What can I do with LR on an iPad?

[HarryT]

At present I use a standalone copy of Adobe Lightroom on my PC, and it's the main tool I use to catalogue and process my extensive photo collection. I have a Nikon DSLR, shoot everything in "camera RAW" format, and process it in LR.

I notice that, if you subscribe to an Adobe subscription, as well as getting Photoshop and Lightroom on a PC/Mac, you also get access to an iPad version of Lightroom. Does anyone know what you can actually do with this? Is it just for processing photos taken on the iPad (which I'd never do), or does it have practical uses other than that? Is it worth using?

Thanks!

Harry, I do much the same. I have three cameras and shoot in RAW + JPEG and mostly use LR to catalogue and process the photos I take. I rarely keep the JPEGs, but I found taking RAW + JPEG doesn't really take too much space on a large SD Card, and occasionally I like to be able to browse the JPEGs immediately without having to take the time to export all the RAW from a shoot into JPEG. I only use the OOC JPEGs to basically help me decide which RAW images I want to import into LR, then I delete the JPEGs. LR is the beginning of the PP (post processing) workflow for me. I usually PP the RAW in LR, then export the best ones to 16bit uncompressed TIFF for further PP in Photoshop or other apps. I have the Adobe Photography membership. I also have PS CS6 and LR 6 which I own. Unfortunately, I cannot give you any detailed info on what all LR on my iPad Pro 9.7 can accomplish, as I've rarely used it. But yes the Adobe Photography membership allows you to have the following iPad apps installed:

• Lightroom
• Photoshop Fix
• Photoshop Mix
• Adobe Clip

I briefly explored these apps months ago when I got the Adobe Photography membership, but never really did much with them. I cannot even remember much about them. The Lightroom iPad app is synced to your LR desktop app, or actually to your account, so that is a plus. However, my photography workflow sees me taking RAW images with my cameras, importing those into LR on my MBP, and PP them there. I rarely, if ever, transfer any images to my iPad for PP, so hence the reason I don't know what LR iPad app can do. I rarely take photos with my iPad camera. However it is possible, as I recall, to open and PP an image residing on your desktop via your iPad using LR. So if you want to make a few adjustments via the iPad rather than going to the desktop, you could.

Affinity has just launched an iPad standalone photo processing app. They have a desktop app and it is fairly good as I recall. I used the trial desktop version for a while. I've been waiting for a really good Photoshop-like iPad app, and Affinity just emailed me this morning that they have now released their iPad app. It will cost $29, but for a limited time is available for $19. Here is the link they provided. I think an app like this might better fulfill my iPad PP needs than does the Adobe Photography membership as I only want to use it standalone for a few images I take on the iPad or iPhone 7.

Sorry I couldn't give you more info.

Here is a good LR mobile app overview video by Adobe apps guru Julienne Kost.

I also remember seeing some Yuotube videos of people using their iPad Pros with LR in a similar way you would a Wacom tablet. When they do this, they or basically using LR on the iPad Pro and the desktop simultaneously. The iPad Pro and Pencil are basically acting as a Wacom tablet and the editing results are displayed on the desktop as well as the iPad Pro. Now that is cool.

[HarryT]

Thanks for the information, Jack. Very helpful. Using the iPad Pro as a tablet DOES sound cool, I agree!

I resisted getting the Adobe CC membership due to the expense for quite a while--a few years. Originally they wanted about $20 USD per month for LR and PS. I crunched the numbers and that was more than I was spending on Adobe apps I owned over the normal cycle of upgrading. I usually upgraded only every two or three updates beyond my current one. So for PS it was CS3, then CS6, skipping CS4 and CS5. Unfortunately Adobe quit updating the PS standalone app. I have LR 6, but it is always about one full upgrade behind the LR CC, and there is no guarantee they will ever upgrade the standalone again. After Adobe offered the Photography membership for only $10 USD per month, I decided to try it and I definitely think it is worth that fee to stay up to date with the latest LR CC and PS CC. It will take me about three years to invest $360, and that is close to what the upgrade cost for PS was when it was standalone, and I only upgraded about every three years. LR upgrades are mush less and I usually upgraded it every time a new standalone version was released. So in the long term I'm now paying Adobe less than I was in the past.

[HarryT]

Yes, I'm serious thinking about getting the Creative Cloud Photography subscription myself. It would cost me roughly the same as I've been spending for the last few years on LR upgrades, and it would give me PS, too. I need to overcome my aversion to the principle of renting software!

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, I'm serious thinking about getting the Creative Cloud Photography subscription myself. It would cost me roughly the same as I've been spending for the last few years on LR upgrades, and it would give me PS, too. I need to overcome my aversion to the principle of renting software!

Yes, I'm still aggravated and frustrated about renting too, especially since they can increase the rent in the future. That is why I'm always keeping an eye open for alternative apps that are standalone. I'm currently renting the CC on a monthly basis, but I will probably switch to annual before long to lock in at least 12 months at the current rental price.

[pwalker8]

I dropped Lightroom when it went to monthly. I have a mac, so I use photo at the moment. Not very satisfactory. It really does seem odd with all the people who are photographers to various degrees that there isn't a more robust set of options for photo management. I guess Adobe dominated the market for so long, no one has stepped into that niche.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I dropped Lightroom when it went to monthly.

It is (or at least was, when I last upgraded) the one remaining CC program that you could still buy outright. I don't know if that's now changed?

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I dropped Lightroom when it went to monthly. I have a mac, so I use photo at the moment. Not very satisfactory. It really does seem odd with all the people who are photographers to various degrees that there isn't a more robust set of options for photo management. I guess Adobe dominated the market for so long, no one has stepped into that niche.

Apple had Aperture for a while, and it was better than iPhotos and the newer replacement called Photos. Photos supposedly was a combining of iPhotos with Aperture, but it does less than Aperture, so it was a downgrade IMO. I never use cataloguing apps for managing my photo/video library. I prefer to do that manually via the filing system. That is, I create my own folder and subfolder systems. I cannot stand to open an app and wait while it searches my entire filing system for all my photos. Nor to I care to see all that clutter. Arggghhhh....I prefer to only deal with the current project, not every project I have ever saved. I rarely ever open Photos. It doesn't manage well, doesn't transfer well, and it doesn't offer much in the way of photo editing beyond a very low level. Apple never got the photo management and editing correct, nor did they really try very hard. Aperture was improving, but just as it started to get decent they discontinued it. I think way back in the 1980s Apple owned about 10% of Adobe, so that might be why they never went after that market. I'm not sure if they still have a stake in Adobe. They could likely buy them outright if they wanted to, but I hope they don't. Adobe certainly pioneered in digital photo editing, but they also pioneered in bloat.

If you want the ability to edit RAW images, there are several options on Macs. Affinity, a newcomer, is pretty good. The old guys LR and PS of course. Capture One Express and Pro 10 have great tools, but a lackluster UI. One of the reasons I still like PS so much is that I can open a single image without having to deal with an entire project. I wish LR and Capture One both had a Buzz Off option to easily allow the editing of just one image without having to deal with all the project bloat.

Originally Posted by HarryT

It is (or at least was, when I last upgraded) the one remaining CC program that you could still buy outright. I don't know if that's now changed?

I think you can still get LR 6. Adobe has not said whether they will offer a LR 7. I hope they do. At least they haven't said they won't, yet.

[pwalker8]

The latest Mac version that I see on their download site is 5.7 which was 2014. Perhaps there is a LR 6 for the Mac, but I don't see it. Several companies have gone with cloud versions of their software and dropped support for non Windows versions. I don't want my photos on the cloud. I'm well past the age where I have to worry about risque pictures of my girlfriend getting out, but that doesn't mean that I want every one to have access to all my photos.

I have simple tasks in photo management software. I want to be able to upload photos from my camera and have all those photos grouped together. I'm a unix guy, so I'm comfortable with the idea of having one program to manage the photos and a different one to edit the photos.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

The latest Mac version that I see on their download site is 5.7 which was 2014. Perhaps there is a LR 6 for the Mac, but I don't see it. Several companies have gone with cloud versions of their software and dropped support for non Windows versions. I don't want my photos on the cloud. I'm well past the age where I have to worry about risque pictures of my girlfriend getting out, but that doesn't mean that I want every one to have access to all my photos.

When you buy a licence for standalone LR6 it gives you access to both the Windows and Mac versions of it.

Originally Posted by pwalker8

The latest Mac version that I see on their download site is 5.7 which was 2014. Perhaps there is a LR 6 for the Mac, but I don't see it. Several companies have gone with cloud versions of their software and dropped support for non Windows versions. I don't want my photos on the cloud. I'm well past the age where I have to worry about risque pictures of my girlfriend getting out, but that doesn't mean that I want every one to have access to all my photos.

I have simple tasks in photo management software. I want to be able to upload photos from my camera and have all those photos grouped together. I'm a unix guy, so I'm comfortable with the idea of having one program to manage the photos and a different one to edit the photos.

I've got LR 6 on my Mac. I do remember it was not easy finding it on their website, though, and it has been over a year since I bought it.

The Adobe CC (Creative Cloud) apps do NOT require you to store your images on their cloud. I don't use their cloud at all, except to get updates to their apps. So you can definitely store and process your images without them ever being on the Adobe cloud. If you sync images between computers/devices using LR then they prossibly do get temporarily put on the cloud, but I'm not sure TBH. You can also run any of the apps without an internet connection. The apps are actually downloaded to and installed on your computer. As long as you have a membership they stay activated and usable.

[kyteflyer]

I have LR6 also, I bought it after I dropped my CC subscription. I just do not like the subscription model. I set about looking for a suitable alternative to Photoshop *and* Lightroom, and I believe that the current version of Photos plus the many plugins it now can access is more than adequate. You can do basic editing in Photos, and I do, sometimes, but more often than not will use an external editor. Acorn (Mac only) is the closest to Photoshop in function that I could find, but its not well known or particularly popular... it does the job for me. I also have the MacPhun apps which are coming to Windows soonish as well as the Nik Software which still requires an adobe product or Aperture to be able to install, even though they can be used as standalones. Mind you, Google is killing Nik pretty soon so if you want it, you should get it. Its free for all users. Anotehr Photoshop alternative is Affinity Photo which has now also been released for iPad. Its available for Windows, too. And then, theres the OnOne Photo Raw which is excellent, albeit with a butt-ugly GUI.

Linkies:
http://www.macphun.com
https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/
https://www.google.com/nikcollection/
https://www.on1.com/promo/0617-photo2017/

Just went back to the OnOne site to review the 2017 version and am seriously considering upgrading from my current version 10.5, the price isnt bad at the moment, and it does play nice with Lightroom. If you visit and note the free listing (menu at top of page) you can get a free version of Effects. Might be worth grabbing that, and the trial of PhotoRaw 2017. I must confess I have not been able to adapt to Affinity (I was in the beta trials) and so have not purchased it. Many seem to love it, and its extremely powerful, no doubt.