Lightroom classic and apple sidecar

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
February 22, 2021
4 replies
10700 views

Will Adobe make Lightroom Classic support Apple sidecar fully instead of just mirroring displays? I would like to use my iPad as a tablet (like a Wacom).

Marty

Feature request

mb43188522Author

Participant

Thanks. I will see if you link gets an further insights into dual screen use on LRC.

Marty

JohanElzenga

Community Expert

Apple Sidecar is a way to connect an iPad to your computer and make it work as a second display. That means that as far as Lightroom is concerned, this is just a computer with two displays. Whether this second display works as a mirrored display or as a separate display next to the first one, depends on what you set in the System Preferences - Displays. And that is supported in Lightroom Classic just like any normal secondary display is supported.

I do not see how Adobe could make this work differently. It would be up to Apple to do that. You may want to check out this however: https://www.duetdisplay.com I believe they do have an option to let your iPad work like a Wacom tablet.

-- Johan W. Elzenga

mb43188522Author

Participant

Thanks for your reply John. I have tried LRC with my iPad as both a mirrored and separate display. In either case I can get the iPad with Apple pencil to function somewhat as a Wacom (eg. pressure sensitive). However, it seems that the problem is the LRC panes are not separable. So for example I have not found a way (in the Develop Module) to have the photo on one screen and the adjustments on another. This would not only improve my workflow (using the Apple Pencil makes selections for local adjustments easier), but would allow me to use my laptop with iPad as an effective portable editing setup.

I will check out your suggested link.

Marty

JohanElzenga

Community Expert

Of course you can't do that, because you can't do that either with Lightroom on a conputer with two real screens. That has never been possible, so it is also not possible by using an iPad as second screen.

-- Johan W. Elzenga

Conrad_C

Community Expert

Nothing is standing in your way to use Sidecar. It’s already been working for some time. If you set up Sidecar properly, it will work with no problem.

Have you done these steps already?

Set up Sidecar to operate as a separate display, not mirrored. If it’s mirroring, click the Sidecar icon in the menu bar and choose Use As Separate Display.
Use the Displays system preference, Arrangement tab, to tell the Mac which side the iPad is on.
Move the Lightroom Classic window off the Mac display and onto the iPad display, as is normal between any two displays connected to the same Mac, with or without Sidecar.

If you have done all of those things, it should work.

Below is a picture of Lightroom Classic on the display of my old 2017 iPad Pro through Sidecar in macOS 10.15.7. You can see the blue Sidecar icon in the menu bar, and also the Sidecar sidebar on the left. I painted the red Adjustment Brush overlay in Lightroom Classic using the Apple Pencil on the iPad. You can see that I was able to vary the weight of the Adjustment Brush stroke in Lightroom Classic, by using Apple Pencil pressure sensitivity on the iPad display.