Questions about travel workflow and apps on ipad pro

[Nancy Everds]

Lightroom Version Number

Not yet downloaded

Operating System

1. iOS

I'm working up my workflow for an extended trip with only the ipad pro for image management. My photos will be taken with my DSLR.
Here's what I have so far, and my questions are at the end.

Equipment: Ipad pro with LR (cloud-based), USB hub (hyperdrive, anker) with card reader, SSD ~2 TB
Internet—will be intermittent (camping without hotspots on phones)
Before leaving: Upgrade plan to 1TB adobe cloud storage, Turn off home PC before leaving on trip (it won’t have internet anyway)
On the trip
Use LR on ipad pro to review and cull photos, and post on social media

• Backups
  • store files on adobe cloud
  • use Files app on ipad to transfer to external HD
• Enable sync on LR on ipad pro
• Edit/post images in LR; edits will be saved in cloud
• Download from cloud to LRC when I get home a few months later.

Questions:

1. I have been assuming that I want the LR (cloud based app that is part of my subscription) on my ipad, is that correct?
2. I've seen some statements like: If I I want something quick to show I will create a Lightroom (mobile) album. Does this mean I need both LR (paid) and LR free to have an album on my ipad?
3. This forum is for mobile apps. Does that mean it's for LR (paid, cloud-based, but running on an ipad) or just LR (mobile, free) or both? When you all say cloudy, are you referring only to the paid LR (cloud-based)? When I go to Adobe Creative Cloud, they have LR (cloudbased) for desktop, mobile, and web). It's confusing!
4. I have assumed that people who say they use the term CLOUDY are referring to the paid subscription to LR cloud based, not the free (I assume cloud based) app.
5. If I'm using the cloud-based app as described above and I have no internet, I assume I will not be able to access my photos, do any editing, etc. Correct?

Sorry for the fairly basic questions, but I am having trouble getting clarity .
Nancy

 

[Gnits]

I am not an expert in this area….. but….. I got stung by one key point.

You do not state how much storage space you have on your iPad, or more importantly….. how much remaining space have you got on your iPad.

The reason is that you can only use Lr iPad app on images which are stored on the iPad. Yes …. you can use use your USB hub to copy images from your cards to an external SSD, but you cannot access these images on your SSD using Lr Mobile.

Result for me is that my new IPad Pro M2 is a paperweight, mostly, as I thought I could use an external SSD as storage for Lr Mobile. I had to go an either buy a second iPad with more storage, or buy a new MacAir for a vip trip I was committed to. I bought a new MacAir.

The experts here may explain some work arounds.

I no longer monitor developments re IPad Lr Mobile. I hope at some stage this crazy restriction will be removed. For me the answer is simple. I have abandoned any thoughts of using iPad Lr mobile while travelling.

 

[Jim Wilde]

Questions:

1. I have been assuming that I want the LR (cloud based app that is part of my subscription) on my ipad, is that correct?
2. I've seen some statements like: If I I want something quick to show I will create a Lightroom (mobile) album. Does this mean I need both LR (paid) and LR free to have an album on my ipad?
3. This forum is for mobile apps. Does that mean it's for LR (paid, cloud-based, but running on an ipad) or just LR (mobile, free) or both? When you all say cloudy, are you referring only to the paid LR (cloud-based)? When I go to Adobe Creative Cloud, they have LR (cloudbased) for desktop, mobile, and web). It's confusing!
4. I have assumed that people who say they use the term CLOUDY are referring to the paid subscription to LR cloud based, not the free (I assume cloud based) app.
5. If I'm using the cloud-based app as described above and I have no internet, I assume I will not be able to access my photos, do any editing, etc. Correct?

Sorry for the fairly basic questions, but I am having trouble getting clarity .
Nancy

The subscription version of LrMobile and the "free" version of LrMobile are in fact the same app, there are not two different versions. The functionality that is available to use does differ however, and that that is entirely based on whether you have a paid subscription or not. So, provided that you login to the LrMobile app on the iPad using your normal subscription Adobe ID, you will automatically get the full range of functions and the app will sync with your Adobe Cloud.

A couple of other points:

1. If internet access is going to be spotty, and the available space on your iPad might be a bit restricted, you might consider pausing sync on the iPad when you import a new batch of images until you have done at least the first culling (so that you reduce the amount of data being uploaded to the cloud, and of course you reduce pressure on the iPad's space). Note, however, that images that are culled need to be deleted twice from the LrMobile app, i.e. the first delete just moves the images out of All Photos and into the "Deleted" album (so they continue to occupy space on the iPad), then whenever sync is enabled the images that are in "Deleted" are still uploaded to the cloud (so that they are available to restore anywhere in your cloud ecosystem apart from LrClassic). To to prevent that upload, and to clear the space on the iPad, after deleting from All Photos you also need to "permanently delete" from the "Deleted" album. Having done that, resume syncing until the next import.
2. You might surmise from that first point that it also answers your 5th question, i.e. yes you can carry on working in LrMobile even without internet access, but you do have to make sure that you have at least a smart preview of an image in order to be able to edit it. The way to be certain of that is to first ensure that in the LrMobile app settings>Cloud Storage & Sync tab you enable the "Only download smart previews" option - that will facilitate a gradual local replacement of originals with smart previews (obviously can only happen after the original has been uploaded to the cloud and then only when cloud access is available). Then you have to get into the routine of ensuring that you use the "Store Locally" option for any albums that you wish to work on when offline. Personally, my likely routine when travelling with spotty internet access would be:
a) Pause sync
b) Import directly into LrMobile app, put all new imports into a new album
c) Set that album to "Store Locally"
d) Make backup copy of all new images to external SSD (can obviously be done first if you prefer)
e) Back in LrMobile, make first culling pass, delete from All Photos (don't delete unless you are really sure, if in two minds use the reject flag but do not delete)
f) Permanently delete from "Deleted" if iPad space is restricted (I have a 512 GB model, so space might eventually become restricted depending on the length of the trip)
g) Resume sync if internet is available
h) Start editing at my leisure, remembering that any further deletions need to also be permanently deleted. With the "Store Locally" option set for that album, I can be confident that I will be able to edit even when internet access is not available.
i) If internet access is likely to be unavailable for an extended period, I might consider exporting as DNG to the external SSD any images that I have edited in that period. I think I'd get a little nervous at an extended period with no internet, so would want to protect any editing work, so having a DNG version of the edited images on the backup drive would give me a little more peace of mind.

A couple of the Gurus here regularly use an iPad-only workflow when travelling, so no doubt they might have some additional words of wisdom based on actual experience, and of course will correct me if I've got something wrong.

 

[clee01l]

1. I have been assuming that I want the LR (cloud based app that is part of my subscription) on my ipad, is that correct?
2. I've seen some statements like: If I I want something quick to show I will create a Lightroom (mobile) album. Does this mean I need both LR (paid) and LR free to have an album on my ipad?
3. This forum is for mobile apps. Does that mean it's for LR (paid, cloud-based, but running on an ipad) or just LR (mobile, free) or both? When you all say cloudy, are you referring only to the paid LR (cloud-based)? When I go to Adobe Creative Cloud, they have LR (cloudbased) for desktop, mobile, and web). It's confusing!
4. I have assumed that people who say they use the term CLOUDY are referring to the paid subscription to LR cloud based, not the free (I assume cloud based) app.
5. If I'm using the cloud-based app as described above and I have no internet, I assume I will not be able to access my photos, do any editing, etc. Correct?

1. I use my iPadPro exclusively when I travel. My iMac at home runs 24X6 with Lightroom Classic to accept any files that automatically sync from the Adobe Cloud. If you don't what to automatically sync with Lightroom Classic while you are away then the decision to shut down the Computer running Classic is probably the best choice.
2. There is only one version of Lightroom for mobile devices. If you have a paid subscription, then your images are stored automatically in the Adobe Cloud (when internet is available) The free version is only to get people to use the Lightroom app with the idea that sooner or later that will opt for a subscription. We callout Lightroom (cloudy) here to distinguish it from older versions of Lightroom Classic that were not subscription based.
3. Your profile says that you are already a Classic user. You already have both Lightroom And Lightroom apps available in the Adobe Photography Plan. For your purposes, switching from the 20Gb Photography Plan to the 1TB Photography Plan is a good choice. It will not take long to fill up your 20GB of Cloud Storage with a 32GB DSLR camera card. While you can manage the cloud storage to not exceed the 20GB plan, it requires lots of housekeeping and access to your Classic app to sync the full size images from the Cloud first to then be able to remove them from the cloud to free up the 20 GB. I have the 1TB Photography Plan and my cloud storage is around 100GB.
4. The Lightroom app is available for mobile devices (Phone, tablet, Apple and Android) as a Desktop version for Macs and PCs. All access the Adobe Cloud where all of the images imported from any Lightroom app get stored. Lightroom for the Web is a browser based web page where you can see all of the images in your Adobe Cloud storage

Some notes about syncing:

1. Syncing FROM LrC to the Adobe Cloud does not consume any of your cloud storage plan. This is because Lightroom Classic sends proxy images to the cloud that are 2560px on the long edge that contain all of the local edit instructions and can be edited from any device running a Lightroom app.
2. Images imported TO the Adobe Cloud from a Lightroom App, will be imported full size and will consume your Adobe Cloud Storage. They will then sync DOWN to Lightroom Classic as full size images. I use an iPadPro to do all of my front end importing to LrC. This is why you would need to manually manage your cloud storage if you have a 20GB plan.
3. The sync process does not sync everything both ways. For example keywords from LrC sync one way, one time. For this reason, I do not add keywords to my Lightroom Images until I get home and can add keywords in Lightroom Classic.
4. Also I find it most convenient to delete images ONLY from LrC after I am home. That is when deleted from LrC, they get deleted from my LrC Catalog AND the Adobe Cloud. You might not have a problem if you are not syncing to the LrC Catalog.

Here is the workflow that I have found works best for me the I travel:

• I use a card reader to import my Camera images into Lightroom (and thence into the Adobe Cloud when internet is available)
• Once imported, I also make a backup copy of the camera card images to a portable backup disk drive that connects to my iPad Pro. This give me the security of having two copies of original (one in the Adobe Cloud and one on the portable backup disk drive). I don't consider the images stored on the iPad Pro secure enough to keep only them.
• I use Lightroom for editing, culling etc. Just as I would use Lightroom Classic.
• If I have special images that I might want to share immediately, I can create a Lightroom Album containing this images. After Syncing to LrC these albums are seen as LrC Collections.
• I can share these albums with others as soon as they sync to the Adobe Cloud for any one with access to my Lightroom for the Web browser page https://lightroom.adobe.com/. Something more user friendly is a dedicated web page that I can create from Adobe Portfolio web service https://portfolio.adobe.com/sites

I would suggest that you set all of this up and test thoroughly BEFORE you embark on your trip. I replaced a MBP with an iPadPro and worked out the feasibility of replacing Lightroom Classic on a MBP before I purchased an iPadPro. Because I was not sure how good an internet connection would be and the need to store unsynced images on the iPadPro, I opted for the 12.9 M1 iPadPro with 1TB of storage. I also chose not to capture or store image in Apple's iCloud system.

 

[Nancy Everds]

Thanks for the replies. They are SUPER helpful, and I appreciate that you all took time to carefully explain how this is supposed to work. I just had too many questions to get moving on figuring out the workflow.
Update:

• I've installed Adobe Creative Cloud and LR on my ipad. I attached an Anker multiport dongle, and used Files to transfer to a EHD, which worked very well. HOORAY!
• I updated my Adobe cloud storage to 1TB, which should be more than adequate for this trip.

I have a few questions about the next step: getting the files from the card to the ipad and cloud.

• When I went to import the photos, LR said it wanted access to photos on my device (which seemed to include camera roll, which I would like to keep separate until I have time to organize). Instead, I added the photos to an album I created (add photos, from files). The images showed up as raw images even when I disconnected the dongle. Do I need to import rather than add (I feel that this might have caused subsequent problems). Am I worried unnecessarily about Camera Roll? I could make a camera roll file in LRmobile, and just put all those images in one place.
• I tried to sync the images in the album to the cloud from LR mobile. It took forever (~2 minutes per image), and I right now, at home, I have fairly decent internet (can stream videos, zoom, etc..). This time seems excessive. Any thoughts about why?
• I went to Adobe Creative Cloud on my laptop to see my images after they were all synced according to LR mobile, and under Files, My files, there are no documents. When I click on open sync folder, nothing happens. When I open LR on the web, I see the files that I added to the folder. Shouldn't the files be able to be seen in Adobe Creative Cloud? How do you check that the sync worked, other than the fact that there is a checkmark?
• I'd like to leave only smart previews on the ipad, and use the cloud and the EHD as backup. Once you upload the raw files to the cloud, do the RAW images disappear on the ipad? If I have an image in this album open, and I click on the cloud icon, it says Local: Original CR2, and Cloud Backup: Original CR2.

Thanks again!
Nancy

 

[clee01l]

Let me describe the “Import” process as I use it on my iPadPro.

From the Lightroom Menu, the ellipsis (…) there is an option to “Add Photos” (to what ever album or “All Photos) There is also a blue icon in the lower left corner that does the same thing.
Choose “From Camera” to select the photos on the camera card attached with a card reader. Choose the images to import from the card and these will be added to Lightroom and stored in local storage. You can see what is being consumed by Lightroom in the Local Storage Settings. It is not really important whether the images are stored locally as full size images or as Smart Previews. This is managed by Lightroom and as needed Lightroom will replace full sized images with Smart Previews when these are synced from the Adobe Cloud.

If you want to “Share” an image and the full size is not available locally, Lightroom will download one from the Adobe Cloud, and apply edit adjustments for sharing.

As for syncing Lightroom to the Adobe Cloud, this depends upon the speed of you iPad WiFi connection and the size of your original image file. My ~40-45 MB 48mp Nikon NEFs are a few seconds each not anything like 2 minutes. I have a local 100-150 mbps WiFi and gigabit fiber internet out of my house.

Images on the CameraRoll can be imported IF you give the Lightroom App Access to the CameraRoll. If you add images that are on the CameraRoll to Lightroom they will be stored twice in local storage (One for the CameraRoll and one for Lightroom.) The same holds true if you use the internal File app storage and Add these files to the Lightroom app. You can always use the Camera from Lightroom and avoid the Apple Camera App and Camera Roll.

I ignore iCloud Photos and the Photos App on my iPadPro and iPhone completely If I add iPhone Photos to Lightroom and the Adobe Cloud, I use the Lightroom Camera access.

Images imported through Lightroom on the iPad go to the Adobe Cloud. If you want to see these in Lightroom Classic, then you need to turn on sync in Lightroom Classic and then these images and album(collections) will show up as full size images in your Classic Catalog and stored locally where you designate in LrC Preferences on the Sync tab. Again the speed of download is dependent upon the speed of your internet to your router and from your router to your computer and the size of the files downloaded. Typically, your ISP will have faster download speeds than upload speeds.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Nancy Everds]

From the Lightroom Menu, the ellipsis (…) there is an option to “Add Photos” (to what ever album or “All Photos) There is also a blue icon in the lower left corner that does the same thing.
Choose “From Camera” to select the photos on the camera card attached with a card reader. Choose the images to import from the card and these will be added to Lightroom and stored in local storage. You can see what is being consumed by Lightroom in the Local Storage Settings. It is not really important whether the images are stored locally as full size images or as Smart Previews. This is managed by Lightroom and as needed Lightroom will replace full sized images with Smart Previews when these are synced from the Adobe Cloud.
+++Great! Sounds like I did that part correctly. Okay, so no way to force just Smart Preview after full images are saved to cloud. I'd like to save space, as I'm going on a 7-week trip where I'll have no PC access.

f you want to “Share” an image and the full size is not available locally, Lightroom will download one from the Adobe Cloud, and apply edit adjustments for sharing. +++ Okay

As for syncing Lightroom to the Adobe Cloud, this depends upon the speed of you iPad WiFi connection and the size of your original image file. My ~40-45 MB 48mp Nikon NEFs are a few seconds each not anything like 2 minutes. I have a local 100-150 mbps WiFi and gigabit fiber internet out of my house.
+++We're not that fast (we live on a boat), but our upload speed is usually above 5 mbps and 24 mb files still shouldn't take that long
Images on the CameraRoll can be imported IF you give the Lightroom App Access to the CameraRoll. If you add images that are on the CameraRoll to Lightroom they will be stored twice in local storage (One for the CameraRoll and one for Lightroom.) The same holds true if you use the internal File app storage and Add these files to the Lightroom app. You can always use the Camera from Lightroom and avoid the Apple Camera App and Camera Roll.
+++The photos in Camera Roll are from my work phone in days past. I plan to go to the lightroom camera, as that would be consistent between my android phone and my ipad tablet. I think I can move the files from Camera Roll to Lightroom, then delete the ones in Camera Roll.

I ignore iCloud Photos and the Photos App on my iPadPro and iPhone completely If I add iPhone Photos to Lightroom and the Adobe Cloud, I use the Lightroom Camera access. +++ Makes sense.

Images imported through Lightroom on the iPad go to the Adobe Cloud. If you want to see these in Lightroom Classic, then you need to turn on sync in Lightroom Classic and then these images and album(collections) will show up as full size images in your Classic Catalog and stored locally where you designate in LrC Preferences on the Sync tab. Again the speed of download is dependent upon the speed of your internet to your router and from your router to your computer and the size of the files downloaded. Typically, your ISP will have faster download speeds than upload speeds.
+++Shouldn't the images in the cloud be visible when you go and look for files in the cloud, or to synced images in the Creative Cloud App?
Thanks!

 

[Jim Wilde]

• I went to Adobe Creative Cloud on my laptop to see my images after they were all synced according to LR mobile, and under Files, My files, there are no documents. When I click on open sync folder, nothing happens. When I open LR on the web, I see the files that I added to the folder. Shouldn't the files be able to be seen in Adobe Creative Cloud? How do you check that the sync worked, other than the fact that there is a checkmark?

Your cloud storage can be used it two ways:

1. Storing images imported into any of the Lightroom apps. These will be visible in all of the other Lightroom apps. The LrWeb app is the best place to check the contents of this element of the cloud storage. If the number in All Photos agrees across your Lightroom apps then you can be sure that you have no syncing issues. If any All Photos total differs (and the app is saying it is "Synced and Backed Up") then there is something to investigate (but take the LrWeb total as the truth and reconcile the other apps to that).

2. Separately, you can use the Creative Cloud Files to store and share data (not just photos) in a "Dropbox-like" manner, i.e. if you add files to your local CCF folder they will be uploaded into your cloud storage (so will then be available on other connected devices) and can be shared via URL link to anyone.

Lightroom has no visibility into the Creative Cloud Files, and you can't see your Lightroom-stored photos from the Creative Cloud app. But the combined volume of data is what is reported as the total amount of cloud storage being consumed.

 

[Nancy Everds]

Thanks for the clarification about the cloud storage. From what else I've been able to glean, LR mobile prioritizes (edited and starred photos, for example) what is local when space becomes limiting, assuming you allow that in settings.

 

[Nancy Everds]

It's a miracle--the LR spirits did their magic overnight. Now when I pull up a photo on LR mobile and click on the cloud in the upper right, the local copy is a smart preview, and the cloud copy is the CR2 raw file!

 

[Charles Lo]

I use my iPadPro exclusively when I travel. My iMac at home runs 24X6 with Lightroom Classic to accept any files that automatically sync from the Adobe Cloud.

Hi Clee, please can you explain how to set up LR Classic to automatically sync with Adobe cloud? I

Thank you, Charles
PS Happy Christmas

 

[clee01l]

Hi Clee, please can you explain how to set up LR Classic to automatically sync with Adobe cloud? I

Thank you, Charles
PS Happy Christmas

In LrC Preferences, on the "Lightroom Sync" Tab, choose a destination folder or date named folder scheme to receive any images from the Adobe Cloud. All images from the Adobe Cloud will be downloaded and copied to this location.
In the Catalog Panel a special collection will be created labeled "All Synced Photographs". This will show you all of the photographs in your catalog that are also found in the Adobe Cloud.

To sync catalog images TO the cloud it is necessary to do one of two things.

1. Choose a Collection (not a smart collection) from the Collection panel, right click on it to bring up the context menu and select "Sync with Lightroom" from that context menu.
2. Drag and drop imaged into the "All Synced Photographs" special Collection.

When synching TO the Adobe cloud, LrC will create SmartDNGs (Previews) that are 2560 px on the long edge and copy these Smart Previews to the Adobe Cloud. NOTE: these will not count against your 20 GB Adobe Subscription plan limits where as any images imported into the Adobe Cloud from one of the Lightroom (Lr) apps will be stored full size and must fit inside your plan storage limits.

 

[Charles Lo]

In LrC Preferences, on the "Lightroom Sync" Tab, choose a destination folder or date named folder scheme to receive any images from the Adobe Cloud. All images from the Adobe Cloud will be downloaded and copied to this location.
In the Catalog Panel a special collection will be created labeled "All Synced Photographs". This will show you all of the photographs in your catalog that are also found in the Adobe Cloud.

To sync catalog images TO the cloud it is necessary to do one of two things.

1. Choose a Collection (not a smart collection) from the Collection panel, right click on it to bring up the context menu and select "Sync with Lightroom" from that context menu.
2. Drag and drop imaged into the "All Synced Photographs" special Collection.

When synching TO the Adobe cloud, LrC will create SmartDNGs (Previews) that are 2560 px on the long edge and copy these Smart Previews to the Adobe Cloud. NOTE: thesis will. not count against your 20 GB Adobe Subscription plan limits where as any images imported into the Adobe Cloud from one of the Lightroom (Lr) apps will be stored full size and must fit inside your plan storage limits.

Thank you Clee for your super clear instructions. I very much appreciate your help.

Warm regards from Scotland
Charles