Adobe Lightroom mobile for iPad Adobe announced today the release  of Lightroom 5.4, which in addition to the typical bug fixes, new camera support and new lens profiles, includes an exciting new feature — the ability to easily sync collections of photos to your iPad, where you can work on them and then have your work automatically sync back to Lightroom on your desktop. You can also view your synced collections of photos on private pages on the web at lightroom.adobe.com, and share them with others by providing them with the collection URL.

On your iPad, using the new Lightroom mobile app available from the iPad App Store, at this point you can view your photos, flag them, do some basic develop work, play slideshows and share photos via social media and email.  You can also add photos from your iPad Camera Roll to Lightroom mobile, and have them automatically synced to LR on your Desktop.

Adobe expects to also release Lightroom mobile for iPhones later this year, and then will follow with support for Android devices.

Lightroom mobile Grid View

Lightroom mobile for iPad Grid View

Lightroom mobile is available AT NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE(!)  to Creative Cloud members with one of the following qualifying plans:

There is no stand-alone purchase option for Lightroom mobile.  Lightroom perpetual customers will be given a 30-day trial to Lightroom mobile, and can subscribe to one of the qualified Creative Cloud plans.


Watch my video below for a demonstration of what’s new in Lightroom 5.4, Lightroom mobile, and Lightroom web view:

 

My Take On This Release

Lightroom mobile 1.0.0 is rather short on features, and sync speeds are slow. However, I still see this as an exciting direction and a good first step by Adobe. I am really excited about where this will take us – I am tired of being chained to my desktop computer, and having essentially a brick wall between my mobile devices and computer! Most impressive to me is how simple the process is from within Lightroom desktop – create a collection of photos, check a box next to it, and that’s it – you’ll see your collection of photos on your iPad (and on the web), and any work you do on either your computer or iPad appears automatically on both. The Lightroom mobile app for the most part is also elegantly designed and easy to use.

Personally, what I would most like to do on the go (and on the couch) are flag, rate and keyword my photos. I am hoping that rating and keywording come soon. While I don’t see doing “serious” develop work on the small uncalibrated iPad screen,  I might do some minor editing work as I’m deciding which photos to keep. More so, I’d  like to be able to have “Snapseed-like” creative editing fun with my photos as I kill time on the road – this requires many more develop controls and creative effects than the Lightroom mobile Basic panel controls and presets currently allow.

At this point I am very happy that Lightroom mobile automatically manages my iPad camera roll (once you set it up, photos just show up in Lightroom on your Desktop!), and that I have an extremely easy way to get portfolios of my work onto my iPad so I can share them with people as needed.

Leave a comment below with your own reactions!

Lightroom mobile for iPad Loupe View

Lightroom web view

Lightroom web view (lightroom.adobe.com)

Frequently Asked Questions

[wpex I’m not interested in Lightroom mobile. Should I still update to
Lightroom 5.4?
]

Yes — I recommend updating to Lightroom 5.4. It includes important bug fixes, new camera support and lens profiles. As a precaution, always backup your Lightroom catalog before updating Lightroom.[/wpex]

[wpex How do I update to Lightroom 5.4?]
Lightroom should prompt you to update – if not, go to Help>Check for Updates. Download the update, then, with Lightroom closed, double-click on the downloaded file to launch the installation wizard. To check to see if the update was successful, in Lightroom go to Help> About Photoshop Lightroom 5.4 – if it says 5.4, you were successful.[/wpex]

[wpex How do I get the iPad app?]

Visit the iPad App Store, where it is available for free.[/wpex]

[wpex I don’t have an iPad. Is there anything here for me?]

Yes, you can still sync collections and view them on the web, and share your collections with others by sharing the web URL. (Watch the video above for a demo.) In addition, Lightroom 5.4 contains important bug fixes, new camera support and new lens profiles.[/wpex]

[wpex I already had a 30-day trial of the Creative Cloud. Can I try it again?]

Yes, with every “dot” release of Lightroom (e.g. 5.4), you can obtain a new free trial.[/wpex]

[wpex What about the iPhone and Android devices?]

Coming — Lightroom mobile for the iPhone first, then Android.[/wpex]

[wpex How many photos can I sync to my iPad?]

There is no maximum imposed by Adobe. Because sync speeds are slow, syncing thousands of photos will take a LONG time, but is doable. Note that much of the data stays in the Cloud, rather than being downloaded to your iPad. Only if you “enable offline editing”, so you can use Lightroom mobile without an internet connection, will all of the data be downloaded – at this point iPad storage space becomes a significant constraint.[/wpex]

[wpex Can I sync multiple catalogs?]

You can only sync one catalog at a time – syncing a second requires deleting photos from the first from Lr mobile and web view.[/wpex]

[wpex In Lightroom on my computer, can I undo the photo work I did on my iPad?]

Yes, all work continues to be non-destructive and can be undone. You can reset any controls you used, and you can undo all your work by using the History panel – each LR mobile sync shows up as “From Lr mobile”.[/wpex]

[wpex I own your Lightroom 5: The Fundamentals & Beyond video tutorial series. Will
there be an update for 5.4?
]

Yes, in the next week all those who have purchased this series from my website or who have registered their product will receive a free downloadable update.[/wpex]

 

Lightroom 5.4 Release Details

[wpex New Camera Support ]

 Lightroom 5.4 New Camera Support Introduced:

Canon  PowerShot  G1  X  Mark  II, Nikon  1  Casio  EX-­100, DJI  Phantom, Fujifilm  X-­T1, Olympus  OM-­D  E-­M10*, Panasonic  LUMIX  DMC-­ZS40  (DMC­‐TZ60,  DMC-­TZ61),Nikon  D3300, Samsung  NX30,Sony  Alpha  a5000  (ILCE-­5000), Canon  EOS  1200D  (REBEL  T5,  KISS  X70), Hasselblad  H5D-­50c, Hasselblad  HV, Nikon  D4S, Phase  One  IQ250,Sony  Alpha  a6000  (ILCE-­6000), Nikon  COOLPIX  P340[/wpex]

[wpex New Camera Color Matching Profiles]

Added  Camera  Matching  color  profiles  (PROVIA/STANDARD,  Velvia/VIVID,ASTIA/SOFT,  MONOCHROME,  etc.)  for  the  following  Fujifilm  cameras:

Fujifilm  X-­A1, Fujifilm X-­E1Fujifilm  X-­E2Fujifilm  X-­M1Fujifilm  X-­S1Fujifilm  X-­T1,Fujifilm  X-­Pro1,Fujifilm X10, Fujifilm  X20, Fujifilm  XF1,Fujifilm  XQ1,Fujifilm  X100,Fujifilm  X100S[/wpex]

[wpex Full List of Lens Profiles Added in Lightroom 5.4

]

Mount/Lens Name
Apple/ Apple iPhone 5c
Canon/ Canon EF 200-400mm f/4 L IS USM
Canon/ Canon EF 200-400mm f/4 L IS USM EXT
Canon/ Canon EF-S 18-55mm /3.5-5.6 IS STM
Canon/ Canon EF-S 25-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II
Canon/ Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM A013
Canon/ Zeiss Otus 1.4/55 ZE
DJI/ Phantom Vision FC200 (for raw files)
Fujifilm/ Fujifilm X100S
GoPro/ GoPro Hero3+ Black Edition
Nikon/ Nikon 1 NIKKOR 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 VR
Nikon/ Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II
Nikon/ Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G ED
Nikon/ Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G ED
Nikon/ Nikon COOLPIX P340
Nikon/ SIGMA 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM A013
Nikon/ Zeiss Otus 1.4/55 ZF.2
Sigma/ SIGMA 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM A013
Sony/ E Sony E PZ 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS
Sony/ FE Sony FE 24-70 f/4 ZA OSS
Sony/ FE Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS
Sony/ Alpha Sony 20mm F2.8
Sony/ Alpha Sony 24mm F2 ZA SSM
Sony/ Alpha Sony 35mm F1.4 G
Sony/ Alpha Sony 35mm F1.4 G
Sony/ Alpha Sony 50mm F1.4
Sony/ Alpha Sony 50mm F1.4 ZA
Sony/ Alpha Sony 50mm F2.8 Macro
Sony/ Alpha Sony 85mm F1.4 ZA
Sony/ Alpha Sony 85mm F2.8 SAM
Sony/ Alpha Sony 135mm F1.8 ZA
Sony/ Alpha Sony DT 11-18mm F4.5-5.6[/wpex]

[wpex Full List of Bugs Corrected in Lightroom 5.4]

  • When switching to the Book module with images selected, a ‘Gathering Photos’ message would appear and stay persistent.
  • On Mac Lightroom activity, such as an export, did not prevent the computer from sleeping.
  • In the Develop Module, the ‘Settings > Crop as Shot’ menu item did not properly reset orientation.
  • In the Develop Module and when applying Grain, occasionally vertical artifacts would appear along the bottom edge of a photo.
  • In the Develop Module, there is a slight delay before the Histogram is available for adjustments.
  • Lens profile corrections for the iPhone 5 would not be selected when using the ‘Auto’ Lens profile correction feature in the Develop module.
  • In the Develop Module, Scrubby Adjustments on Adjustment Brush Pins did not work as expected.
  • Syncing of spot removals was not consistent from image to image.
  • Exporting a scaled image to PSD would sometimes cause the watermark to be displayed incorrectly.
  • When Don’t Enlarge is on in Export, image was not resized, even when making image smaller.
  • Sharpening/Noise Reduction were applied inconsistently depending on crop and export image size.
  • Luminance of exported file differed noticeably after crop.
  • When adding keywords on Import, Import begins at once when keywords entered with ‘enter’ key (Windows only)
  • In the Import dialogue, Loupe view occasionally did not work.
  • When using the “Edit in Photoshop” feature in Lightroom, the Smart Object filter mask was sometimes not previewed correctly within Lightroom.
  • When creating a new Collection inside of a Collection set, the default option for Location was the parent of the selected collection set and not the selected collection set.
  • Upload via publish does not prevent computer from sleeping, and upload fails if computer sleeps.
  • When playing a slideshow comprising TIF or JPEG images, occasionally the slideshow would appear pixelated.
  • The color profile of a photo was incorrect when playing slideshow in full screen mode.
  • When using a video export preset, develop settings were not applied to all images.
  • Smart preview indicator under Develop histogram displayed the wrong number when multiple photos were selected.

[/wpex]

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