Lightroom Mobile for iPad Now Offered by Adobe

Adobe is now offering the Lightroom Mobile app for iPad – which is available as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud service.

Among its many features are RAW image editing, non-destructive processing of files, on-the-go editing, and the management and editing of images across desktops, mobile devices and the Web. In addition, photos can be synced between Lightroom 5 and Lightroom Mobile, and synced photos can be seen from any Web browser.

"With the launch of Lightroom mobile, we’ve unlocked professional-class photographic workflows from the confines of the desktop,” said Winston Hendrickson, Adobe’s vice president of products, Creative Media Solutions. "Lightroom and Photoshop redefined digital photography on the desktop and now, photographers can perfect images, wherever they are and, via Creative Cloud, seamlessly synchronize them back to their desktop catalog.”

Also, the new app allows tablet users to edit “large RAW image files remotely. This not only adds a new dimension to photographers' workflows, but untethers them from their desktops and laptops,” AppleInsider reports.

Lightroom mobile is being offered in a 30-day free trial. There also is limited time special on the Photoshop Photography Program for $9.99 a month. That includes Lightroom 5, Photoshop CC, Lightroom mobile and a public portfolio site. Members of the Creative Cloud complete plan or Photoshop Photography Program get access to Lightroom Mobile. In addition, Lightroom Mobile is offered for iPad 2 or later. It needs the latest version of Lightroom 5 for Mac or PC and a subscription to Adobe’s Creative Cloud.

Lightroom Mobile may offer an iPhone version sometime in 2014. An Android version is possible sometime later.

There are some limitations of the new offering, according to a recent review in 9 to 5 Mac.

“A larger storage capacity is almost required for serious work with Lightroom Mobile for iPad,” the review said. “Using an iPad with 16GB of capacity would surely hit the storage limit often without active file management as the requirement to duplicate each image between the Camera Roll and Lightroom Mobile essentially cuts your storage capacity in half.”

In addition, the article said that “Lightroom Mobile lacks the precision of the mouse and efficiency of keyboard shortcuts.” It was also noted that Lightroom Mobile for iPad is targeted mainly toward professional photographers. Apple’s iPhoto for iPhone and iPad are an option for others.

MacRumors notes in its review how the “app downloads Smart Previews of files from the desktop app, allowing for very fast content transfers between the desktop and the mobile app.”