Organize, edit, and share photos on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device. Edits sync seamlessly to the Lightroom desktop app and Lightroom on the web.
Note: Syncing to Lightroom on the desktop and the web requires a Lightroom trial or a paid Adobe Creative Cloud membership.
From the Lightroom mobile app you can easily access all the images that are on your device. In the lower left, tap on Device (iOS) or Gallery (Android). The Device/Gallery tab will display the images as they appear in the Apple Photos app or the Android Gallery app. Tap the album name (e.g., Recents or Favorites) in the upper left to choose from other albums on your device.
Tap on a photo to open the image in the Edit view, where you can apply changes. Once edits have been applied, tap the back arrow in the upper left and the image will be added to Lightroom. If no edits are applied, the photo will not be added to Lightroom.
To select multiple photos to import, start in the Device or Gallery tab and tap the More menu (three dots) in the upper right. Choose Select and tap the thumbnails you want to add. Then tap Import at the bottom of the screen. You can choose Import into Lightroom or Import & add to Lightroom album. In the Device view, any photos that have been imported into Lightroom will display an Lr badge on the thumbnail.
In the Lightroom tab (the Edits tab with a free version), you can see the photos that have been imported to Lightroom. Tap a thumbnail to open it in the Edit view, then tap the icon of the two circles on the left to open the Presets.
Presets are often a good place to start and let you try out different looks and styles for your photo. Choose the Recommended presets and Lightroom will analyze your photo and offer preset suggestions that complement the image. You can also browse the different categories to find one you like. Creative Cloud subscribers have access to many Premium presets, which include professionally created presets for every type of photo.
In addition to applying a preset for a specific look, tap the center Edit icon to display an additional editing menu where you can customize your edits. Swipe horizontally on this menu bar to see all the editing options available to you. You can crop your photo, apply a profile, use the healing tools to remove minor distractions, or modify settings to adjust exposure, contrast, and color.
To take a picture with the Lightroom camera, tap the blue camera icon in the Lightroom tab. The Lightroom camera defaults to Auto mode. Select Professional for more settings, such as shutter speed and white balance. Additional settings in Professional mode allow you to lock/unlock auto exposure or apply a preset filter. Tap the file format icon at the top center to choose DNG if you want to capture a raw file.
When viewing image thumbnails, tap the name of the album in the upper left to return to the list of Lightroom albums. Tap the Create new button at the bottom of the screen to create a new album, or a new folder (folders are a way to organize albums). Name your new album and tap OK. Your new album will be placed alphabetically in the My albums list. To add photos to the new album, tap the More menu (three dots) to the right of the album name and choose Add photos.
There are several sharing options available in Lightroom. To share your photos via social media, email, or to save a copy to your device, tap the share icon at the top of the screen. Then choose the save or sharing option you want. The iOS version of Lightroom for mobile includes an Add border and share option that lets you add a custom border to the exported image. After Lightroom prepares the image, choose the sharing options available on your device. You can also choose Create edit replay to make a short video showing how each of your Lightroom edits have enhanced the image.
All changes you make to images in Lightroom on your mobile device are reflected in Lightroom on the desktop and Lightroom on the web. Any changes you make in the desktop or web version are also synced to mobile.
Instruction by
Photography by
Adrien Radford
March 4, 2024