HSL/Color/B&W feature will not drop down for use

[jr99962172]

I have a question regarding the HSL/Color/Black and White feature in Lightroom. Previously I have used this feature in Lightroom to edit photos, but lately it will not turn on to allow me to use it. All other features are operational, it is only the HSL/Color/B&W that will not function. I will attach a picture so you can see what I mean by turning on. I circled the bar in red. It does not move when I click it to try to activate the feature.

Like I said, I have used the HSL/Color/B&W feature previously to edit my graduation photos and some family pictures we took in the fall, but now it will not let me even open the little drop box. All the others open and are fully functional, just not the HSL/Color/B&W. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!!

[Ian Lyons]

Have you tried resetting Lightroom preference file as described in Method 1 at How to set Lightroom Classic CC preferences

[jr99962172]

Yes I tried that and it did not work. The box will still not drop down.

[JP Hess]

What version of Lightroom are you using? What operating system?

[richardplondon]

Just click on the name to collapse / expand a given section of the interface. Or on the triangular arrow at the right hand side - anywhere other than this button..

What you've circled, is a separate PREVIEW switch. This shows / hides the display of changes made, to the settings within that panel.

These settings will always be applied for output, regardless of the state of this preview switch, and regardless whether the panel is open or shut.

Your panels can be set so that whenever one panel is opened, all the others close - Solo mode - or else not. Whatever you prefer, so far as using the vertical space available on your particular display.

[JohanElzenga · Accepted solution]

Looks like you may be one more victim of the infamous ‘upgrade bug’. Can you post a screenshot of the ‘Help - System Info’ menu? Only the first few lines are important. Because I’m out most of the day, I will also tell you what to look for yourself. Look for what it says behind ‘License’. If it says ‘Creative Cloud’, then ignore this message. If it says anything else (usually ‘Perpetual’) then read this carefully:

You have this problem of having 'upgraded' a perpetual license of Lightroom 6 to Lightroom Classic somehow. That upgrade should never have been possible, because you do not have a subscription to Lightroom Classic, but a perpetual license for Lightroom 6. There is no perpetual license for Lightroom Classic and there is no Lightroom 7. Due to a bug in the updaters it was somehow possible to install Lightroom Classic without having a subscription, and this now causes all kinds of problems. You’ve just been lucky that it didn’t happen earlier, when you first started with the upgraded version.

The solution is to go back to Lightroom 6, the version you have a license to use. In order not to lose all the work you may have done since your first update, select all the images that were imported after you updated to Classic and choose 'Metadata - Save Metadata to Files'. Then open Lightroom 6 with your old Lightroom 6 catalog, and import these images. The edits and metadata should come over, except those edits that are new for Lightroom Classic (like Range Mask). You can find the correct installers and updaters here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/lightroom-downloads.html

Or, of course, you can take a subscription to Lightroom Classic after all. In that case you need to fully uninstall Lightroom, and then reinstall it after the subscription has come into effect and you’ve logged in with your Creative Cloud credentials. Your catalog will not be affected by uninstalling/reinstalling.

Also please go here to help Adobe sort out this mess: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-log-collector.html

[jr99962172]

The license says perpetual and apparently it updated itself to Lightroom 7. How would I open Lightroom 6 with the old catalog?

[JohanElzenga]

Follow the instructions on uninstalling "Lightroom 7" and reinstalling Lightroom 6. Then just start Lightroom 6. It will probably open your old catalog automatically. If not, go 'File - Open Catalog'.