Migrating from Lightroom Classic to iPad Pro but no cloud sync (photos stored locally on iPad / own NAS server)

[Mateusz Suchenek]

Hi.

I'm currently using Lightroom Classic on my laptop PC due to I hate having files stored in cloud, especially that high in capacity so I prefer storing them on NAS server in home. Currently I'm switching to even more mobile work - to iPad Pro. I know iPad have only cloud based Lightroom but already tested it and those photos can be stored and edited locally (no need to sync them in cloud), yet I dunno how exactly copy / migrate / or anything else to do with my current Lightroom Classic library so when I open photo in Lightroom CC I have all edits allready there (I shoot RAW and almost never make "hard" edits in Photoshop if it's not going as a single commecrial photo. Is this a complicated proces?

[john beardsworth]

I am not sure what you are asking, and you never use the word "sync" which is important if one wants to use Lightroom Classic with mobile devices. To work on photos on the iPad, you "sync" them from Lightroom Classic, so first enable sync in your catalogue - that's in the Identity Plate area at the top left. This lets you set any normal Collection to sync - ie photos in that Collection will be uploaded in compressed form (smart previews) to Adobe's Lightroom cloud. You can then edit them on your iPad (rating, flags, adjustments, title, caption, but keywords don't sync properly) and your changes will sync back and forth.

So I wonder if you have overlooked this workflow, which is quite straightforward. There are other possibilities with the mobile feature, such as importing raw files directly into the iPad, but I suspect they may confuse you at this point.

[Mateusz Suchenek]

That's why I don't use the word sync - I don't use and don't want to use cloud. I want to use local storage only and when needed - move / backup older photos to prive NAS server (12TB) at home.

[john beardsworth]

When you sync from LrClassic, you are still using your local storage and your photos don't move anywhere. That's why I explained that "photos in that Collection will be uploaded in compressed form (smart previews) to Adobe's Lightroom cloud".

[Mateusz Suchenek]

So basically I can't use Lightroom on iPad the same way I use Lightroom Classic? Just import files from SD card from camera and edit them locally, and when finished photo shoot editing and exported it and sent to my customer, then move it to NAS server. Is there any possible way to change storing something in cloud to just copy / move it physically between device and external drive?
Since Adobe Photoshop is coming to iPad Pro, can't we also have Lightroom Classic? I do understand Cloud Based app but I don't won't to work on photos in cloud - I prefer to have them locally and backup myself on external drive.

[john beardsworth · Accepted solution]

You certainly can import files from the SD card, so on my iPhone8 I use the SD card to Lightning adapter and edit them on the phone. These original photos are automatically downloaded to your computer and your Lightroom Classic catalogue where there is a preference to set the download folder, which can be your NAS. The preference is on the Lightroom Sync tab.

This automatic process is via the cloud, not via LAN or physical connection. So from Lightroom iOS the originals are uploaded to Adobe's server and then down to your computer. The app has an option to limit this uploading to when you have a wifi connection, so you don't use mobile data. Once you see the photos in LrClassic, the originals are physically on your system and you can safely remove them from the cloud - eg remove them from All Synced Photos in the Catalog panel - and this helps if you have a 20gb limit.

If you still want these pictures to be available on your iPad, you can sync them again from LrClassic but they now sync up to the cloud as smart previews and don't count against your storage limit.

I am like you as I want to keep my originals on my own system, so last week I imported a morning's raw files into my iPhone, which has no data plan. Over lunch I had a wifi connection, so some of the files will have uploaded to the cloud, and I made a few rough edits and sent someone a picture. On the way home I had no connection but still edited a few others. At home the phone connected and later that evening I went to my main PC and could see that all 130 had arrived in my folder system. I then unsynced the collection, which is another way to remove originals from the cloud, and synced it again so that I would be able to access the smart previews if I wanted.

So while it's not LrClassic on the mobile device, it's still an integrated workflow that allows me to store originals where I want.

[DdeGannes]

Real super post John.

[Conrad_C]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Mateusz+Suchenek  wrote

So basically I can't use Lightroom on iPad the same way I use Lightroom Classic?

No, and the reason is that Lightroom Classic is now the exception, not the rule.

All other forms of Lightroom are cloud-based:

Lightroom (non-Classic) for Mac and Windows

Lightroom for iOS and Android

Lightroom on the web (lightroom.adobe.com)

Cloud storage is the default for Lightroom in general; permanently storing originals in the local file system is only available in Classic for Mac and Windows.

[drewmarshall]

Hello, I just did this, and it deleted the originals on my hard drive AS WELL AS the synced lightroom cc collection. Be careful, I just lost a trip's worth of photos and I'm trying to figure out why this happened.

[joes32906008]

Hello, I have a question for you please. Was it easy for you to download Lightroom classic to your iPad Pro. I keep going in a loop.  I logged into my adobe account but when I tried to download Lightroom classic and generate a link to my email it does not work. I keep generating the message to email a link to my email. Round and round I go.