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photo1314
Participating Frequently
October 28, 2019
Question

Syncing desktop to Lightroom mobile

  • October 28, 2019
  • 4 replies
  • 265 views

New to Lightroom mobile and want to make sure I understand how to use it. Am I able to sink my desktop catalog with Lightroom mobile? Or is it only mobile to desktop? Thank you!

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    4 replies

    selondon
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    October 28, 2019

    Hi,

     

    Assuming you mean the traditional Lightroom Classic when you say Desktop, then......

     

    If you want so sync TO Lightroom Mobile, then you will need to create Synced Collections (only lower res Smart Previews will be uploaded to the Cloud).
    Meanwhile, any photos imported into the Mobile Device (or taken with the in-app Camera) will sync full resoluion to the Cloud and, if sync is turned on in Classic, will automatically download these at full resolution to the folder desigmated in Classic's preferences.

    If you mean Lightroom (Cloud Based) Desktop, then any photos imported via this, Mobile or Lightroom Web will sync full resolution to the Cloud, and be available across the whole Cloud Ecosystem at full resolution (although depending on many factors, the full res won't actually be downloaded on your device unless required.)

    photo1314
    photo1314Author
    Participating Frequently
    October 29, 2019

    I do have the Cloud Based service (I didn't think the standalone still exists) so I could view my catalogs from Lightroom in Lightroom Mobile then?

    JP Hess
    Inspiring
    October 29, 2019

    It isn't quite that straightforward. If you install Lightroom Classic you can migrate one catalog to the cloud. If you do this then the cloud version sort of "takes over" and is in charge. If you don't migrate the catalog then you can synchronize collections from a single catalog. This will allow you to create collections in Lightroom Classic, and choose to synchronize those collections. When they are synchronized this will send smart previews to Lightroom for the cloud. You will be able to edit those smart previews on any mobile device or other device that can connect to your Lightroom account, and those edits will synchronize back to Lightroom Classic. If you take photos using your smart phone those images will synchronize back to Lightroom Classic.

     

    I have not migrated a catalog to Lightroom for the cloud. That is my choice. I prefer Lightroom Classic as my primary version. You might want to get other opinions and perspectives before you make a decision on what to do.