Exporting RAW files with edits from Lightroom CC (ipad pro 2017)

[TerribleGerbil]

So I thought the "desktop to mobile back to desktop" workflow for editing raw files would be a breeze. Boy was I wrong. I'm stuck on what should be very easy: Getting my edits that were performed on my ipad back to my desktop as I don't want to just post jpegs from my iPad. I want the raw file and all my edits pushed back from my mobile devise to my desktop. My current workflow, and where I'm getting stuck is this:

Take photos.
Upload photos from my camera to my desktop.

Sort and prioritize my photos on my desktop.

Upload my favorite raw photos (for editing) to Adobe Cloud.

Download my raw photos from Adobe Cloud to my iPad Pro.

Open Lightroom CC on my iPad.

Edit photos on iPad.

Finally, I'd like to upload my RAW photos WITH edits back to Adobe Cloud (Preferably not creating messy bloated duplicates). <-- And this is where I get stuck.

I can't figure out how to export my RAW files with edits back to Adobe Cloud. I've spent the last 45 minutes researching this but nothing works. Instructions on how to do this say to simply "export original" to your desired destination and you get the original unedited RAW with an XMP file (which I know is what contains the edits). However, I've tried this multiple times and all I ever get out of "Export Original" is essentially just a copy of my RAW file with a bunch of alphanumeric junk attached to the name. Which looks like this: DSCF4575_8dslfkdsanveriu989kdsfgjk.RAF (and there's no XMP file generated anywhere I can find.)

So ideally I just need the XMP files exported from Lightroom so I can upload those back to Adobe Cloud, and then import them into Lightroom CC on my desktop. This idea sounds so simple but why does it seem so obfuscated?

I've found another sight that was trying to answer basically this same question and the answer was: "Use the export metadata" option from Lightroom. However, I don't see anything like that in Lightroom CC on the iPad. All I see for "Saving/Exporting" options are: Share, Save to Camera Roll, Save to Files and Export Original. I don't see "Save Metadata". And all those options other than Export Original just compress to jpegs.

I just can't figure out if this hickup, in what should be a very simple workflow, is Lighroom clumsiness, iOS clumsiness or me just missing something so painfully obvious??!

Thanks!

J

[selondon]

Maybe I am not understanding correctly, but I assume you are using the Cloud Based Lightroom CC on your desktop and not the traditional Lightroom Classic?

If you are using Lightroom CC then any Photos imported into it, or any other point in the ecosystem (be that Mobile or Web) should sync across all parts of the ecosystem.

Likewise any edits made.... so edits made in the iPad should sync back to Lightroom CC Desktop.

If you do mean Classic then turning Sync on will download ALL photos and edits in the Cloud to Classic and locally on your computer. (The download location can be determined in Classic's preferences)

[TerribleGerbil]

Yes, I am using the cloud version of Lightroom on my PC (Lightroom CC). However, I have not opened the files on my desktop's Lightroom. All I did was sort through them using Adobe Bridge, picked those that I wanted to edit, and then directly uploaded those to a folder on the Adobe Cloud. So is it a requirement that I open all the RAW files on my PC in Lightroom first, then I push them to the cloud through Lightroom? This workflow will allow my edit's on my iPad to bounce back to the Lightroom files on my PC? Because, like I said, I've never opened these RAW files on my PC yet. I've made my changes on my iPad *expecting* them to have those changes mirrored to my Cloud storage. But this is not the case.

I can try a test case where I open a RAW file in Lightroom on my PC first. Then upload it to the cloud directly from Lightroom and see if any edits from my iPad are pushed back to my PC.

Dear Adobe: This should be waaaaay easier and more intuitive.

[Jim Wilde]

Leaving LR Classic out of the picture for now, there are two ways that you can use your allocated Adobe cloud space: you can either import images into ANY of the LRCC apps, which will then upload the images to the cloud and from there those images are available in any of the other LRCC apps/devices that you use, e.g. upload into LRCC on a desktop and you'll then have the same images available on your phone, tablet, or any browser. Edit any of those images on any of the connected devices, and those edits will sync to all the other connected devices (because they all link back to the same cloud-based image).

That's the easy way.

The other way of using the cloud space is by adding files (image or other file-types) to the Creative Cloud folder on your local system. That operates in a Dropbox-style syncing mechanism, i.e. the data is uploaded to the cloud, and can thus be downloaded onto any other device which has the Creative Cloud app installed. But....that is really just syncing/sharing data between devices (and other users if needed), and is not really intended as an easy way to "access and edit all your images on all your devices". The LRCC app does NOT "see" the data that is stored that way in the Creative Cloud folder, so trying to edit and sync changes rapidly becomes an exercise in frustration, as that is trying to use the system in a way not intended. It sounds as though this is the method you are using.

So....the simplest way for you to use the cloud ecosystem would be:

1. Import the images directly into LRCC on the desktop, which will immediately trigger the upload to the cloud.

2. Optionally pause syncing if you expect to cull and delete a lot of those new imports, then resume syncing when you have cleared out the rejects.

3. When the sync upload is complete, that's it....all those images are now available to LRCC running on any other of your devices (logged into the same Adobe ID of course), and you can edit in any of those apps and the changes will sync to all other apps.

You'll probably find Victoria Bampton's free Quick Start guide useful: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/quickstart/

[Jao vdL]

You are making it way too hard on yourself. Do not upload anything to Adobe cloud drive. Simply import the files into Lightroom CC on your desktop. They will show up in Lightroom CC on mobile all by themselves. Edit on mobile and all the edits will be pushed back to the desktop without having to do anything. The Lightroom CC storage will NOT show up in the Creative Cloud Drive. It is in a hidden area of the cloud storage that you don't have direct access too.

[MoBIoS]

Unfortunately, unlike the lightroom classic, which has a "protocol" window, where all edits are logged, lightroom cc / mobile does not have such a feature. Your Edits are synched across all devices, but the edits are accumulated and only displays as "from LR mobile" in LR Classic. A workaround if you want to log each edited step is to go back to your libary after each edit, for the image to sync and than go back to edit. So each log entry indicates on edited step, which you can rollback to. One other way would be to save your edits as a preset and sync the preset to your other devices / import to LR classic.

On the below images of the protocol log LR classic you can see on image 1 all the edited steps taken in LR Classic, but the second image has only been edited on lr mobile ios.

My workflow is to import the raw images (on the go) to my ipad and have them sync across all devices, including the edits, or import into LR CC on my desktop and do the  edits in LR Classic so the edits will sync to LR CC and Mobile.

Your export will be the edited file which will be in different formats but the RAW file should export with the edits in an additional XMP File. Similar like the RAW edits, which, afaik, are saved within the LR catalogue with a reference to your original file.

You can export your image as "original" and this should export your RAW + the XMP file:

Not sure if this will help you in any way.