Streamline your Lightroom workflow between your iPad and Mac (Lightroom + Lightroom Classic)

[@mauriciobaez525]

Great video; myself I have defaulted to an ipad only workflow. Very good tips keep at it

[@AlexDubois]

Have you find a way to compare 2 photos? To check either focus or pauses and keep only the version(s) you want…

[@stewartlogie]

If you are on a multiday shoot with lots of images, backing up the SD card to the external SSD using the files app on the iPad will drive you nuts. You have to copy all of the card or tap each file separately and then copy them. There’s no easy way to skip files already stored previously on the SSD. One way would be to erase the SD card after moving the files to the SSD, another is to use a backup program like FileBrowser Pro.

[@robinferand]

I understand. One way to deal with that would be to create a sub folder on your camera for each different day. I know canon does that but I’m sure other brands do as well.

[@DDHDTV]

​@@robinferandtrue, my Sony a6000 does this as well

[@TarrelScot]

Have a separate card per day? More secure as you have that additional backup.

[@joedimeo]

Great video, Robin! Simple, effective, understated, and professional. Good luck with growing your channel!

[@robinferand]

Thank you!

[@pyve__]

Nice and clear tuto with a clean english accent ! Nice work thanks for it ! It helped me a lot.

[@martindawson]

This is really useful. I do not use Lightroom CC, but would like to do more editing on my iPad, and I will start to switch my current catalogue over based on this workflow. Thanks so much 😊

[@rogergranquist]

This is impressive! I definitely plan to implement this! Just have to watch it slow a few times to fully grasp that workflow! So cool!! Thanks for taking the time to put all that together!

[@_h_bhatt_]

This video actually made me rearrange my 5 years worth of photos. Love the new workflow. Thanks so much.

[@robinferand]

Great to hear and glad I could help!

[@davep6603]

There is one feature I use in Lightroom Classic that is not in Lightroom Cloud: Survey View. This is a great workflow that will allow me to use that. Since the images are synced down to Classic, I can use this feature to cull images and have the changes (including deleting files) be synced back to the Cloud.

[@ethancaine1]

4:38 Sandisk has corrected their mistake. I was one of those with the bad batch and they replaced it under warranty with no problems. The new ones going out do not have the same problems.

[@robinferand]

Good to know. I far more enjoy the design of the Sandisk.

[@joelpicsel]

Hello Robin. This video is exactly what I was looking for. I've tried applying this workflow to a recent event photoshoot I did, and I'm finding that uploading 4.000 x 80MB photos to the Cloud and then synching them back to LrC might be unfeasible even with a decent internet connection. I'm thinking of culling on the iPad and only syncing the selection (just a few hundred photos instead of thousands) so I can continue on LrC when I get back home. I'll have to test this though. Anyway, thank you very much for this excellent video!

[@robinferand]

Hey Joel. Agreed. it can be quite long depending on the amount of images x your internet connection (even worse when you're on the road). Your idea is quite good. A new update on Lightroom for iPad allows to import images directly onto your ipad local storage. Then you could make a selection and only sync it with LrC. That being said you need an ipad with good storage!

[@FL18644]

very clear this is what I need

[@studioryley]

THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!!! Just spent my morning going through this trying to wrap my head around this workflow, and it's (I think) perfect! I bought an iPad Pro earlier this year specifically for importing on the go and editing when I didn't have my laptop with me. But as I use Lightroom Classic on my Mac, I haven't been able to create a consistent workflow of importing files directly from the SD card into Lightroom for iPad, and easily having them appear in my physical SSD location. Those Lightroom sync settings really saved me here. Thanks very much for taking the time to make this video, this has literally made my day and I'm so excited to utilise this workflow moving forward

[@robinferand]

Happy to hear that! Also the more you use the workflow, the simpler it will get. Enjoy your new iPad!

[@sommerproductions_ch]

THANK YOU!! Such a confusing topic that made me stay away from Lightroom CC and stick with the classic version. You answered all my question. Really, thank you!!

[@robinferand]

Glad it was helpful!

[@josoder]

Thank you for an interesting and useful video. I am trying to tune into a similar workflow. At what stage do you do your culling? Do you keep all images of a shoot in your backup SSD? Or do you do the culling before, only storing «keepers»? I don´t want to spend storage on rejected photos, neither on external drives nor in the cloud.

[@robinferand]

One of my first boss told me “Never delete anything until you’ve delivered the project to your client.” I still follow that today. Once my project is synced through the cloud and backed up into my main Lightroom classic catalog (with dedicated backup drives) that’s when I remove the backup folder onto my SSD I created on the iPad. Photo that I know for a fact I won’t be using (Blurry, bad exposures etc..) I flagged them “rejected” Every couple of months, I select all rejected images in Lightroom Classic and delete them to indeed save space on drives. This also remove them on the cloud.

[@RodneyGracia]

Great video. I have a very similar workflow. I don't use Lightroom Classic but I use Lightroom CC on all my devices. It simplifies this further. But I know LCC is not for everyone. I also create my album first and then import into it, effectively removing a few steps.

[@robinferand]

Thank you. There are still key features in LrC missing from Lr but for simplified organization workflow, Lr is more that sufficient since the editing tools are quite similar to those found in LrC.

[@Magnetic975]

Outstanding tutorial! Thank you so much for the detailed instructions & visuals!

[@fraserb609]

Ive been trying to come up with a better workflow. I am going to give this a try. Merci

[@StabilizerMotion]

lightroom masterclass! thanks

[@djborden]

Excellent video, thank you!

[@NTPJAR]

working 100% . thanks a lot my dude

[@Pablo-bo6cp]

A fantastic video! Thanks so much!!!

[@Bidione]

Interesting workflow which makes lot of sense. The only point where I get stuck anytime I try this, is when trying to have my files synced to the Adobe cloud when travelling. In most cases I’m sitting in a hotel or at the airport with an internet connection way too slow to even only attempt to upload gigabytes of RAW data onto a cloud. Is there a way around this so LR may e.g. only upload Smartpreviews to the Cloud so I could still use most of the culling and editing workflow and only sync the RAWs with the Cloud and my NAS when back home? (BTW cloud backup is not a concern for me as long as I keep the original data on the SD card plus one copy on the SSD.

[@robinferand]

I know, this is a big drawback with this workflow as it isn't the most efficient when having a slow internet connection, especially when travelling. That's the reason why I also make a physical copy on an external ssd when I know I might nto get the most reliable wifi.

[@richardbord7092]

Hi Robin, thanks for the great video! Do you know if there is a catalogue on the ipad created by Lightroom to save all the settings and previews? I guess it should be as you should be able to work without any internet connection. If yes, can we back up this catalogue on a drive and import it on our Mac and then use it with LrC? If we don’t have an internet connection, it could be a great solution to continue on the laptop the editing we started on the ipad.

[@robinferand]

Hello Richard. No, Lightroom Cloud doesn't work with catalogs. Instead, it saves your settings into the cloud and in the cache of your device (same for the preview). However, with some of the latest updates, you can choose to copy images locally on your device (Tablet, smartphone and computer). Those will be saved on the device memory. You can choose later to upload to the cloud I believe.

[@mariacarlson5938]

Newbie question. Is there any difference between importing to files and copying to the Photo app versus importing directly to the Photo app? I understand iPad imports as HEIC, is that the format that is then transferred to Lightroom? Thank you!

[@robinferand]

Not sure if it's related to Lightroom but you can for sure import raw images directly into the photo app on the iPad. They will be imported as RAW. And if you are exporting them from the Photo App, then by default, the app will export them as HEIC.

[@mariacarlson5938]

@@robinferand Helpful, thank you!

[@PL-im4mg]

Thank you. Very well done. I have 2 questions: what if you don’t have such a big adobe cloud space? Would it still work if you only have 20 gb? Also, my Lightroom is now full of random photos I take on my iPhone. I want it to have only photos taken with the camera. Right now, any random picture is there. It’s a mess. Please advise. Thank you!

[@robinferand]

20Gb of cloud might be a bit short for this workflow. But in the end. It depends how much you shoot and what kind of camera you are using. The new interface of Lightroom Mobile (on your phone) can be quite confusing. The first tab (called device), indeed shows you the images present in your camera roll but they are not on the Adobe Cloud. However, if there are random images in the second tab (called lightroom with the cloud icon) then you need to remove them from the Adobe cloud because it uses the Adobe cloud (20gb in your case). You can batch select the images and delete them from the cloud.

[@PL-im4mg]

@@robinferand thank you. I found the switch on the app settings to remove the automatic upload from the iPhone. Thank you!

[@billwatson4468]

Thanks for the video. Do you mind sharing your steps for when you need to make space on your cloud ? E.g once the shoot or project is complete, move these files onto hard drives only, making space for a new project on the iPad.

[@robinferand]

Hi, if I want to free up space on my cloud, I simply go to each album (not collection) in Lightroom classic. Usually an album corresponds to a project as I create them when I import images in Lightroom on the iPad. On the left of each album, I select all the images in the album (cmd-a) right click and choose unsync images. The images will be removed from the cloud but will still be available in Lightroom classic, however no longer available on the iPad since Lightroom is solely based on cloud.

[@michaelg.1149]

​@@robinferandawesome tutorial thanks a lot. I was about to ask the same question and found your answer here. I just don't undertand why you say "album and not collection" as LrC is only handling collections and not albums. Did you mean "collection and not folder"? Also, does it mean that on the Cloud you only have a few images and not 100% of your library? Thanks a lot!

[@robinferand]

@@michaelg.1149 Lightroom classic can handles the albums from Lightroom’ they are under the default collection set « from Lightroom ». The cloud can have all your library if it was synced through Lightroom cloud from in the first place. Otherwise, you cannot upload the entire Lightroom classic library to the cloud. The only images you can send from Lightroom classic to Lightroom cloud are smart previews. Hope this helps :)

[@michaelg.1149]

@@robinferand thanks a lot!

[@heythere6983]

Idk whether to get a tablet or iPad . Looking for photo editing and maybe light video editing . Iv seen people say the m2 or m1 aren’t really even necessary for the apps capabilities on iPads anyways. I also don’t want the top of the line iPad for it’s nicer screen bc it’s just too much money for this type of device imo . Iv thought of Samsung devices but idk. I’d just like something that uses adobe apps well. I still don’t even know what kinds of features are missing on the tablet/iPad apps vs the regular apps , That would help . Haven’t used adobe in a while though, do people need pay 2 monthly fees or extra for a mobile version and regular version of the apps? Or are they both included? I feel I preferred the Samsung display over iPad A smidge , although the colors seemed a bit off. I keep hearing ipads apps are very limited but I don’t get how something like a Samsung would be much worse if it’s the same apps being compared. Id go with the air but I think I read the display is inferior to the pro models . At around a grand I’d rather just buy a small laptop and not be limited at all lol . I also didn’t realize there were WiFi or cellular versions of thee devices? I didn’t know you had to choose? So confusing lol

[@sebastianreiprich3747]

Maybe a dumb question, but can I remove images from the cloud and keep them on the hard drive? Say I have used up my cloud storage and want to add new photos I assume the new ones won’t sync until I free up some space. I only have 100gb of storage instead of 1 TB so I would like to keep my photos on device but still sync them to the other devices.

[@robinferand]

In Lightroom Classic yes, Lightroom for iPad no because it is solely cloud based.

[@kamileong1901]

Quick question - once you’ve edited the raw files in LR, how do you save those edited raw files onto your backup ssd? I’m always confused how the edits in LR are saved on the raw file. Thanks!

[@robinferand]

They are not saved with the backup folder on the ssd but instead synced through the cloud. It’s only once in Lightroom Classic that you can find an attached xmp with the edits, depending on how you’ve configured it

[@managadzed]

Thank you, Robin! Would you mind listing all the main folder paths? I believe you are doing some trick that was not obvious to me :) Do I understand correctly that: 1) The very first copy of RAW files are under “/RFS - Photography/RAW & Finals/2023/”. Here you created “20230508 - Pipers Lagoon” and these are the first backups. 2) The LR Classic’s cloud-synced photos are under “/RFS - Photography/RAW & Finals/- -Lightroom CC/“. The app will download RAWs under “20230508” folder. So, you have 2 copies of images on the same SSD (in different folder hierarchies) 3) You use the folder path #2 in your LR Classic. The app knows that these are the files from cloud. They appear in the synced Albums/Collections under the “From Lightroom” set too. You rename the files and all the apps and cloud “see” that. 4) You work with the renamed RAW files in the path #2 -> create DNG files from them. 5) When you are done, you archive DNG files under the #2 subfolder “RAW DNG” A year or so ago I started using almost the same workflow because I loved LR editing on iPad but I encountered various issues such as: * iPad pushed RAW images and only kept Smart Previews, sometimes not even smart but a really low quality previews. I turned On the Store Locally switch for my “To Edit” albums and then it kept RAWs in those albums but not always. * I could not get RAW or at least high resolution images on the iPad if they were first imported on my Mac in the past. * It was not easy to work with exposure bracketing or focus stacking. Neither of these can be done on the iPad’s LR and Photoshop. Therefore, I had to wait for uploading the RAWs from iPad to cloud and then to Mac - takes quite a bit of bandwidth and time. Sorry for the long post :) I’d love to hear your thoughts, tips and tricks.

[@robinferand]

Hi! Yes, you got the folder management correctly. Although I rename the raw images and place them inside a folder named: "raw dng," I don't convert all raw to dng. The only time I have dng is when I do a roundtrip between LrC and DXo, for example. In that case, unfortunately, the new dng file won't be available in the cloud. Secondly if you import raw using Lightroom classic then they won't be available on the cloud. You can still choose to sync them, but they will only be synced as "smart preview". When it comes to low resolution previews on Lightroom for iPad, there is a setting in the app under "cloud storage and sync" that's automatically on to only download smart previews. Depending on your camera, this could be more compressed, but it can be toggled off. Just make sure you have enough space on your iPad. Finally when it comes to bracketing/pano and working in an external editor such as Photoshop, unfortunately, this breaks the synced workflow, and the new image editing in Photoshop won't sync with the cloud, you can manually do so but again, only a smart preview. I also wish Lightroom on iPad could do braketing and ppanorama but still impossible at the moment. I hope this helps!

[@managadzed]

@@robinferand thanks for your reply! So, both the cloud sync and LRC’s import folders are the same: /RFS - Photography/RAW & Finals/- - Lightroom CC/ . When LRC syncs, it downloads files from the cloud to this folder. Also, when you import, you put photos in the same folder. And can confirm that this is not causing any conflicts in the LRC, right? If so, that’s great! I kept synced photos separately, then manually copied them to another folder with the rest of the photos (where I manually import on my Mac), and it is tedious. I’d rather have all of them together from the get go - less manual work, easy to backup, etc. Thank you!

[@robinferand]

I am not importing anything in LrC. It is automatically downloaded and the raw are copied locally inside Lightroom CC/date_foldername yes. Even if I rename the raw files, they are still inside the same folder and Adobe Cloud is able to reference them and keep them synced to be available on the iPad. Once I'm done with the project and the finals are exported then I moved the raws to my archive folder but even though they are still synced through the cloud.

[@joelkoh7365]

i uses iPad and I have a desktop. Can I use a SSD for both iPad and Desktop?

[@robinferand]

Yes! That's what I'm doing

[@AngelusHD]

Hi, what do u do with the “Raw Backup” after you reconstructed LRc to “Raw Dng” You back them to another drive and delete them from your working SSD? What if you are done with your working “Raw Dng”There is no need for duplications but i think we also want to restore the links easily when needed.

[@robinferand]

Correct, I remove the folder raw backup folder once they are in LrC because at this stage the images are backup else where.

[@billwatson4468]

Regarding your portable SSD, wouldn’t this fill up quite quickly? How do you deal with this?

[@robinferand]

I have a 2TB ssd solely for photo on the year. So far so good. And keep in mind that as soon as the images are backed up on my archive drive, I remove the “raw backup” from my ssd that I created during the import process on the iPad.

[@BoltonClaudia]

Thank you for this video. Question…you refer to your desktop version of Lightroom as Lightroom Classic. Aren’t you using Lightroom/Lightroom CC (creative cloud) so that the pictures sync through the cloud?

[@robinferand]

Lightroom classic has a module to sync images from the cloud as well. Both Lightroom classic and Lightroom cc are able to communicate and that’s the idea behind this workflow.

[@victorcarmelo8606]

Thank you, I think I got an idea about this workflow, (which I need to watch again a few times to learn it). I was an adopter to Standalone LT in all the versions which are on a 2009/2011 iMac/MBPro respectively around 20k of LT DNG converted images. I would like to subscribe for the iPad version but 20gigs of cloud storage is tiny and can’t afford to pay more for cloud storage. I can start a Catalogue for 2020/23 but how do I use the old Catalogue without getting penalised for using too much storage? Thanks for a great video.

[@BoltonClaudia]

@@robinferand that’s awesome! Thank you

[@robinferand]

@@victorcarmelo8606 Hi, That would depend on which Adobe Plan you have. If you are only using the photography apps: Lightroom Classic, Lightroom CC, and Photoshop then I would highly recommend the Photography Plan that includes 1TB for. around $19 USD I believe (depending on where in the world you are located) When it comes to all images already imported into the previous catalog on Lightroom Classic, they can only be imported to Lightroom for iPad as "smart previews" and not the original RAW Files. I would suggest merging all catalogs into one and for new images to import them via Lightroom CC (iPad and Mac) so that they can be accessed via the cloud.

[@victorcarmelo8606]

@@robinferand Thanks, I am in UK. Did not realise I can use my old catalogues images as smart previews. Thanks for your helpful reply. Regards.

[@thekarachannel4281]

Why not use iCloud instead of creative cloud?

[@SueFerreira75]

Love your quick aside of “Victory in Europe” - 8th May, even though your images are shot in Nanaimo, BC Canada. Never forget!

[@edwardkurek5355]

Can you use a iPad as a waycom with a Mac Pro laptop?

[@robinferand]

With Sidecar (in your Mac preferences) you can in a way yes. But it has some limitations. You can also try third party app such as "duet". But it is subscription based.

[@angelakamper1484]

Where stands your catalogus?

[@robinferand]

the Lightroom Classic Catalog? It used to be on an external ssd. Now it is stored on my internal SSD.

[@franktorres7963]

Can I use my Dropbox instead of their own cloud service?? I would feel stupid to pay for another cloud service that can’t do what Dropbox does.

[@robinferand]

No, it is only through Adobe cloud.

[@franktorres7963]

@@robinferand thanks. I just bought a 2 terabyte pro, and I’m currently learning of many limitations.

[@MyDeimudder]

For years now the workflow regarding the iPad is flawed. As others noted I am not going to transfer to the adobe cloud from remote locations. Even if there would be a wifi signal available once in a while it still would be too slow, too. And transferring all images of a trip at once when I return home would be too slow, as well. Who could possibly want to upload 100s of gigabytes via the internet? Using a service that for years now produced various sync conflicts even when using only my iPhone as a source? It is a flawed money grab. They want to sell their cloud data plans after all.

[@ronald7482]

Ipad pro works fine if you not have more than 50 images. I get grazy with my iPad and need a macbook

[@JuanLopezmusica]

As photographer who use both, I can see Lightroom cloud as the future of editing. Because of the AI technology, eventually Lightroom will disappear. Honestly I feel new Lightroom have almost everything from Classic.

[@robinferand]

Almost yes. A few things are still missing in Lr: masking and merging images, from hdr to panorama. And then the whole metadata and catalog system to organize large amount of images.

[@JuanLopezmusica]

@@robinferand you can do masking, how long you haven’t use it? Lol I have more than 10k photos in my system

[@robinferand]

Sorry I meant a few things are missing in the masking section such as intersect

[@DDHDTV]

Thank you for this gread insight! Unfortunately this workflow isn't for me I think. Not planning on keeping a permanent backup on Adobe cloud, over time my images take several TB, so I'd need a workflow where I remove them after. Also not keeping a permanent copy on the SSD, but in the end should end up on an HDD. Guess all I have to do is, delete everything from Lightroom CC after I'm done with an Album. (Or at least only keep the ones edited, this will also grow heavy Over time though) Also just make a copy on an HDD from the SSD and delete from the SSD after I'm done there and only keep recent projects

[@robinferand]

Hey, I'm not planning on keeping a permanent backup on Adobe as well. It will run for the full year and then comes the new year I'll empty it. Because I'd be in the same situation where my cloud would be full. But I understand than for very large workflow of several terabytes, then the cloud isn't really made for it; yet.

[@BelfastBiker]

YOu made this more complicated than it needed to be. You should not have even shown backups (I see THREE external drives?!!?). Whole thing should only initially have had iPad, Cloud, and Classic. Also, your initial arrows to Classic are wrong direction. EDIT: You end up using the initial SSD as the master place for Classic. What was the point of copying images initially from SD card to it, as an extra step, before loading them into iPad LR? You now have the same images on the same hard drive i two different folders, why?

[@robinferand]

You’re more than welcome to setup your workflow the way you like for sure.

[@mariorruiz]

This wouldn’t work for weddings. I have to back up thousands of photos at a time so this would not work

[@robinferand]

Correct, not really suited for weddings or event photography