What I’ve Learned After Four Years of Editing Photos on my iPad

My advice for those thinking of embracing Mobile Lightroom.

2020 was a strange year. It seems only fitting that it was the year I made the decision to learn how to use my iPad as my sole editing tool. It turned out a whole lot better than a lot of other decisions I made that year. Let me tell you what I learned, why I love editing on my iPad, and why I think (almost) everyone should give mobile editing a solid try.

No good story begins at the end, so let me give you just a quick rundown of how I got myself in the predicament of learning mobile editing. (Which I did, by the way, on location at one of our Cowgirls with Cameras retreats where I had to have a series of images edited by the end of the week. Everyone at the editing table experienced my frustration that first week, and it is a testament to their kindness that they all still love me.)

Also, so we’re on the same page and no one gets confused, when I refer to Lightroom CC or CC, I am referring to the cloud version which Adobe now calls just “Lightroom.” When I say, Lightroom Classic or Classic, I’m referring to the Lightroom we all started with if we’ve been in photography more than a hot minute; and when I say, Mobile Lightroom, I am talking about the version of CC which is on your iPad (and, yes, it does differ slightly from non-mobile CC).

Reasons I Wanted to Edit on my iPad:

1.    The iPad is smaller than my laptop and thus easier to pack.

2.    I can’t always find a “desk” on location.

3.    I’d be able to take advantage of my amazing Apple Pencil.

What I Thought Would Happen:

1.    I would be able to use Lightroom on my iPad in a similar way to how I use it on my desktop and laptop.

2.    My workflow of moving images through the download and import process would be the same as it had always been.

3.    My Apple Pencil would be a big part of my workflow.

4.    My shoulders would hurt less because I wasn’t toting a laptop around all the time.

5.    I’d be able to sync my iPad edits easily with my Lightroom Classic catalog and they would join my huge, pre-existing Classic library with ease.

I got #4 at least.

Lesson One: Lightroom on the iPad is NOT the same as a desktop or laptop.

Lightroom CC is not equivalent to Lightroom Classic in some important areas, the ones most important to me (or so I thought at the time) being metadata and cataloging functions. Lightroom CC on desktop is also not exactly the same as the mobile version of Lightroom CC. They are similar, but not the same. Tools are in slightly different places and how you move around Mobile Lightroom is more optimized for a touch device.

Let’s get back to the cataloging functionality loss because it’s usually the deal breaker.

If you’re considering Mobile Lightroom as a possibility for your editing, you need to know you will be giving up almost all functionality in cataloging (ie, the Library) – or to be precise you lose: a functional keyword tool, customized metadata, the majority of search features, smart collections, and the like. You’ll also lose all the other panels in Classic such as Map, Book, Slideshow, Print. and Web. Some of these features are absorbed elsewhere and some are not available in any capacity.

What you won’t have to give up are image editing features. All of the standard, and almost all of the “fancy,” editing features are there – they are just in a different place. I find the Mobile version of Lightroom lags behind the two desktop versions in the higher end editing functionality, but it eventually seems to appear here, too.  

I will be honest, I fought the cataloging feature loss hard – to the point I followed a wild rabbit down into the obscure basement of the internet to find the solution to syncing my images between Mobile Lightroom and my Lightroom Classic catalog. I did find a workable solution. I used it a few times and then came to the conclusion, my need for cataloging features wasn’t as important as I had first thought. To be honest, I don’t even miss them now. I have adapted to organizing my images in a series of folders, sub-folders, and albums (as one does in Lightroom CC). I do miss being able to search – but it isn’t enough to outweigh how much I love mobile editing.

My advice:

1.    If cataloging features are the reason you use Lightroom Classic, you won’t like Mobile Lightroom at all. If you decide to proceed, temper your expectations.

2.    You have to be willing to approach Mobile Lightroom as a completely different tool and skill.

Lesson Two: Mobile Lightroom Editing is a Unique File Handling Process

If you try to make your mobile import, export, and file handling the same as your desktop process, you will be frustrated.

First off, iPads are not computers in the same sense as a desktops and laptops. They lack ports and have their own unique operating system (iOS). You can force them to behave similar to a laptop, but a laptop they are not. This will be obvious the first time you try to backup a 256 GB card onto a SSD through your iPad – or at least that was the case for me.

Here's my advice:

1.    Readjust your culling to be the FIRST step in your process. The way Mobile Lightroom works is that when you plug in your card, it will load all the images on that card and give you the opportunity to choose the images you want to import. Choose only the ones you want to work with by touching them. You can “pinch and zoom” to see a larger detail preview.

2.    Use one card per session if possible and don’t “stack” sessions on a single card where you’ll need to import one and then shoot and then import the next. (I used to do this on location at our retreats by stacking multiple days on one big card). Because Mobile Lightroom must load ALL the images on the card before you can really start culling (it doesn’t pull images in order of when they were shot), and it has to be fully loaded before you can import, having smaller cards that you only handle once is faster and easier.

3.    Know you will still need to backup your images (a backup of the ones on the iPad and the ones you didn’t pick if you want to keep them) to a SSD or HD using a desktop or laptop later. Don’t reuse the card until you get it safely backed up.

Lesson Three: Cloud Storage Access is a Pain-in-the-Ass

The Mobile Lightroom on your iPad seeks to get your images into the Creative Cloud as soon as it possibly can – to the detriment of everything else. Even if you have good internet (as in fiber fast), the time lag in loading your editing features will be problematic for even the mildest of impatient people if you are attempting to batch edit images. The image will also need to download for you to export it. If you are without good internet, using cellular data, or are moving from place to place, it can be the ruination of your good day.

My Advice:

1.    Turn off Sync until you’ve had a chance to go through your basic edits, refined your culls, and exported any images you need right away.

2.    Reconcile your expectations of performance to what can be achieved through the bandwidth of your working internet and your iPad. If you have slow internet, know Mobile Lightroom is going to be a frustration for you.

Lesson Four: The Apple Pencil isn’t as Necessary for Mobile Editing

The Apple Pencil is an amazing device and worth every penny for the Apple logo on it. That said, it only really comes into play when you’re working with masks. If you don’t do that a lot, your finger will work just fine for sliders and such. I still use my Pencil, but it’s not a deal breaker for using Mobile Lightroom.

Also in this vein of discussion, you don’t need the fancy keyboard or mouse functionality. The keyboard will get in your way – and since keywords aren’t really a thing in Mobile Lightroom, you don’t really need it. (And yes, I know you can keyword in Mobile Lightroom, but those keywords are, for all intents and purposes, irrelevant). Mice on iPads are obnoxious for the most part – you have a touch screen and will likely use that most often.

Lesson Five: There’s a Lot of Joy to Mobile Editing You Don’t Find Until You Do It!

The number one reason I won’t ever give up editing on my iPad is my ability to curl up with a warm blankey on my sofa and edit images while I half-watch real crime documentaries and cuddle with my cats.

In all honesty, Mobile Lightroom also removed so many of the “distractions” that I’d been giving my time and attention, that I feel back in love with working with my images. Yes, I kicked and screamed for lost “functionality” at first, but as I allowed myself to fully embrace the change, I found I didn’t really miss all those functions or I had a solid workaround that would satisfy the need when necessary.