getting original RAW files off an iPad

[RobP]

Operating System

1. macOS 26 Tahoe
2. iPadOS

I imported a bunch of raw files from an R7 onto my iPad a long time ago. Those files properly migrated originally to LrC on my desktop (I think). The current state though is that the originals are on the iPad, the small smart previews are on the Lightroom web site, and the files cannot be found by LrC on my desktop though they are still listed in the catalog.

So, what I want to do is get the originals from the iPad to desktop and link them up again in LrC. I cannot find a way to export the originals on the iPad and move them manually (export does not offer originals as an option). And obviously, Lightroom is not resending them across to my desktop.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Swingman]

I imported a bunch of raw files from an R7 onto my iPad a long time ago. Those files properly migrated originally to LrC on my desktop (I think). The current state though is that the originals are on the iPad, the small smart previews are on the Lightroom web site, and the files cannot be found by LrC on my desktop though they are still listed in the catalog.

So, what I want to do is get the originals from the iPad to desktop and link them up again in LrC. I cannot find a way to export the originals on the iPad and move them manually (export does not offer originals as an option). And obviously, Lightroom is not resending them across to my desktop.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

If you have paid version of Lightroom mobile, that comes with 100gb cloud storage.
When you import raw files, the original raw files and associated edits are stored in the cloud and you can sync them to LrC. You don’t have to manually import them.

 

[RobP]

If you have paid version of Lightroom mobile, that comes with 100gb cloud storage.
When you import raw files, the original raw files and associated edits are stored in the cloud and you can sync them to LrC. You don’t have to manually import them.

I am paying for the 1TB version of creative cloud. The syncing is not working given that the originals are still on the iPad and LrC cannot find them. How do I restore the syncing or, failing that, manually export them?

 

[Swingman]

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/members/free-membership/travel-workflow/
Please read the free pdf of Travel workflow. It explains the process of how to transfer from iPad to LrC. If you have 1TB storage it’s fine

 

[Swingman]

Are you using same account for LrM and LrC? If you have separate accounts, this process won’t work.

 

[Conrad Chavez]

I am paying for the 1TB version of creative cloud. The syncing is not working given that the originals are still on the iPad and LrC cannot find them. How do I restore the syncing or, failing that, manually export them?

They can be manually exported from the mobile Lightroom app using the Share icon and Save to Files (choosing DNG or Original depending on whether or not you want to include mobile edits made so far), and then transferred to the computer using any of several wired or wireless methods, but that’s definitely the long way around.

Syncing down to Lightroom Classic should work if everything in this checklist is true:

• Is Lightroom Classic signed in under the same Creative Cloud account as the mobile app you want to sync from?
• Does the currently open Lightroom Classic catalog have cloud sync set up and enabled? Only one catalog can have sync enabled.
• Is sync not paused in Lightroom Classic?
• Are there no sync errors? (See below)

If sync is working, you will find the downloaded files at the Location path shown at the bottom of page 12 in the Lightroom Queen travel workflow book that Swingman linked to. If you want cloud downloads stored in a different place, change that setting. (I changed it so that cloud downloads end up in exactly the same date-based folders where I store imports from camera cards, so that I can find all my photos in the same place regardless of which camera they were captured with.)

If there are sync errors, they’ll appear in the same panel as that Location path: The Lightroom Sync tab in the Preferences window. If you see sync errors then those will need to be resolved.

One way to troubleshoot sync: Because mobile app imports are all uploaded to Lightroom photos in the cloud before any other Lightroom app can download them, those uploaded images should be visible in any cloud Lightroom client app. So if you also have Lightroom on an iPhone check that, and you can sign into lightroom.adobe.com in a web browser and check that. If all the expected photos are visible in both places, the upload was successful and the problem is at Lightroom Classic. But if the expected photos are not visible when signed into the Lightroom cloud from any client, then the original upload did not complete for some reason.

 

[RobP]

They can be manually exported from the mobile Lightroom app using the Share icon and Save to Files (choosing DNG or Original depending on whether or not you want to include mobile edits made so far), and then transferred to the computer using any of several wired or wireless methods, but that’s definitely the long way around.

Syncing down to Lightroom Classic should work if everything in this checklist is true:

• Is Lightroom Classic signed in under the same Creative Cloud account as the mobile app you want to sync from?
• Does the currently open Lightroom Classic catalog have cloud sync set up and enabled? Only one catalog can have sync enabled.
• Is sync not paused in Lightroom Classic?
• Are there no sync errors? (See below)

If sync is working, you will find the downloaded files at the Location path shown at the bottom of page 12 in the Lightroom Queen travel workflow book that Swingman linked to. If you want cloud downloads stored in a different place, change that setting. (I changed it so that cloud downloads end up in exactly the same date-based folders where I store imports from camera cards, so that I can find all my photos in the same place regardless of which camera they were captured with.)

If there are sync errors, they’ll appear in the same panel as that Location path: The Lightroom Sync tab in the Preferences window. If you see sync errors then those will need to be resolved.

One way to troubleshoot sync: Because mobile app imports are all uploaded to Lightroom photos in the cloud before any other Lightroom app can download them, those uploaded images should be visible in any cloud Lightroom client app. So if you also have Lightroom on an iPhone check that, and you can sign into lightroom.adobe.com in a web browser and check that. If all the expected photos are visible in both places, the upload was successful and the problem is at Lightroom Classic. But if the expected photos are not visible when signed into the Lightroom cloud from any client, then the original upload did not complete for some reason.

Hitting the share icon does not offer to Save to File as an option. The relevant options are "Save Copy to Device", "Share", "Export as...". Selecting "Save Copy to Device" or "Share" immediately converts to jPG for further action. If select the gear icon next to either of those, it offers export settings just as it does when I select "Export as..." However the file types offered are jpg, avid, cxl, and tif. Original and DNG are not offered.

I am now wondering if I actually have the raw files on the iPad. It says RAW when looking at the info screen but shows "Smart Preview" when I select an edit function. Do you know which it is?

Thanks
Rob

 

[Swingman]

Hitting the share icon does not offer to Save to File as an option. The relevant options are "Save Copy to Device", "Share", "Export as...". Selecting "Save Copy to Device" or "Share" immediately converts to jPG for further action. If select the gear icon next to either of those, it offers export settings just as it does when I select "Export as..." However the file types offered are jpg, avid, cxl, and tif. Original and DNG are not offered.

I am now wondering if I actually have the raw files on the iPad. It says RAW when looking at the info screen but shows "Smart Preview" when I select an edit function. Do you know which it is?

Thanks
Rob

Go to App settings in your LrM
At top under your name does it say you are subscribed?
If it say yes, click on cloud storage and sync.
It should say under Used xxGB of ITB. If not you are not in the same creative cloud account. You need to rectify it by have a a Chat with Abobe help.

If it says you have 1TB, you are using the same account.

The reason you have reduced resolution because you ticked that option. That’s to overcome iPad storage and make editing quicker. Don’t worry as you always have full size raw files in the cloud.
Now follow Conrad’s excellent summary of and also read the travel guide cover to cover to get the whole process and follow it.
If you still have issues after that come back here as we have many members using this process for few years. I haven’t personally done this as I have been iPad only up until now.
I am in the process of installing Lr and LrC (within a week or two) and will use the process to get all my raw files in the cloud to LrC.

 

[Jim Wilde]

Hitting the share icon does not offer to Save to File as an option. The relevant options are "Save Copy to Device", "Share", "Export as...". Selecting "Save Copy to Device" or "Share" immediately converts to jPG for further action. If select the gear icon next to either of those, it offers export settings just as it does when I select "Export as..." However the file types offered are jpg, avid, cxl, and tif. Original and DNG are not offered.

I am now wondering if I actually have the raw files on the iPad. It says RAW when looking at the info screen but shows "Smart Preview" when I select an edit function. Do you know which it is?

Thanks
Rob

"Save Copy to Device" really means save a copy to Photos (Camera Roll) only, i.e. excluding all other destinations.
"Share" should include the "Add to Files" option, visible when you scroll to see the options further down, as per this screenshot:

 

[Conrad Chavez]

Hopefully you can solve your sync problem, because Lightroom sync is the recommended and simplest way to get originals from Lightroom apps back to Lightroom Classic.

I’m only adding the info below to clarify how to transfer Lightroom photos when you specifically want to avoid the cloud, instead transferring photos (especially originals) through the file system.

Hitting the share icon does not offer to Save to File as an option. The relevant options are "Save Copy to Device", "Share", "Export as...". Selecting "Save Copy to Device" or "Share" immediately converts to jPG for further action. If select the gear icon next to either of those, it offers export settings just as it does when I select "Export as..." However the file types offered are jpg, avid, cxl, and tif. Original and DNG are not offered.

Jim Wilde is correct, I’m just going to expand on it a little.

First, backing up to the big picture: When you tap the standard Share icon in iOS, the menu that pops up usually has Save to Files on it. I only make a big deal about Save to Files because it’s the key to something people ask about a lot: Directly saving files from an iOS app to external media connected to the iPad such as an SSD, cloud synced services (e.g., Google Drive, iCloud Drive, Dropbox…), or network shares (such as an NAS) mounted in the iOS Files app. So an iOS user who wants to use those media needs to know how to get to the Save to Files command.

The example below is in Apple Photos, but of course you see that Share icon in almost every iOS app.

In Lightroom it works a little differently because Lightroom can offer more export options:
1. Tap the Share icon. (If you want to export in bulk, select multiple images in the grid, and the Share icon will be at the bottom of the app window instead of the top.)
2. Tap Export As, because this is how you’ll be able to select a file format other than JPEG.
3. Choose the file format. You asked about raw files; for that you must choose between Original (raw file only, no edits) or DNG (comes with Lightroom edits packaged in DNG format).
4. After you tap the check mark in step 3 to apply the file format, the next thing that pops up is the standard iOS share menu with Save to Files on it. Tap that and you can choose the folder/volume to export to. For example, you can export straight to an external SSD or flash drive plugged into the iPad, then take that to your computer to import into Lightroom Classic. Or export to a cloud sync service (if set up in the Locations section of the Files app). Or, if your computer has OS file sharing enabled and you mounted it in the Files app, you could even Save to Files directly from your iPad to any folder on your computer for immediate Lightroom Classic import.