credit implementation system that they have now.

But that’s about it. I don’t want to sound negative but I’m just indifferent with very few expectations from this. I just believe whatever results come from it, I would have been able to get before pretty easily. So while this may be a great thing for Adobe and Topaz, it’s just not something I think affects our world that much.

And I’ll close by saying I could be 100% wrong. Everything you’ve read here is my opinion and I have absolutely zero information on this other than reading the same press release you did 🙂

Thanks and have a good one!

UPDATE: It looks like Adobe may have pulled the update due to the Duplicate feature removing photos that shouldn’t be removed. I don’t use the feature, and I use Lightroom (not classic) for my perusal photography – so I haven’t rolled back. But you can contact Adobe for help rolling back if you’d like. Alternatively, just don’t use the new feature – you won’t be able to anyway if you rollback to the previous version.

PS: If you see a “You must log in” message, this is on your side, not my website. Click here to read up on it and hopefully this helps. Alternative you can go directly to my YouTube channel to watch.

Click here to find out more about my Lightroom for Wildlife Photographers course.