Lightroom Classic 16.0 Ships With Vectorscope, AI Depth Masking and Catalog Cleanup

Lightroom Classic 16.0 is available to all subscribers now, and Adobe's MAX press kit barely mentioned it. The desktop RAW editor and catalog manager picked up a vectorscope, AI-powered depth masking, import filtering and history-state cleanup — none of which got top billing. That silence says more about Adobe's marketing priorities than about the update's substance.

The changes start at import. Lightroom Classic 16.0 now lets photographers filter photos before adding them to a catalog, recognizing in-camera ratings, color labels, protected status and file types. Those filters also feed into the newer Assisted Culling workflow, which Adobe says speeds results and trims catalog bloat. Plausible. Faster culling is faster turnaround, and turnaround is billable.

What does catalog cleanup actually do?

Users can now clear history states on edited photos while preserving final appearance. Adobe claims that clearing history across multiple photos, folders or entire collections significantly reduces catalog file size. You can also schedule automatic history cleanup, so catalogs stay lean without scrubbing data mid-project. A caveat: 'significantly' is Adobe's word, not a measured number. No benchmarks shipped with the release.

New scopes, new color tools

A vectorscope has arrived, letting photographers analyze colors and skin tones. DaVinci Resolve users know the drill; newcomers may find it intimidating. Neutral colors — black, gray, white — sit at the scope's center. Distance from center indicates saturation; direction indicates hue. Adobe has a detailed breakdown on its support site, and the tool works across multiple color spaces.

Color Grading tools can now apply tints only to masked areas, with separate control over shadows, midtones and highlights within a selection. The Masking panel itself is customizable: rearrange controls, pin frequently used sliders to a Favorites section. Small thing. Real workflow gain.

How far does the AI depth masking go?

Adobe is adding an AI-powered depth masking tool that selects foreground, middle ground or background. It works on any photo, and users can refine the mask manually. Where a file already embeds depth information, Lightroom Classic recognizes and uses it. That's the claim — Adobe hasn't detailed how the AI performs on complex scenes like foliage or hair.

Focus point data recorded in RAW files now displays in Lightroom Classic, but only for select cameras: Canon, Nikon and Sony bodies that record autofocus data. Everyone else waits.

The Transform panel gains a Projection slider for fixing distorted faces and objects near frame edges — a recurring wide-angle problem.

Which cameras and lenses are supported?

New camera support is short: just the Apple iPhone Duo's Ultrawide and Wide cameras in Adobe Camera Raw 19.0. Lens support runs longer:

• Apple iPhone Duo cameras
• Laowa lenses
• Sigma's 50-120mm f/2.8 DC OS
• Sony's FE 8-14mm f/3.5 Fisheye G, FE 400mm f/4.5 GM and FE 600mm f/6.3 GM
• Tamron's 17-70mm f/2.8 RF

Two tools already seen elsewhere landed in Classic. The Glow tool, added earlier this year to Adobe Camera Raw, applies a soft glow around highlights with customizable controls. Blemish Removal, introduced in Lightroom for mobile, is now on desktop including Classic.

Lightroom Classic 16.0 is available to all subscribers through the app itself or the Creative Cloud app. No price change was announced — but then, Adobe didn't announce much about this release at all.