iPad editing apps

[jrp]

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The new iPads are perfectly capable of editing DNGs from an SL2.  I have still to find an optimal workflow, but have been playing around with a few different Apps for editing my photos on the iPad.

For most apps you need to click on a photo and select an edit mode, adjust your photo and then save it.  This makes it slightly cumbersome to edit a whole bunch of ohotos at once.  The exception is Lightroom mobile where, once the photos are imported, you can just swipe across to get to the next photo.  Other apps allow you to select a range of photos and apply a preset to them, which is OK.  Affinity Photo has the most complex interface for getting at the photo that you want to edit.

Lightroom Mobile also has some neat features that are missing in the others, such as auto straightening, which is hand for buildings, and it allows you to see what you are clipping when setting black and white points.

Pixelmator Photo applies machine learning to provide a one-button edit.  It is very effective (when it works, which is about 80% of the time) producing very natural looking results.  (The Adobe profiles seem either too dull or too overcooked for my taste.)  It does, however, have limited functionality (eg, no vignetting or clarity / dehaze).

The built-in Photos app also provides a good auto starting point, particularly since the auto effect can be strengthened or weakened.  It does, however, require quite a bit of clicking around to get to cropping.

Raw Power produces decent results, but again requires a lot of clicking and scrolling to get stuff done.

Affinity Photo is more of a competitor to Photoshop than the above apps and its interface is, accordingly complex..  It does panorama stitching, HDR merging, etc, which the other apps mentioned don't do.

In the end, I'll probably stick to Lightroom Mobile if I want to get stuff done, although I have yet to master transferring the editing results back to my desktop.  It seems to sync OK, but clogs at 20Gb.  I haven't really figured out what I am supposed to do to clear the pipeline.  My impression is that Lightroom Classic is more set up to transfer files from the desktop to the iPad, rather than the other way around.

 

 

 

[jaapv]

You need Lightroom, not Lightroom Classic to automatically transfer your files to your desktop in an iPad-Mac setup.

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[Bobitybob]

In Lightroom Classic, create a new folder and right click on it.  Set it as the folder where files added to the cloud (versions of Lightroom other than classic) are downloaded to, and it should download all of your images from the Creative Cloud.  

If you want to free up space on the cloud, copy the images from this folder to another one that is not synced (check that the images are on your computer in this folder, using show image in finder etc) you should then be able to remove them from the cloud by deleting them from this folder.  For all of the images on your computer that you would like to see on your ipad without using any cloud storage, create a collection or collections and copy the images to this/these and then create smart previews for these image.  Again right click on the collection and select sync with Lightroom.  This will create a folder/folders, in Lightroom on your iPad, iPhone etc but will not use any of your 20GB and will allow you to edit them on either classic or mobile and the edits should sync across all of your devices.

This is how mine is set up, and as you can see I have 19,000 files synced but none of my 20GB has been used.  If you use Ligtroom on the decktop rather than Lightroom Classic, it will always sync the full images (rather than smart previews) to the cloud and thus use up your 20GB.

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 Just make sure your images are safe before you delete anything!

Edited August 8, 2021 by Bobitybob

[Harvard Kiwi]

It appears Lightroom is still the Gold Standard on iPadOS.

I use Pixelmator Photo, Darkroom, and Snapseed mostly and despite owning Affinity Photo, I just don't use it. That will change, I just need to watch more tutorials.

Lightroom allows spot editing which is sorely missing on Pixelmator and Darkroom. The iPad also doesn't handle Fuji Raw files whereas the Lightroom engine does so that's another bonus for me.

Does iPad Lightroom have Super Resolution?

I would like a cloud storage plan so the iPad Lightroom with 1TB storage is appealing and helps me overcome my aversion to subscription based software.

I've spent a lot on editing apps now and the biggest reason I'm holding out on Lightroom is the upcoming release of Capture One Pro on iPadOS (early 2022). Luminar are less committal around an iPad release but have hinted that they may be working on something or are at least exploring it. With the M1 chip in the new iPad Pros, I look forward to a better selection of full-powered editing apps.

[Dennis]

On 9/6/2021 at 4:19 AM, Harvard Kiwi said:

the biggest reason I'm holding out on Lightroom is the upcoming release of Capture One Pro on iPadOS (early 2022)

+1

I have now a perpetual license of C1 20, parked there and quiet, for the last two months. I'm trying LR desktop and mobile on my Ipad, primarily, and some on the iMac. Not the Classic, all simple versions. It results in there is everything I would need. It's more uncomplicated, easy to use, has fewer features and fewer distractions... And the new masking is excellent to have when needed. 
But in a certain way, I feel the C1 pro algorithm better for my tastes. It feels more accurate, even less destructive than LR. But also, it's another workflow and mood. But I would love to try C1 on iPad and see what's going on.
So far, I feel sooner or later, I will need LR Classic. I'm not sure LR (iCloud only) can check all the pro requirements without any Classic help. I still have some doubts and questions with no answer online. I'm still exploring options. But I' don't like to be in limbo. I need to make a decision soon and start to make the order again. I don't want to lose some edits on the way. 😅