Syncing from LR Mobile on iPad Pro to LR Classic on iMac

[SherryM]

Mobile Operating System:
Desktop Operating System:
Exact Lightroom Version (Help menu > System Info):

I want to use Lightroom Mobile on my iPad Pro while traveling to do some editing, and have it sync to Lightroom Classic on my IMac. It’s not working now, and I’m unsure why.


On Ipad Pro/Lightroom Mobile: Photos are in Camera Roll and My Photos Stream.
In Lightroom Mobile photos are “all synced and backed up”. I don’t know where they are ‘synced’ to.

On Imac at home/Lightroom Classic/Creative Cloud: The photos went into the Photos app on the Imac.
In Lightroom Classic I don’t see any new photos.
Under the nameplate, there is no “sync with Lightroom Mobile”; all that is there is “sync with Lightroom CC, 5.55 GB of 20 GB used.”


I tried moving some photos from the Photos app into a desktop folder, but what copies over are JPEG versions, not the RAW files I want.


Can anyone tell me where I’m going wrong? I know this has to be much simpler than I'm making it!


Thank you very much!

 

[Jim Wilde]

You've basically got two sync activities going on, which can be confusing and certainly duplicating files needlessly. Personally I have iCloud disabled for Photos, so all my syncing between iDevices and my MacBook Pro is done via the Adobe Cloud. At the moment, however, that duplication shouldn't be the cause of why you're not seeing new photos, so we can focus on that aspect first.

"Sync with Lightroom mobile" under the ID plate is now changed in LR Classic to "Sync with Lightroom CC", to reflect the fact that the Adobe cloud apps are now generically called Lightroom CC (or LRCC for short). But the fact that Classic is showing that 5.5GB of your 20GB is used means that some syncing has taken place. Looking at that message under the ID plate, at the right-hand side of the message what do you see? If you see a "Pause" icon, i.e. two short vertical lines, that means that syncing IS enabled. But if you see the word "Paused" then that means that you've paused sync and so need to click on "Paused" to resume syncing.

But if the syncing isn't currently paused, then are you looking in the right place for the "new photos"? Start by looking in the Catalog Panel, above the Folders Panel in Classic....there should be an entry for All Synced Photographs (which is a special collection reflecting all the photos that Classic has synced to/from the Adobe cloud). The total number of images in that ASP collection should match the number of photos listed against "All Photos" in the LRCC app on your iPad Pro. The actual images which are downloaded are stored in a folder which you can determine yourself via the Classic Preferences>Lightroom Sync tab, but assuming you haven't changed that location they will be in the default location on your iMac. Look in the Folders Panel, you should see an entry for your iPad Pro, if you expand that you'll see a Folder called "Imported Photos" which should contain all the files that were uploaded from your iPad Pro and synced down into Classic.

In other words, if sync is not paused, you should find that it is all working. Once that's established you can think about whether you need your iPad photos also being uploaded to the Apple iCloud and from there back down into Photos.

 

[SherryM]

You've basically got two sync activities going on, which can be confusing and certainly duplicating files needlessly. Personally I have iCloud disabled for Photos, so all my syncing between iDevices and my MacBook Pro is done via the Adobe Cloud. At the moment, however, that duplication shouldn't be the cause of why you're not seeing new photos, so we can focus on that aspect first.

"Sync with Lightroom mobile" under the ID plate is now changed in LR Classic to "Sync with Lightroom CC", to reflect the fact that the Adobe cloud apps are now generically called Lightroom CC (or LRCC for short). But the fact that Classic is showing that 5.5GB of your 20GB is used means that some syncing has taken place. Looking at that message under the ID plate, at the right-hand side of the message what do you see? If you see a "Pause" icon, i.e. two short vertical lines, that means that syncing IS enabled. But if you see the word "Paused" then that means that you've paused sync and so need to click on "Paused" to resume syncing.

But if the syncing isn't currently paused, then are you looking in the right place for the "new photos"? Start by looking in the Catalog Panel, above the Folders Panel in Classic....there should be an entry for All Synced Photographs (which is a special collection reflecting all the photos that Classic has synced to/from the Adobe cloud). The total number of images in that ASP collection should match the number of photos listed against "All Photos" in the LRCC app on your iPad Pro. The actual images which are downloaded are stored in a folder which you can determine yourself via the Classic Preferences>Lightroom Sync tab, but assuming you haven't changed that location they will be in the default location on your iMac. Look in the Folders Panel, you should see an entry for your iPad Pro, if you expand that you'll see a Folder called "Imported Photos" which should contain all the files that were uploaded from your iPad Pro and synced down into Classic.

In other words, if sync is not paused, you should find that it is all working. Once that's established you can think about whether you need your iPad photos also being uploaded to the Apple iCloud and from there back down into Photos.

Hi Jim,
Thank you SO much for replying!
Under the ID Plate: Where 5.5GB of your 20GB is used - just to the right of it is "Start". If I click on that, is says "LR can only sync a single LR catalog. You are currently syncing Lightroom Catalog.lrcat. Would you like to sync this catalog instead? If you choose to sync this catalog, photos that you've already synced will be added to this catalog." So, is this a new catalog of synced photos only? Does it incorporate itself into my original catalog which points to a file on my hard drive? Are these synced photos RAW files and could I copy them to a folder on my desktop?

There are no photos under Catalog Panel in the "All Synced Photos." When I look at the Folders Panel, there is no entry for my iPad Pro. It only shows my iMac Hard Drive and the photos folders underneath that.

That was a good point about the 2 sync activities. That was a mistake and once I have this settled, I will turn off ICloud for Photos. I ended up having to increase my storage to do this (and I don't intend to leave photos in iCloud storage anyway). Just another lesson learned, I guess.

Based on the above, what would you recommend now?

Sherry

 

[Jim Wilde]

OK, that means that you have more than one Lightroom catalog....was that deliberate on your part, or did you not know?

Forget the syncing thing for now, the first thing to do is get control over the LR Classic setup, after that's done we can get sync under control as well. So start with that first question and get back to us.

 

[SherryM]

OK, that means that you have more than one Lightroom catalog....was that deliberate on your part, or did you not know?

Forget the syncing thing for now, the first thing to do is get control over the LR Classic setup, after that's done we can get sync under control as well. So start with that first question and get back to us.

Hi Jim,
You were right, I had more than one catalog. When I upgraded to Classic, LR made a new updated catalog, and left the old one there as well. I also had a catalog from a LR class I had taken. Once I straightened all that out, the sync went just fine. I'm also disabling the iCloud for Photos. I REALLY appreciate your advice and help. It's been a real learning experience with Lightroom. Thank you again!
Sherry