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David998
Participant
December 16, 2024
Answered

Edit photos directly from SSD in Lightroom for iPad

  • December 16, 2024
  • 3 replies
  • 1961 views

Hi!
I currently use Lightroom on my macbook and edit photos locally on the SSD. I recently got an ipad Pro m4, which I would like to actively integrate into my workflow and use for mobile photo editing.
However, it is not practical to upload several 100gb to the cloud to edit them on the iPad. Is there no option to edit directly from the SSD on the iPad? Similar to how it works on the Macbook?

 

Looking forward to your feedback!

    Correct answer JohanElzenga

    I think that the closest you can get to that would be to disable sync in Lightroom on the iPad, import and edit the images from the SSD, and then export them as DNG again to the SSD. Export 'as original' does not include the edits in a sidecar file, but export as DNG does include the edits in the metadata. Once you have exported the images, delete them from the Lightroom so they don't start to sync if and when you enable sync again.

     

    3 replies

    T
    Thilina33464289ry3r
    Participant
    September 16, 2025

    It's so cumbersome that lighroom for ipad is allowing to choose photos onlly available in ipad photo album. It would be really nice to see a feature to access file directly from any connected drive and edit directly in there without having to upload the photo to the cloud.

      S
      stefankow
      Participant
      October 30, 2025

      Having the ability to access the files from the external hard drive without needing to download them to the iPad would be an awesome first step. 

        JohanElzenga
        Community Expert
        JohanElzengaCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
        Community Expert
        December 18, 2024

        I think that the closest you can get to that would be to disable sync in Lightroom on the iPad, import and edit the images from the SSD, and then export them as DNG again to the SSD. Export 'as original' does not include the edits in a sidecar file, but export as DNG does include the edits in the metadata. Once you have exported the images, delete them from the Lightroom so they don't start to sync if and when you enable sync again.

         

        -- Johan W. Elzenga
          Conrad_C
          Community Expert
          Conrad_CCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          December 18, 2024

          Currently, the iPad version doesn’t have a Local tab like the Mac/Windows versions do. I hope they add that.

           

          On the iPad, if an image is brought into edit mode, it’s always imported (copied from wherever it is to Lightroom storage on the iPad itself), uploaded to the Lightroom cloud, and then the local version on the iPad becomes a purgeable cache of the cloud-stored original. In other words, it works similarly to Apple Photos if you turned on iCloud Photos.

           

          So right now, on iPad Lightroom, there is no way to edit images locally on an external SSD and leave them and their edits there, without using up iPad or cloud storage. Again this is similar to how Apple lets the Mac version of Apple Photos have a referenced (local link) mode, but they don’t provide that option in the iPad version of Photos.

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