Adobe Kicks Off Much Anticipated Lightroom Mobile – Auto Syncs Between iPad and Desktop

Adobe just released the much anticipated Lightroom mobile App. If you are an on the go creative, this is probably one of the things you wanted to see most coming out of adobe and finally a solid reason to move into the Adobe Creative Cloud.

The application enables synching photos between an iPad (or iPhone, no world on Android devices yet) and your desktop application via the cloud. but…. it also enables editing and tagging photos while making sure everything is in sync.

Here are the highlights from the release, and you can read the full press release here:

• Sync mobile edits, metadata and collection changes back to the Lightroom catalog on a Mac or Windows computer
• Automatically import images captured on an iPad and sync back to a Lightroom catalog on the desktop
• Work on images, even when your iPad is offline, for a truly portable experience
• Sync photos between Lightroom 5 and Lightroom mobile; synced photos can also be viewed from any Web browser

I guess my first question would be, why is the video so on the nose. No, Actually, my first question was how will the images impact the small memory on the iPad? According to adobe, this is not a concern as each photo will only take up about 1-2 megs of memory after it is scaled down to 2560 pixels on the long side, while the RAW files will still reside on your desktop or server.

Then, my next concern was, how full is the interface, can I do anything that  I did from the desktop via the iPad? Most common settings are there, exposure, saturation, contrast and so on. As well as tagging, sorting and staring. The interface was changed a bit and is touch friendly, rather than mouse oriented. But at least for this version, you would still wanna keep the desktop app with the full interface.

waitasecond, how can an iPad convert files that are so small? Well, the iPad does not actually do the heavy lifting, it uses smart previews sent from your desktop to match the changes you are doing on locally, synching the changes back to the main catalog. This of course means that you have to be connected and on a fast enough connection for working smoothly. If you can’t be online, changes will sync back once a connection is available. (So if you are editing while flying to another country, make sure you have a roaming plan before switching your iPad on once you land).

Great, I want it! How do I get it? If you are on the Creative Cloud service, you can simply download the app. You would need iPad 2, iOS 7, and LR 5.4. If you are not part of the Creative Cloud, toughs! Your stand alone software will not support this service. On the other hand, adobe are still running their limited $9.99/month Photography Program promotion which includes both Lightroom and Photoshop on their Cloud versions.

The Lightroom Youtube Channel is now filled with instructional videos showcasing the carious mobile features. As well as explaining the interface.

Showcasing & Sharing your Photographs

Setup, Collections and Flags

Cropping, Adjustments and Presets

Lastly, Adobe put up a quick start guide for the ones interested.

I guess the big question is will this app be the push that drives you into the creative cloud?

[Adobe Lightroom mobile]