Storing images locally on Lightroom Mobile

Report · Jul 03, 2023

I currently have a Lightroom Creative Cloud account with 1 TB of storage. I want to switch to Lightroom Mobile as I have been doing all of my editing on a new I Pad Pro. How can I store my images locally? I have a 1 TB SSD drive hooked up to the iPad that's I would use for this.

Report · Jul 04, 2023

Lightroom Mobile is already included in your Creative Cloud subscription, and there are settings in the LrM app which would allow you to store a local copy of your cloud-based images.

There is also the free version of Lightroom Mobile that you could use if your intention is to cancel your current subscription.

However, neither version will allow you to store your images on an external drive and process them from that drive. All images would have to be imported into the app for editing, and would be stored in the app's space on the iPad.

Report · Jul 04, 2023

Jim - thanks for responding, you confirmed what I thought would be the answer after I downloaded and setup the LR Mobile app. The premium version looks like a bargain at its current price. I am still testing it out and haven't decided if I want to cancel my CC subscription yet. I have a few additional questions that you may be able to answer.

With the Lightroom for Mobile app are the images stored in the cloud?

I tried to add a new account but found I would need a second email account. Rather than setting up a new email account I downloaded the Mobile app through my current account to test it out. If I were to cancel my current subscription would the Mobile version be affected at all?

Is there a way to move the Folders and Albums I have currently to the Mobile version before I cancel the current subscription if I decide to go that way.

Report · Jul 05, 2023

With the Lightroom for Mobile app are the images stored in the cloud?

The Lightroom design is yes, images from any Lightroom app are intended to be uploaded to the cloud, where they would be stored and managed (i.e. backed up) by the Adobe cloud servers. You can also keep local copies of some (or all) originals, but these are copies....the "master" should be the cloud version.

However, it is possible to pause sync on any specific app and keep it paused indefinitely. That, however, carries major risk unless the user takes responsibility for making backups of the local images.....any reinstall of the local LrMobile app will delete the local content, so if new images have not been uploaded to the cloud, and haven't been backed up by the user, they are lost. Same if you break the phone or have it stolen.

I tried to add a new account but found I would need a second email account. Rather than setting up a new email account I downloaded the Mobile app through my current account to test it out. If I were to cancel my current subscription would the Mobile version be affected at all?

I'm not 100% certain, but I think the installed Mobile app will automatically change to the "free" version.....but that loses some functionality, notably cloud syncing and the ability to process proprietary raw files.

Is there a way to move the Folders and Albums I have currently to the Mobile version before I cancel the current subscription if I decide to go that way.

That should happen automatically when you launch the Mobile app for the first time, provided you are logged in using the same account as per your current subscription, i.e. all existing Folders/Albums/Images should start to appear in the Mobile app. That's what cloud syncing is all about.....all your content on all your logged in devices.

However, if you then cancel your subscription it may be that all that content is removed and you'd have to start over. A better option would probably be to downgrade your current subscription to the premium mobile-only plan, i.e. keeping the same credentials should mean you keep the same content at a lower monthly cost.

Report · Jul 05, 2023

I appreciate your quick responses bout I'm a little bit confused as to what you say should happen as opposed to what I am seeing on my iPad. I have created several folders with albums in each and a few -photos in each album. None of what I have entered to the Mobile app appears on the CC version and none of the photos that were imported to the cloud ar seen on the mobile app. On the mobile app it tells me I have 473 MB of locally stored files. Looking at the page "Try Lightrooom Premium" that pops up in the APP it lists one of the benefits of Premium is the ability to get cloud storage to back up your original photos and access them on other devices and Lightroom web. Based on those two items it looks like yiour photos are locall stored on the iPad and there is no syncing unless you purchase premium. That raises two more questions:

1) How much cloud storage is included in the Lightroom Premium option and...

2) Will the images still be stored on the iPad which would fill up before all of the images I have in the cloud are synced?

Ed

Report · Jul 06, 2023

It sounds very much as though you may be logged into Mobile using different account credentials to those used for the Lightroom app on your desktop. In that case you would only have the "free" version, which as I said does not include cloud syncing. In order to get cloud syncing you would have to login to the Mobile app using the same details as used for your current subscription plan (but that may mean you'd lose the current content that you've already added into the Mobile app.....but I'm not certain about that). You probably need to speak to the Adobe Customer Care team in order to get a seamless transition from your current subscription to your preferred Mobile-only plan.

Regarding your follow-up questions:

1. I believe 100GB of cloud storage is included with the Premium plan.

2. If you import directly into the iPad app, then yes the images are initially stored on that iPad. However, once they have uploaded to the cloud, the local images can be removed and replaced with much smaller smart previews (2560 px on the long edge, and around 1-2mb in size). Note, however, that exporting images from the Mobile app will automatically download a copy of the original for that purpose, but any such files can always be removed again.

Report · Jul 09, 2023

Thanks again for all of your prompt answers. Now that I understand the limitations of the mobile app I decided to add the premium mobile app and remain on the CC plan. I deleted the app I had downloaded for testing and did a fresh download of the Mobile app and purchased the premium plan yesterday afternoon. I still have no photos synced to the mobile app although it says it is synced.

Report · Jul 10, 2023

I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying that you have an active desktop subscription, either the Lightroom-only plan which includes 1TB of cloud space or the Photography Plan which includes Lightroom Classic and Photoshop as well as the Lightroom desktop app and 20GB of cloud storage? If that's the case, you need to be aware that both of those plans include Lightroom Mobile (on as many devices as you like)....all you needed to do is download and install the LrM app on your phone and sign in using the same login details as used on your existing subscription plan. There would be no need to purchase the additional mobile Premium plan as well. If that's the case, and you wanted to downgrade your existing plan to the Premium plan, you should contact Adobe's Customer Care who should be able to arrange for you to keep the same login details and thus allowing you to still access your existing cloud data.

Report · Jul 10, 2023

I have the Lightroom only plan with 1TB. I downloaded the Mobile app to my iPad and added the premium plan to it as I was under the impression it was needed for the syncing to the LRM. After two days it hasn't synced although it says it has. I only have one login which I used to download the LRM app.

Ed

Report · Jul 11, 2023

Try logging out of your account on the mobile device, force quite the LrM app, then restart it and log back in using the same credentiakls as you use for the first plan on your desktop. If that still produces the same "no show" of your cloud content, it may be that LrM is confused by the addition of the Premium Plan. Login to your account at Adobe.com to check if your account shows two separate plans. You may need Adobe's help to clean up the situation in order to get LrM using the correct account.