Chromebooks are affordable and often fantastic alternatives to laptops running Windows or macOS. Though they weren’t originally designed with intensive tasks in mind, in recent years, Chromebooks have gotten powerful. But does it mean you can now run power-hungry software like Adobe’s Lightroom? The answer is yes, but it’s not in the way you think. Read on.
Are Chromebooks good for photo editing?
Much of this depends on what Chromebook model you’re using. Some of the recent Chromebooks come with quad-core processors under the hood, which in theory makes them powerful enough to run editing software.
Then there’s the operating system. ChromeOS is lightweight and built to run as fast as possible on machines with meagre specs. This is why full-fledged software like Lightroom and others aren’t compatible with Chromebooks. That said, there are workarounds, especially since Chromebooks can run Android and Linux apps.
How to run Lightroom on Chromebook
One of these said workarounds is to do with Chromebooks’ support for Android apps. While it doesn’t support the full-fledged Adobe Lightroom, it can run the Android app version.
Just like on a smartphone, head over to the Play Store on your Chromebook, and in the Search for apps and Games search bar, type ‘Lightroom’. Select the app from the search results, and wait for it to download. Once installed, it is ready to use.
ALSO READ: 5 reasons why Chromebooks are a student’s best friend
Now bear in mind, the app version of Adobe Lightroom is not equivalent to the full desktop version, but it gets you really close. Until Adobe launches an official version for Chromebooks (we wouldn’t hold our breath), this is the best alternative.
Is there another way to use Lightroom on Chromebooks?
As a matter of fact, there is another way to use Lightroom on Chromebooks. You can simply use the web version by opening it on a browser. This is a ‘Lite’ version of the software that offers basic editing tools like the ability to retouch photos, crop, straighten, rotate, heal spots, and process RAW files, among others.
To use this version, head over to the Lightroom website. The only catch is that this service is not free, and you’ll need an Adobe account and an active subscription to Adobe’s Creative Cloud. Prices in India start from ₹638.38 a month.
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Sambit Satpathy
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