Four Really Cool Things About Lightroom on Your Mobile Device
From the book
From the book
It’s something Lightroom users have been begging for, for years and it’s finally here— a version of Lightroom for your iPad, iPhone, and Android device. Well, I kind of feel like it’s more of an extension of the regular desktop (computer) version, but it’s a really handy one that lets you do a lot of the main things we use the desktop version for. Plus, it’s “free,” and that’s a hard price to beat. (Note: As of the writing of this book, Lightroom is only available on Android phones, not Android tablets. But, of course, that could change at any time if/when Adobe releases an Android tablet version.)
(#1) You Can Sync Collections:
While you’re working in Lightroom on your computer, you get to choose which collections you want synced to Lightroom on your mobile device. If you make changes in Lightroom on your computer, it automatically sends those changes to those synced images in your collections in Lightroom on your mobile device (and vice versa—make a change in Lightroom on your mobile device, and it sends those changes back to your computer). But, it’s not just syncing—you can create new collections, organize collections, put images on your phone or tablet into collections, you can add Pick flags, star ratings, and more from your mobile device.
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(#2) You Can Edit Images on the Go:
Lightroom on your mobile device has the same Basic panel as Lightroom on your computer built right in, so you can edit your images right on your mobile device (even RAW images), and any changes you make there can be sent back to Lightroom on your computer. It has the same sliders, with the same names and the same math underlying it all. There is no Adjustment Brush, but this is supposed to be “Four Really Cool Things About Lightroom on Your Mobile Device,” so forget I brought that up. Next!
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(#3) You Can Use It Without Using Lightroom on Your Computer
You don’t have to sync your images and all that stuff. You can just use Lightroom on your mobile device to import and edit the images you took with your cell phone camera or your tablet camera—no matter how ridiculous it looks holding up a huge tablet to take photos (wait...who said that?!). So, basically, you can apply the editing power of Lightroom to images already on your mobile device (or what the rest of the world just calls their phone).
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(#4) You Can Share What You’re Working On, While You’re Working On It
One of my favorite features lets anyone you choose not only see a particular collection (you send them a web link to it and, as long as they have a web browser, they can see it), but they can also add Pick flags, assign star ratings, or even leave a written comment on a photo, and all of this feedback comes straight back to you in Lightroom on your computer. You can be in Cincinnati, they can be in Venice, and the two of you are collaborating over a shoot. Seriously, how amazing is that? They don’t need an Adobe account; they don’t need anything special—just a web browser and an Internet connection. Of course, there’s more to Lightroom on your mobile device than just these four things, but these four things make a great case for why you’d want to extend Lightroom on your computer’s power and reach by adding this mobile version to your workflow when you want it. The rest of this chapter is about how to put Lightroom on your mobile device to use (luckily, it’s pretty easy because you’ve already learned about collections, and Pick flags, and the Basic panel, and all that stuff. Now, all you’re doing is learning how to do the stuff you already know, but on a touchscreen mobile device). Okay, let’s get to it!
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