Lightroom Mobile: I would like to synchronize over LAN/Cable instead of internet

I tried this and it didn't work for me. The files in the MLCC "Originals" folder download from iTunes have a long string of letters and digits added to the file names. When I add those files to DLCC they are synced to the Cloud as new files since the file names don't match the original file names.

As a result, I wind up with two copies of the images:

1) The original photos taken by the MLCC app, and
2) the photos with the extra letters/digits in their file name.

I'm using Mobile version 4.0 and LR CC 2019. It's possible that something changed in these newer versions to stop the workaround from functioning correctly.

But can you copy the raw files with all the edits? Or only the finished JPGs?

We also take a lot of raw photos while traveling (often with no internet available) and would like to both cull and make initial edits using the iPad Pro, and then transfer the original culled raw plus edits to a desktop once home. We use Lightroom Classic at home and do not otherwise need to use the CC for our photography needs. All we need is the ability to use a local LAN. In our case airdrop would be sufficient. We do use the CC library for InDesign and PS work, etc. but transferring large numbers of RAW photos wirelessly makes for a poorly functioning yet expensive workflow. 

I like the idea from a practicality standpoint. Unfortunately, I don't think this is currently possible on iOS, but this year's new Apple OS releases may address that. iOS/iPadOS devices will now appear in/sync via the Finder (rather than iTunes), but I'm still not sure if it would be possible. WiFi may be more universally useable.

I can sync files directly from device to device (both windows and Mac laptops, my QNAP web server, etc.) using Resilio Sync over WLAN now, so I don't think it's a current iOS limitation.

Oh, WiFi sync has been possible for a long time - I was talking about USB sync between Mac and iOS not currently being possible in a way that would be useful for Lightroom users.

Oh yeah, I think you are right on that front.

I honestly don’t think it’s a technical limitation but rather:
1) Totally not the priority. Many bugs ares still not fixed, so this kind of request, if on the roadmap, will be very low in the pile
2) Totally out of scope as it would go against Adobe market to sell more cloud storage.

I don't think there's ever been any doubt that it's a business decision, rather than technical. We're just hoping that, if we make enough noise for long enough, Adobe will realize that they're forcing loyal customers to jump through ridiculous hoops, and making those customers happy might be worthwhile.

The switch to subscription has worked out very, very well for Adobe's bottom line. I honestly think that the Photography Plan is a pretty good deal, considering that I get Lightroom (in several flavors), Photoshop, 20GB of cloud storage (most of which goes unused because of the miracle that is Smart Previews), and website hosting for one small monthly fee. Even with all that, though, there is a limit on how much aggravation even loyal customers will endure, and ignoring those areas where the current cloud sync model falls flat on its face is a pretty major aggravation for a company to ignore.

I don't have any major complaints with the current system in my day-to-day use, but anything that involves travel is a major pain point, and it's astonishing that Adobe has not figured out a solution. I'm hoping that the coming of iPadOS (and similar enhancements to iOS) will spur some fresh thinking at Adobe.

I hope you're right, but... have keywords sync been implemented yet ? Stacks ? Pano/HDR? Are the recent updates the most requested features or even bug fixes ?

Not sure Adobe cares about photographers anymore. Casual cell phone users wanting cloud storage is, imho, Adobe's new target.

They're making a shitload of money and that's the only thinkg that counts. And who could blame them? But luckily competition is working hard to bring good software. Let's hope this pressure wil help.

I choose to live in hope.

Just like everyone these days, Adobe is chasing the mass market, but I honestly don't see them making major inroads on the consumer side - the offerings from Google/Apple/Insta are good enough that I really can't see why that market would pay anything for Adobe's cloud (Lightroom, not Classic) photography plan. The average consumer is just never going to bother with raw on their phone, and without that, why would anybody bother with any version of Lightroom?

So, long run, I think that professionals are Adobe's core business, and at some point, they'll start providing the features that professionals keep asking for. Nobody else has the end-to-end solution that Adobe has, even with the annoyances, but that may not hold forever. If Capture One came up with an iPad version and syncing (whether cloud or local), it would certainly make things more interesting.

I sometimes receive user surveys from up and coming LR competitors. Judging from the content of those surveys it is clear they will be nipping at Adobe's heels soon enough.

Coudn’t agree more ;-)

But is living in hope acceptable when you pay this much for a software (in euro, it’s like buying a soft every year!) ?

Agreed, LR is for, at least enthusiastic photographs. But are the latest dates answers to the needs of this target? Lightroom “non-classic”? Tutorials? Not sure this is an answer to “Classic” users. Users who were happy with a perpetual license and who are expecting more from a subscription (because more expensive)

Also agreed:
“Nobody else has the end-to-end solution that Adobe has, even with the annoyances, but that may not hold forever. If Capture One came up with an iPad version and syncing (whether cloud or local), it would certainly make things more interesting.”
To be honest, that’s (and laziness) is what keeps enthusiasts and pros with LR. IMHO, there are too many bugs, limitations and restrictions for smooth and pro workflow integration. The moment a good pro workflow will be available, people will massively switch to that one ;-)

@avpman, could you elaborate?

ON1, and Capture one are the biggies. They have a ways to go toward an end to end solution. Check 'em out and decide for yourself. I'm still holding out for Adobe to clean up LR but it seems with every release there are more and more problems.

with every release there are more and more problems

That last comment is nonsense.

Thanks avpman! I wasn’t sure about your point but I totally agree. I’ll definitely check them out when my subscription expires. I hope they’ll have a good mobile workflow, because that’s literally the only thing holding me back.

That's the problem - nobody else has anything resembling a mobile workflow. On1 and Capture One have mobile apps, but they don't do any processing on mobile - On1's was just a gallery (the app seems to have disappeared, actually), and Capture Pilot is a gallery/rating app with a remote camera control option.

any experience?

No update regarding this request despite iOS 13. And frankly, you can forget about it. It's not even under consideration. Adobe is focussing on the cloud; Classic is as good as dead, don't expect new big features, imho. You'll get some bug fixes and cosmetic improvements, but nothing more, I'm afraid.

Well, loosing improvements or ratings is useless. For the pure backup purpose I could just use multiple cards...

Shame, Adobe is not solving this problem. Cloud is not an option for travel photography. Just trying to sync 3000 images (started 4 days ago). Just hope there is any other company to develop a reasonable solution for this problem.

I hope too. The first apply that will allow post-processing and RAW (DNG) export on IPAD will be immediately the big winner ! By By Adobe ;-)

Even the pure rating process would be a major improvement...

On location / while travelling:
1) take pictures
2) load them on the iPad
3) rate pictures

Back home:
4) load images via WiFi or (even preferred!) via cable on my computer
5) import or sync rating info, possibly as exif files in ANY editing software

Totally agree, won‘t stick to Adobe if someone else eventually supports a mobile workflow.

PS: let‘s see what the upcoming ON1 Photo Sync will provide. Sounds promising already...
https://www.on1.com/products/photo-ra...

That’s looks great. I’ll be giving on1 a go for sure. Awesome!

Heeeeey !!!!!

"We put the photographer first, and this means customers have complete control over every aspect of their photography, including having a say in the products we develop. Photographers also control how they purchase ON1 software, where they store photos, their choice in capture devices, as well as their choice in cloud storage provider. Having total control over photographic and video editing style is also central to using ON1 products."

Haha, they know Adob's product all too well :D :D :D
I'm looking forward to ginving it a try!!

@chrisb Thanks for the tip about ON1. I will keep and eye to see if the sync process will be easier because Lightroom Mobile is dreadful and doesn't work for me at all. We are in April and I am still waiting for my photo-shoots from August 2019 to fully sync..

Not with Adobe products, unfortunately.

Unfortunately, no - four years of requesting the feature, and it has somehow not made it onto an Adobe roadmap. Somehow, they apparently still seem to think that forcing customers to sync ever-growing raw files to their cloud service from wherever they are in the world is critical to Adobe's financial health.

I'm doing a similar thing with the following workaround:
when I shoot abroad I import the RAW files via cardreader to my iPad and do first viewing and editing (or even distributing of single edited pictures). All with LR synchronization disabled (or even having no internet connection abroad).
When I come home I copy the RAW files via cardreader to my PC and import them into Lightroom where I create a collection which I synchronize with LR (only the smart previews without edits get uploaded).
Then I enable the synchronization of my iPad and get virtual copies of all the pictures.
With the aid of the plugin Syncomatic (StackSync, Develop settings) I can synchronize them. So all the changes I made on the iPad are transferred to the locally stored RAWs.
Finally I can delete the copies imported from the iPad into my catalog.

This sounds very complex and not all straight forward. But if you have a shooting with many RAW files which would burst all your cloud limits this is the best way which works for me.

This is very interesting. I tried it immediately – and it works (at least for a few images)! For the first time since years this seems to be a good workaround. Thank you very much for sharing!

Finalement, il ne manque dans LR qu'une commande permettant de ne pas engager la copie des originaux vers le Cloud si on procède selon le schéma de @Arnold Bartel car la création des copies virtuelles se fait dès le démarrage de la synchronisation sur l'iPad, ça permettrait d'éviter beaucoup de transfert de données via Internet.

Finally, an order allowing is missing in LR only not to hire the copy of the original towards Cloud if they go about things according to the schema of @Arnold Bartel because the creation of the virtual copies is made from the kickoff of synchronization on the iPad, this would allow to avoid a lot of data transfer via Internet.

This solution, as I I understand it, still requires the use of the cloud...As a professional, working with a lot of images,  I ask for a quick and easy solution. Again, the cloud sync is unimaginable because too long with a lot of pictures...

Another idea, how about having LR mobile do the same as classic optional, uploading the much smaller smart previews, when in an area with a bad connection. And sycn the full size when a good connection is available.

This way I could show and edit the photos already and have a much faster upload than pushing gigabytes of original raws into the cloud at once.

There could be a switch "upload only smart previews" directly in the  upper right cloud menu, or a "prioritize smart-preview upload" and only push the originals after that. It should also give some feedback like "uploading 222 smart previews, 423 fullsize photos pending".

But then the mobile device would have to render all that smartpreviews, that would take some processing power.

I like the idea, and most iPads are certainly powerful enough to generate the required Smart Previews, but I think we're still looking at something that is at odds with how Adobe sees Lightroom in the long run. As phones gradually kill off professional photographers, Adobe wants to expand Lightroom beyond the pro (Lightroom Classic) market and compete with Google/Apple Photos (I don't see any reason why this would succeed, honestly), and those services all want to be where your master photos live.

The mobile product only kinda works with Classic if you do everything correctly and in the right order - witness how it handles metadata, etc - but only because it has to, or pros would find another tool. So, the mobile product is part of Lightroom (formerly CC) that plays as nice as it can with Classic, and New Lightroom has no use for Smart Previews beyond working with Classic. So, Adobe would either have to drop its insistence on syncing only via their cloud service, or decide that Smart Previews can be part of the non-Classic product to support this particular edge case. I don't see them doing either at this point.

In my case, all that is needed is for LR mobile to support airdrop since my desktop is an Apple iMacPro. In addition to limited to no internet on travel, I live in the country and the internet charges (not to mention the subpar bandwidth) make the current use of the cloud completely unreasonable. If Adobe would support a LAN transfer, then we could work in a mobile environment and then import the RAWs into LR Classic as we do now. There would be no need to finesse the interface between LR mobile & Classic.

"Edge case"? It's hard for me to believe that needing to work on a mobile platform and then efficiently importing into LR from the mobile device is an "edge case". For (I dare say) many of us, there is simply no need to force the Cloud into that workflow, and it is anything but efficient. Also hard for me to believe that Adobe is preparing to sacrifice its subscription-based revenue stream and chase us to another platform. I sure hope they wake up before this happens.

I don't consider it an "edge case", but the fact that Adobe hasn't done anything to solve it in the years we've been harping on them leads me to believe that they think it is, as far as their overall goals are concerned.

I can see how my post might have felt like it was pointed at you. Sorry 'bout that. Obviously no point in complaining at you, and I can see that you are just trying to help.

No problem - I really didn't make it clear in my original post that I didn't feel that way. Thanks for being considerate, regardless.

You apparently never work in an area with limited or no internet connection.  All Adobe has to do is provide a REAL "Export as Original" with all the included XMP data and with IpadOS you can transfer the edits in the field to a PC.  Not a great solution but workable in situations where internet is unusable.

Thank God, no, and I hope I never do!

I actually like being out where there is no cell or internet service.  Very refreshing.

Yes an export with settings would help too. But that would also need the limit of 15 files to export at once to be removed. That would be the offline solution.

And for slow/bad connections the "only upload smartpreviews to the cloud " option.

I'm sure it's no reflection on your IT experience but...you are conflating two entirely different issues.   Whilst maintaining multiple versions of a singe dataset is fraught with technical difficulties... this concept has absolutely NOTHING to do with the reason why a local syncing option is unavailable on LRM. The decision to leave LAN syncing out of mobile is an ADOBE business stratagem NOT a technical issue AT ALL. (I worked as a OS developer for many years)  I made a post about this over three years ago on this very thread.
Whilst the cloud may work well for you there are many many scenarios where it is sub optimal or downright useless.