How I integrate Lightroom into my Lightroom Classic workflow

[clee01l]

Lightroom Version

LrC v12.3

Operating System

1. macOS 13 Ventura
2. iOS

Recently in another thread some one asked how I integrate Lightroom into Lightroom Classic.
First, it is important to know what will sync between the two processes and what will not. The following table was taken from https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/kb/sync-faq.html

What syncs	What does not sync
Smart previews	Videos*
Captions	PSB files
Flags	Files greater than 200 MB
Ratings	History steps
Develop settings	Keywords
	Snapshots

With those exceptions in mind, I do not add Keywords in Lightroom but wait instead and do this in Lightroom Classic.
My process uses an iPadPro with 1TB of storage. Since, a camera card can quickly exceed the 20GB Photography plan, I opted for the 1TB Photography plan to avoid running up against the Cloud storage limits. And to minimize the housekeeping of having to clear the plan storage to free up room for more imports.

My Workflow with the iPadPro is as follows:

1. Insert a camera card into an attached card reader on the iPadPro.
2. Open Lightroom on the iPadPro if it is not already open.
3. In Lightroom Click on the Import menu or the import icon Choosing to Add Photos "From a Camera Device".
4. Manage your imported Photos in Lightroom as you wish taking care to only do those things from the "What Syncs" column above.
5. Do not Delete any photos in Lightroom as this can affect (confuse) what has already sync'd to Lightroom Classic
6. Instead, mark any photos that you no longer need with a Reject flag (X) so that these can be more properly handled later in Lightroom Classic which will perpetuate the deletion back to the Adobe Cloud and Lightroom.

At this point you are through with Lightroom as a process work flow. However you may wish to create and share albums using the feature in Lightroom. Albums created in Lightroom will be sync'd as Collections in Lightroom Classic

1. Lightroom will sync full size images to the Adobe Cloud subject to your Photography Plan Storage limits. These will then sync full size back to Lightroom Classic.
2. In Lightroom Classic you should specify a destination folder to receive the images from the Adobe Cloud. I use subfolders formatted by capture date to match my import destination when importing via Lightroom Classic import dialog.
3. Once the image has synced to Lightroom Classic you can finish any remaining workflow steps. such as File deletion, Exporting, Printing that are not as easily done in Lightroom.

This process is as complete as I can recall based upon the difference between how Lightroom And Lightroom Classic process images. If there is anything that I have overlooked, others might care to comment.

 

[Selwin]

Hi Cletus,
Thank you for your write up. Highly appreciated as always. Keywords not syncing is an important thing to consider. Also, we would need a 1TB Adobe plan and both Lr and LrC, leaving no other option than to purchase the double priced option:

I generally dislike monthly recurring cost but (by the end of Lr6) I’ve made an exception for LrC, considering continued purchase of new perpetual versions would have cost roughly the same ( if Adobe would have still offered new perpetual versions which I am aware of they don’t). I now have the 20GB plan, which is enough because I don’t sync. Still, doubling the monthly cost to 24 euros just to be able to sync is making me hesitate.

Additionally, I would be interested how you manage to sync such large amounts of data to the Adobe cloud, while out and about. Do you have an unlimited data plan with your phone service provider? Or do you try to use free WiFi wherever possible?

Other options
I have always used laptops while travelling (as from Lr 1.0 back in the day) so my workflow has always been temp catalogs and importing them afterwards. For sure, the solution you found is a very interesting one, maybe even a hybrid or transitional mode towards full cloud only workflow.
My old 2013 MBP is stuck on big sur which Adobe will likely stop supporting later this year once the Ventura successor arrives. My new MBP M1 I consider too costly and heavy to lug around on travels. I also have an older 2017 MBAir lying around which supports macOS Monterey, but it is less specc’ed than my 2013 MBP and it will only extend Adobe support one year longer.
So I’ll need a fresh, more long lasting on the go device. The idea of getting an iPad Pro is an interesting one because a tablet would also serve very well as a more practical device (compared to laptop) for browsing the web to plan itineraries and stay in touch with home base.

 

[Martin Owen]

Thank you Cletus. That’s pretty much the way I operate too. You mention not to delete images on the iPad as it confuses the sync process. I think that may be one of my failings and it does indeed confuse the process. In future I shall experiment with just marking unwanted images as rejected and complete the editing process in Classic.

I haven’t had a laptop in getting on for 10 years and have been using an iPad (Pro these days - although an aging 3rd Genreaction) since the the first iPad. I find this much more convenient than using a laptop. I don’t understand the critics of the iPad who say ‘it isn’t a laptop‘. Indeed it isn’t, it’s a different sort of device and integrated pretty well with the iOS/MacOS eco system. As an aside, it also isn’t just a large iPhone - especially in Pro versions.

It would be useful if Adobe could organize keywords to transfer between LR and Classic.

I do have ongoing issues where I load images directly into the Mac (Classic) and expect them to sync back to the iPad (LR) right away. I invariably have to restart Classic (often multiple times) before I can get the sync to happen. I understand that this is common. Hopefully having a faster Mac than my current 2017 iMac will solve that.

Thanks again.

 

[clee01l]

=Additionally, I would be interested how you manage to sync such large amounts of data to the Adobe cloud, while out and about. Do you have an unlimited data plan with your phone service provider? Or do you try to use free WiFi wherever possible?

I always use WiFi when available. I never use Cellular data plans as they are usuall much slower and more expensive.


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[clee01l]

…I don’t understand the critics of the iPad who say ‘it isn’t a laptop‘. Indeed it isn’t, it’s a different sort of device and integrated pretty well with the iOS/MacOS eco system. As an aside, it also isn’t just a large iPhone - especially in Pro versions.

It would be useful if Adobe could organize keywords to transfer between LR and Classic..

I think it is interest ion the iPadOS is running on the M1 Chip and so is MacOS. I think MasOS can already run iPadOS apps and maybe someday run them native. Perhaps it won’t be too far away that there might be one Lightroom App for both MacOS and iPadOS.


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[backroadbob]

Hi,
Does a Preset that you create in LR (under User Presets), automatically show up in Classic?
And vice versa?
Thanks,
Bob

 

[Jim Wilde]

Hi,
Does a Preset that you create in LR (under User Presets), automatically show up in Classic?
And vice versa?
Thanks,
Bob

No. User Presets do not sync between LrC and the cloud.

 

[Gnits]

Very good summary.

it is odd that deleting images within Lr on iPad causes issues, as an efficient workflow would be to remove obvious rejects and unwanted images before causing these to be uploaded and downloaded unnecessarily.

One caution… as far as I am aware, one is limited by the available space on the iPad, and while extra storage can be added to an iPad via USB C port, this is not available to the app.

I found this out to my cost as I bought the iPad Pro specifically for mobile use of Lr. The model I bought has not got enough storage to cater for my travel needs so I took a second hit when I purchased a MacAir for travel.

 

[Jim Wilde]

it is odd that deleting images within Lr on iPad causes issues, as an efficient workflow would be to remove obvious rejects and unwanted images before causing these to be uploaded and downloaded unnecessarily.

There's a problem with that approach. The Lightroom "recycle bin" is intended to retain all deleted images for 60 days to allow for a change of mind (or realisation that the user made a mistake). Thus there is a "restore" capability, allowing the user to remove a deleted image from the recycle bin and restore it to the library. The problem is that the "restore" function has to be available to all the connected client apps, not just the app where the original deletion was made. In order to allow for that, it means that any images deleted locally and which haven't yet been uploaded to the cloud, will be added to the Deleted album but will still be uploaded to the cloud.
In order to prevent any unnecessary uploading of deleted images, the user would need to pause syncing before importing, then review and cull as required, then open the Deleted album and "permanently delete" those images that are definitely not ever going to be available to restore. Then resume syncing.

 

[Gnits]

Jim,
Great to have the detail in relation to deleting images in Lr mobile on an iPad.

For years, I was looking forward to a mobile app, but sadly, with Apple tax on iPad storage and needing to wait a few years before my relatively new iPad Pro needs replacement, the Lr mobile solution is way too risky for me to manage. I was looking forward to mainly removing the obvious deletes, flagging the obvious keepers, rating my images and adding metadata for Title, Captions, Location etc… as I travelled thru airports and train stations.
I plan to use a travel Catelog on my MacAir instead, until I find a more mobile friendly workflow.

No doubt I could work with the functionality of the Mobile app on iPad, other than constrained by Apple /Adobe constraints on use of local storage, which I assume for now is more of an Apple ecosystem constraint.

I will continue to watch out for the evolution of mobile based Lightroom.

 

[reidthaler]

No. User Presets do not sync between LrC and the cloud.

But you can create a preset in Lightroom Classic, Export it, the import it into Lightroom (desktop) and the preset will sync with your iOS devices.

 

[clee01l]

…
I plan to use a travel Catelog on my MacAir instead, until I find a more mobile friendly workflow.

I would suggest using Lightroom instead of Lightroom Classic on the MBA. This eliminates the need for a travel catalog while giving you the local storage that Your iPadPro does not.

I will be bringing my iPadPro (M1, 1TB) to Ireland. I also will have a 500GB HDD that I use to make a Backup copy of images on my camera card. My desktop running 7X24 Lightroom Classic will be at home syncing images from the Adobe Cloud while I travel


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