I've made an update to this video as a lot of things have changed in my workflow. Check out the 2021 version here: ua-cam.com/video/oy4O-4boH3g/v-deo.html
I’m thinking of switching to an iPad Pro for my photo editing. I shoot portraits and headshots. I use Photoshop and Lightroom. I shoot Fuji (XT3 and X100V). I’m currently using an antiquated (but still chugging along) 21” desktop iMac with an elderly Wacom tablet for photo edits. I use a 2019 MacBook Air as my laptop, and it does everything else. I mostly use the laptop for writing, as I’m also a professional copywriter. I do a lot of content consumption. And I take part time classes as a perpetual student. I need to read, write, edit photos and watch content. I want to pare down. I recently thought, “Would an iPad Pro just do everything I need? Could it?” Especially with the Apple Pencil and a Magic Keyboard, I feel like I could do everything. Photo edits & retouching, writing, reading and content consumption, etc. And after seeing the Apple keynote yesterday, and the new iPad....DROOL. Wow. Now I’m thinking of ditching my laptop and buying an iPad. Never really used one, at least not in years. What do you like best about it? It seems like a great game changer for photography, and portable!
You can save yourself hours of upload/management time if you buy a NAS. Synology supports Dropbox sync. Then you can import directly to your NAS and let the NAS upload to Dropbox in the background and not have to wait for the iPad to upload. Also, when you’re working remote, you can upload to Dropbox and it will automatically sync to your NAS at home for a local backup. You can then remotely connect to your NAS if you want to copy the files into another folder for redundancy....if that’s needed. I find a NAS is essential for my iPad to computer workflow.
I’ve definitely been eyeing a NAS upgrade to this workflow. My Home Cloud is going to run out of space soon and investing in more of those seems like a waste.
If you want to future proof your purchase, get a 4 bay NAS at least. The costs do go up incrementally because of hard drives. I got a two bay NAS with two 10 tb drives. It works really well and all in it cost me around 400. With a 4-6 drive bay NAS you can save upfront costs for hard drives and have the ability add more in the future when needed. But you will pay more for the NAS itself.
@@coolwierd As someone who doesn't have an iPad (but is considering one) can you give a quick summery of your workflow? Do you use a dongle to import from SD card to iPad then I assume you use the Synology app to backup the photos there? And I also assume there's no way to create automatic backup folders like when importing into Lightroom Classic (year/month/event)?
Tiago Dias these are all great questions. I import directly into my synology through the files app. Then I use synologys photo station to give me an overview of my photos. Then I import only the ones I want to tweak into darkroom/lightroom whatever.
Hi Aaron, Thanks for the great video. I just bought a new G5 IPad Air. I have a question for you. Are you familiar with Paperlike screen protectors. They provide a slightly textured surface to make writing and drawing easier. Any opinion on if this product would make photo editing more difficult? Thanks, Fred B.
I like the workflow you demonstrated. I gave up my MacBook Pro a year ago and went entirely to my iPad Pro. I use a card reader, import to Files in a folder, backup to Amazon drive in the cloud, backup to usb drive, import into my PhotoPicker app, review/rate, import into LR. I just started using the Photo Picker app to review and rate before LR so that I import into LR only the images I want to work with. Once I am finished editing, I delete the images in my Files folder. The only thing I don’t like about the workflow is the missing features of LR and PS, yet I still have to pay for the desktop version.
Any idea how to use iPad Pro for tethering with camera (especially nikon) when shooting on studio ? so that my client can hold the iPad and look at the result instantly when i click the shutter..
Hi Aaron - great video - a couple of quick questions: 1.) What is the rationale of backing up the RAW photos to Apple Photos vs. Lightroom? 2.) When you import into photos, does it preserve the RAW photos or do a conversion to the Apple format? I’ve been importing directly into Lightroom on my i-Pad. Thanks so much! Dan
Nice one ! My workflow: - I connect a dungle to IPAD + my camera or Sd card + SSD drive - Transfer my folder photo from SD to SSD Drive - Select the one I want from SSD - Import or Work directly with SSD - Edit my picture on Lightroom - Export on SSD Final Folder. I would love to see an CaptureOne app coming as well on Ipad Pro :D
So if I understand correctly, you connect your camera or SD card AND you SSD, at the same time? It also says you work directly with the SSD? Aaron indicated the iPad doesn't support that. Can you please explain further? Thanks! Richard
Richard Mauro Ricchiuti he think that’s he is working directly from the ssd but you can’t do that on iPadOS. Every file will automatically import in the app files. Even if you import the raw in the photo app and then use Lightroom those file will duplicate on the Lightroom files app. The best way is to import directly from Lightroom and then save only the final photo on the photo app/external hdd
Hi, thanks for sharing your process ! How do you save your work on your image on Lightroom when you work only on your IPad ? On pc, Lightroom creates a second files that contains all your choices on each image (colors, white balance, effects etc). I don’t find this second file when I work on my IPad , so how to save my choices on my raw files before to convert in jpg ?
Do you keep your photos in Apple Photos and Lightroom once you're done with your edits? Or do you delete them an only rely on dropbox/external drive for storage? Where do you store your final edits?
I don’t keep the photo files in Photos or Lightroom long term. Once I’m done editing, I double check that all original files are on Dropbox and the external and then delete from the IPad. This does mean that I lose the editing files and have to re-edit if I need to at a later time. For the final edited images, I export to Photos and then store on Dropbox/External as well.
Thank you for a fine presentation. I'm watching and thinking... As you import files from an SD card it appears you need to select the files one by one. I'm 8:47 in and you've done this 2xs. Is there a select all option? When I shoot a job I can have 50 to 700 photos so I guess I should buy the highest capacity iPad Pro but what do you think about one of those externals that can be plugged into the iPad and then work off that instead of internal storage? They'll all need to be uploaded to the cloud afterwards. Thoughts?
There are definitely option to select all. I just happen to be dealing with a small batch for this example and didn't need it. As for working off of the external, the iPad Pro software doesn't currently support that. I'd love to see that in the future@
Nice summing up of your workflow, appreciate your sharing that! I’ve been adjusting to an iPad-centric workflow (though in my case, using an iPad Air 3). I use the Darkroom app for working with files in batch, Affinity Photo for more detailed edits and use the Photos app for album management, with an iCloud account as primary storage and a hard drive attached to an old PC for networked storage and backups. Some of this is not very efficient for the iPad based approach, so I have some figuring out to do. The main impediment I’ve run into is that I originally went with a 64GB iPad without planning to do photo editing work on it, then realized how much better it would be to work that way and started trying to move my photo/video workflow to it. 64GB isn’t even close to being enough for anything but the lightest of work. I agree with the interactivity of the iPad and Pencil for editing photos. I remember years ago lusting after the first Wacom tablets but thinking how much better they would be if the tablet itself displayed what you were working on, so you could see the changes right there, and now finally that reality is here! It’s also just very useful to be able to work on the same device at a desk, or even on the couch, or wherever, rather than having to go sit down at the desk every time. The display on the iPad is also great for editing.
Just seeing this video tonight, I got a quick question. I noticed your solid state drive is a 500 GB. How much was it and why did you choose something that big over a 512 GB micro SD card? They are cheaper, easier to store and just as safe since there’s no moving parts to damage? Hope you see this question.
Some of the cameras that I use have maximum capacities for the sd/microsd card that they can take. So I can't pop a 512 GB in my Osmo Action. I have to use smaller cards. The 500 GB on the external is a tad limiting. I recently maxed it out when I was on the road for a month. I'll probably look to upgrade it to a 2 TB drive soon.
I've long lost count on how many iPad vs. MacBook type editing videos ... but yours really made me stop to think re the interactivity between photographer and image using the Apple Pencil... I suspect that is why for a long, long time I've so enjoyed just editing on my phone. I shall try your suggestion, and thank you for your insightfulness!
Thanks for the helpful workflow tips! How quickly do you find your storage filling up? I have multiple 4TB external hard drives, a 2TB Dropbox Pro act, a 200GB iCloud storage plan, and a 100GB Adobe Creative Cloud Storage plan, but I still feel like I'm constantly racing to clear space as more photos come in. Do you eventually "retire" photos and move them off the cloud and onto an external somewhere? Or are you just constantly buying larger storage plans to keep up? For me I think quadruple backups seems excessive, I'll probably do triplicates. My iPad syncs with my iPhone and iCloud...do you have photo stream turned on or do you turn it off so as to not have to buy more iCloud storage? Thx
Hi, did you or someone else had the same problem as me sometimes ? When I import .raw images to my IPad Pro 2020 or Put them with it from my SSD to an extenral hardrive, some of my pictures get demaged.
I know this was geared toward photos but what about video files? I have been using iPad Pro for photo and video editing. My issue is the iPad not recognizing or reading the video files on the memory card when using the dongle. The only work around I have found is actually connecting the camera to the iPad through a usb cable which allows the iPad to read and download the video files. This only works on DSLR style cameras, it will not work with my Sony ax100 video camera. This one I have to download the files on a PC to a portable HD and then into the iPad. File transfer is the worst part of the iPad.
I'm trying to figure this workflow a little more before I buy a iPad Pro. I'm primarily a film editor. I work in Media Composer. I never use internal drives. Everything is on external drives. Usually the drives are assigned to individual clients. I have no interest in dragging every photo onto the internal drive of the IPad Pro. I want to drag photos from SD cards onto external drives and work off the external drives. Can the iPad Pro do that? Will Lightroom or the Photos app work on external photos directly?
Good morning! I’m deciding if buy this or MacBook Pro. I like ipad very very much for the dame reason you’ve explained but I would like ti ask one thing. Is it possibile to work on images directly from external hard disk without importing them on ipad , so the ipad memory is not so big? Thanks a lot!
You are not able to work with files on an ssd in Lightroom for photography. However, LumaFusion just updated their app for this functionality for video work.
Great flow and set up - just wondering why not too many photographers do not use Apple ICloud as the first stage of back up. I used Flickr but they are saying they need to raise the rates huge or shut it down.
the sandisk is no harddrive :D is a SSD as you said seconds after ^^ but nice video about your workflow. i got the same sandisk but with 1TB. i use a multi adapter to put the photos directly on the SSD and not on the ipad bcs i only have 256gb on that and it would be full so fast.
Hei dude, nice content but I dont get how you handle one issue: when copy out of Apple Fotos App to external drive etc, the app always converts the raw files to jpgs including all eventually made editings. There is no way to share the files out of Photos app in RAW, according to Apple documents. Did you solve this somehow or do you use jpg files in your workflow?
I don't really use the Apple Photos app anymore. I have a more recent workflow video that I'd recommend that you checkout: ua-cam.com/video/oy4O-4boH3g/v-deo.html
Great video! Have you ever experienced importing/exporting issues with the ssd? I found that a lot of my photos were getting corrupted, so I just rely on cloud storage :/
The corruption comes from disconnecting the drive from the iPad or pulling the card too soon, at least that’s what happened to me. The process of copying the images off the sd card showed it was finished copying or importing, but it wasn’t really finished. As it turns out there can still be a delay or lag while meta data from images is still being synced between the iPad or a usb drive,, especially with the cloud. Now I wait 5 or 10 minutes more between the time the process shows the copy or import is complete before disconnecting the card or drive. No more corruption since. Good luck, hope this helps.
Do you think I could do all my photo editing on the iPad Pro and completely ditch the desktop. Right now I’m struggling with the decision to purchase a new iMac or go with the more mobile iPad Pro? Thanks so much! John.
John McKenna I recently just used my iPad to edit and export about 10-15 photos after a mini shoot. Worked great, no lag, quick and easy. Took a minute to understand the flow, but easy enough. Make sure you purchase a size with plenty of internal storage.
Love the video I do have 1 question donyou use a screen protector like paper like or just the regular one 🤔 I have been looking at paper like and can't decide if it will distort the color
I do have a screen protector. I don't remember the exact version but it was a relatively cheap one off of Amazon. I haven't experienced any color shifts myself.
I don’t use iCloud. I stick to Dropbox and my external for long term file management. The Photos app ends but being a staging area before moving it to the various places.
Hi Aaron! Say please. How do you work with photographs on an iPad with a protective glass glued to it? It affects the contrast and color on the screen, is this really good for photography? thanks in advance for your reply!
I'm always checking my photos on other devices and screens before finalizing. This means I've learned a bit about how the screen protector impacts my photos. In reality, it is very very minor so nothing to really worry about.
I have the 256gb version. I'm not sure on file sizes for illustration but for photography, it's definitely enough. I run into issues when I'm working on video project with 4K files.
Great video! I'm looking at moving more towards Lightroom mobile at the moment so am planning on using a similar workflow. What do you do when your Adobe Cloud Storage fills up with all the files you import into LR mobile? Coming from LR Classic, once I'm finished editing a folder of images that are located on my desktop drive I move them to an external drive from within LR. That way if I want to re-edit some of the images later on i can connect the external drive and all my images are there with all the adjustments I have already made to them. Not sure if there's a similar solution for the mobile/cloud version?
I have a similar problem, I want to keep an archive of my images *with my edits* on an external hard drive the way that lightroom classic does. So far I haven’t found a way, other than syncing between lightroom mobile and the classic version on my laptop, then I can move those images from the laptop to an external hard drive, and once they’re transferred I can delete them from the app on the iPad. It’s a long way around because it has to go through the cloud and uploading/downloading huge amounts of data, and still requires a laptop in order to back up unedited photos with edits files alongside them. I would love to find a solution that allows me to get rid of the laptop altogether.
@@LuigiAnzivino yea I'm doing the same thing at the moment. I think until theres an option to export the images with an adjustments file so they can be put into a folder on an archive drive then I dont think I could use the mobile version without classic! If anyone knows if this is already possible please let us know? 😅
This is the only thing stopping me from really getting into the iPad Pro work flow system, because the sheer amount of images I edit I would eat through the storage so quickly so I need an external storage solution WITH edits
Can you also backup the raw files as well as the JPEG document using the same way that you introduced:) would like to know how to backup the raw files too directly from iPad to any other devices.
Is that a matte screen protector on your iPad? I am asking because I am currently waiting on my iPad Pro and I am looking to get a screen protector before it arrives. Drbwting between a clesr and matte finish. I will be using the iPad for editing my photos on the go. Need your help.
Yes, this is a matte screen protector. I wasn't ready to go all in on the Pencil Like protector so I went with this one (affiliate link): amzn.to/34bykAz
@@imaaronross I am from Canada so I don't think it would help using this link. Also, I am skeptical about the matte since the colors will be dimmed down and for me editing is what I will be doing 100% of the time. The main reason for buying it in the first place
do you have any tutorial video step by step on how to do tether, so that my client can see real time result from my ipad pro? should i tether from my camera to my macbook pro, then connect it wirelessly to my ipad pro? any idea what apps can do that and how to set 'em up ?
Since I use the iPad for all of my photo editing, I haven’t been able to give Capture One a try. I’ve heard great things for those who edit on a desktop/laptop.
Hi Grant, I hardly do much video but have used Final Cut Pro a number of years on my Macs. Can I actually edit video on an iPad Pro? The files can be huge and rendering a bear. Does LumaFusion handle these intensive tasks on an iPad well? How do you deal with the storage of video files and the final rendered file sizes? Thanks, Richard
Is there a way to use content aware fill in the photoshop app on the iPad Pro? I feel like I have used this feature somehow but can’t remember if it was on desktop
the cable that comes with ipad only for power delivery when it comes to transfer files its way to slow try sandisk cable instead of that and if u format the ssd as apfs you will see the speed different
Hi, great video thanks. I was wondering, I use an iPad Pro for everything and I have been considering buying a FUJIFILM X-T3 ( great price, great specs, great camera) but I’ve heard that Lightroom/Photoshop create noise/worms with flies from Fujifilm, what is your experience with this? Thanks!
I've never had much of an issue with it. However, I will say that I'm not much of a sharpener or pixel peeper. Both would probably make it more apparent.
Hello great video. As a sports & news photographer I need to write a brief caption when sending each photo to my editor can this be done on Lightroom when using an IPad Pro. I am thinking for budgeting reasons to bypass a MacBook Pro & go for an iPad Pro instead.
@@owendavies5231 I haven’t purchased but Thanks for the information. Ideally I plan to have both an IPad Pro and a Mac Book Pro & switching between the two depending on assignments.
This is one of the best videos about using a tablet for photography! Indeed, when we have limits using an electronic instead of other, we just have to work with it and challenge ourselves more on how to achieve the result we want as we would in a desktop. And a lot of people don't talk about that and if they talk, they say about like it's the most horrible thing. Amazing video!!!
I just got an iPad Pro and an iPad Pro without even considering using the iPad to edit photos, but Lightroom and sd card support is amazing and I prefer it to capture one on my pc.
I don’t pay for either of those expanded storage options so Dropbox is my cloud of choice and the external ssd is an extra piece of mind when I’m out in the field and away from wifi.
Aaron Ross I know, you told this already a few times. In LR you can offline albums. So it’s isn’t necessary too. When people editing pictures on iPad they need more storage, so it’s no problem for a good workflow without external drives and 3rd party apps.
I use Darkroom on my iPP. Great results. Warning: what looks fantastic on your iPP, will not look nearly as good after being uploaded/compressed on social media. Even Apple Photos on iOS or MacOS is good enough if you shoot JPG and do very little post-processing (like some quick cropping/sharpening/contrast). Why back-up pix before you review them - you may end up deleting many???
I back up everything because I don’t delete anything, ever. I’ve found that there are times when I go back to old photos and see something I didn’t catch the first time around. The obvious mistakes are usually deleted in camera immediately.
This is precisely the information I was looking for regarding photo editing workflow on the iPad. The file management is not as complicated has I thought, no weird dongles . Thanks. Subscribed.
I really wish that adobe would understand the power of the iPad Pro and magic keyboard/pencil kit and offer a more fluffy iOS version since many of us are wanting to toss the lap tops for this set up.
I have an issue with my ipad pro 11 inch 2018. If I import my images via dongle/airdrop to a file folder, the images look blurry but they are fine once I add them to lightroom. Same happens while I view them directly from the memory card without uploading them. Any idea?
What type of camera are you using? Are you using RAW or JPG? It could be that the iPad isn't able to fully recognize the RAW files from your camera but Lightroom can.
Aaron Ross jpg. Even after exporting out of Lightroom into a folder in the iPad. The images look pixelated. When saved to camera roll there is no problem.
Hi Aaron thanks for a great video. I do have 1 question you did not talk about filling up the iPad's memory. You did save to the cloud and external HD. But do you keep everything on the iPad especially after editing ?
Once I'm done editing, everything gets deleted so I'm not taking up space. That does mean I will have to edit from scratch if I ever need to come back to it but that is a rare situation for me.
Can you bring the photo back to Lightroom and save it into a collection that will then be synced to adobe creative cloud to access it on the laptop later?
Oh man. I mean, if you’re doing low volume work I guess this works. But I’m shooting 4-8 shoots a week for clients and this would kill productivity and a shit ton of time. Plus with loopdeck I’m flying through edits. It’s just not ready for heavy volume shooters.
Aaron Ross I was skeptical at first but it’s the real deal. The simple act of being able to crop photos with incredible speed is probably the biggest timesaver especially when you’re editing a lot of photos that need some adjustments.
The only program I really miss, is something like Photo Mechanics, to make very quick a IPTC description for my sportphotos, supported by so called code replacements!
So, I’ve recently switched to using iPad Pro for all my photography editing. I’ve notice some of the pictures I copy over to my ssd hat drive comes out really weird. I usually transfer RAW images from my sd card to my iPad cloud storage, then to my Sandisk ssd extreme external hard drive. I’ve also tried directly to ssd hard Drive also. Usually copying about 50-100 images or more at a time. Are you or anyone else having this issue?
Yes, It seems that making the copy of the multiple large files, like RAW, onto the external ssd drive, ends up quite often that some of them are corrupted when you try to open them next time form the external drive. It happened to me several time. For this reason I simply do not trust in any copies done on IPad and after each such copy I reconnect the ext drive making sure that the files are not only copied but also not corrupted. The files app also opens the raw files with the limited resolution and through this you are not able to decide if the focus is really fine. I wish such you tubers would really dug deep enough, while they quite often just scratch the surface and let it be.
Thanks for the video. After a 4 year photographic layoff, I've been getting back into it. I have LR Classic on my desktop but I'm looking at using LR CC on the iPad By storing your photos on your iPad, don't you run out of space quickly? Obviously depending on how much, you shoot.
@@imaaronross Good video! I have a follow up, if you remove raws from your iPad (from camera roll and LR) then you are left only with files in your personal cloud and dropbox (and exported, edited JPEGs ofc). But if you remove them from LR you will also loose your edits, am I right? If you ever want to go back to those RAWs you will have to edit them all over again.
Why not just get a color-accurate windows tablet or 2-in-1 13" laptop so you can use the web version of PS and LR instead of the mobile version? Seems like you're making a lot of concessions, and buying a lot of accessories to get this job done.
I've made an update to this video as a lot of things have changed in my workflow. Check out the 2021 version here: ua-cam.com/video/oy4O-4boH3g/v-deo.html
Loved it, thank you!
Love the content! How long do you recommend to keep photos on SD and other backup locations?
I’m thinking of switching to an iPad Pro for my photo editing. I shoot portraits and headshots. I use Photoshop and Lightroom. I shoot Fuji (XT3 and X100V).
I’m currently using an antiquated (but still chugging along) 21” desktop iMac with an elderly Wacom tablet for photo edits. I use a 2019 MacBook Air as my laptop, and it does everything else. I mostly use the laptop for writing, as I’m also a professional copywriter. I do a lot of content consumption. And I take part time classes as a perpetual student. I need to read, write, edit photos and watch content. I want to pare down.
I recently thought, “Would an iPad Pro just do everything I need? Could it?”
Especially with the Apple Pencil and a Magic Keyboard, I feel like I could do everything. Photo edits & retouching, writing, reading and content consumption, etc.
And after seeing the Apple keynote yesterday, and the new iPad....DROOL. Wow. Now I’m thinking of ditching my laptop and buying an iPad. Never really used one, at least not in years.
What do you like best about it? It seems like a great game changer for photography, and portable!
You can save yourself hours of upload/management time if you buy a NAS. Synology supports Dropbox sync. Then you can import directly to your NAS and let the NAS upload to Dropbox in the background and not have to wait for the iPad to upload. Also, when you’re working remote, you can upload to Dropbox and it will automatically sync to your NAS at home for a local backup. You can then remotely connect to your NAS if you want to copy the files into another folder for redundancy....if that’s needed. I find a NAS is essential for my iPad to computer workflow.
I’ve definitely been eyeing a NAS upgrade to this workflow. My Home Cloud is going to run out of space soon and investing in more of those seems like a waste.
If you want to future proof your purchase, get a 4 bay NAS at least. The costs do go up incrementally because of hard drives. I got a two bay NAS with two 10 tb drives. It works really well and all in it cost me around 400. With a 4-6 drive bay NAS you can save upfront costs for hard drives and have the ability add more in the future when needed. But you will pay more for the NAS itself.
@@coolwierd As someone who doesn't have an iPad (but is considering one) can you give a quick summery of your workflow? Do you use a dongle to import from SD card to iPad then I assume you use the Synology app to backup the photos there? And I also assume there's no way to create automatic backup folders like when importing into Lightroom Classic (year/month/event)?
Tiago Dias these are all great questions. I import directly into my synology through the files app. Then I use synologys photo station to give me an overview of my photos. Then I import only the ones I want to tweak into darkroom/lightroom whatever.
Hi Aaron, Thanks for the great video. I just bought a new G5 IPad Air. I have a question for you. Are you familiar with Paperlike screen protectors. They provide a slightly textured surface to make writing and drawing easier. Any opinion on if this product would make photo editing more difficult? Thanks, Fred B.
I like the workflow you demonstrated. I gave up my MacBook Pro a year ago and went entirely to my iPad Pro. I use a card reader, import to Files in a folder, backup to Amazon drive in the cloud, backup to usb drive, import into my PhotoPicker app, review/rate, import into LR. I just started using the Photo Picker app to review and rate before LR so that I import into LR only the images I want to work with. Once I am finished editing, I delete the images in my Files folder. The only thing I don’t like about the workflow is the missing features of LR and PS, yet I still have to pay for the desktop version.
Any idea how to use iPad Pro for tethering with camera (especially nikon) when shooting on studio ? so that my client can hold the iPad and look at the result instantly when i click the shutter..
Great tutorial! I’ve been wanting to use my new iPad Pro more; Especially when traveling and on the road vs my laptop. Super thanks!
Hi Aaron - great video - a couple of quick questions: 1.) What is the rationale of backing up the RAW photos to Apple Photos vs. Lightroom? 2.) When you import into photos, does it preserve the RAW photos or do a conversion to the Apple format? I’ve been importing directly into Lightroom on my i-Pad. Thanks so much! Dan
NM, saw the question you pinned and your response - appreciate it!
works better than would have guessed. thanks.
Can I please ask you which screen protector you are using? And/or recommend for predominately using the ipad pro for photo editing
Nice one ! My workflow:
- I connect a dungle to IPAD + my camera or Sd card + SSD drive
- Transfer my folder photo from SD to SSD Drive
- Select the one I want from SSD
- Import or Work directly with SSD
- Edit my picture on Lightroom
- Export on SSD Final Folder.
I would love to see an CaptureOne app coming as well on Ipad Pro :D
So if I understand correctly, you connect your camera or SD card AND you SSD, at the same time? It also says you work directly with the SSD? Aaron indicated the iPad doesn't support that. Can you please explain further? Thanks! Richard
Richard Mauro Ricchiuti he think that’s he is working directly from the ssd but you can’t do that on iPadOS. Every file will automatically import in the app files. Even if you import the raw in the photo app and then use Lightroom those file will duplicate on the Lightroom files app. The best way is to import directly from Lightroom and then save only the final photo on the photo app/external hdd
Great video very well explained .Using a iPad takes a little getting used too when only used Android for many years.
Hi, thanks for sharing your process ! How do you save your work on your image on Lightroom when you work only on your IPad ? On pc, Lightroom creates a second files that contains all your choices on each image (colors, white balance, effects etc). I don’t find this second file when I work on my IPad , so how to save my choices on my raw files before to convert in jpg ?
a big change happened to me this year was when I bought a 2018 ipad pro.. this changed my ood habits and the workflow of photo works
Do you keep your photos in Apple Photos and Lightroom once you're done with your edits? Or do you delete them an only rely on dropbox/external drive for storage? Where do you store your final edits?
I don’t keep the photo files in Photos or Lightroom long term. Once I’m done editing, I double check that all original files are on Dropbox and the external and then delete from the IPad. This does mean that I lose the editing files and have to re-edit if I need to at a later time. For the final edited images, I export to Photos and then store on Dropbox/External as well.
Thank you for a fine presentation. I'm watching and thinking... As you import files from an SD card it appears you need to select the files one by one. I'm 8:47 in and you've done this 2xs. Is there a select all option? When I shoot a job I can have 50 to 700 photos so I guess I should buy the highest capacity iPad Pro but what do you think about one of those externals that can be plugged into the iPad and then work off that instead of internal storage? They'll all need to be uploaded to the cloud afterwards. Thoughts?
There are definitely option to select all. I just happen to be dealing with a small batch for this example and didn't need it. As for working off of the external, the iPad Pro software doesn't currently support that. I'd love to see that in the future@
@@imaaronross Thanks Aaron.
Super helpful man, thank you. I saved this vid for later reference... I'm starting real estate photography.
Are there any iOS or Android apps, that allow selecting by rating the photos directly on the SD-card, without having to copy them to the tablet?
Nice summing up of your workflow, appreciate your sharing that! I’ve been adjusting to an iPad-centric workflow (though in my case, using an iPad Air 3). I use the Darkroom app for working with files in batch, Affinity Photo for more detailed edits and use the Photos app for album management, with an iCloud account as primary storage and a hard drive attached to an old PC for networked storage and backups. Some of this is not very efficient for the iPad based approach, so I have some figuring out to do.
The main impediment I’ve run into is that I originally went with a 64GB iPad without planning to do photo editing work on it, then realized how much better it would be to work that way and started trying to move my photo/video workflow to it. 64GB isn’t even close to being enough for anything but the lightest of work.
I agree with the interactivity of the iPad and Pencil for editing photos. I remember years ago lusting after the first Wacom tablets but thinking how much better they would be if the tablet itself displayed what you were working on, so you could see the changes right there, and now finally that reality is here! It’s also just very useful to be able to work on the same device at a desk, or even on the couch, or wherever, rather than having to go sit down at the desk every time. The display on the iPad is also great for editing.
Just seeing this video tonight, I got a quick question. I noticed your solid state drive is a 500 GB. How much was it and why did you choose something that big over a 512 GB micro SD card? They are cheaper, easier to store and just as safe since there’s no moving parts to damage?
Hope you see this question.
Some of the cameras that I use have maximum capacities for the sd/microsd card that they can take. So I can't pop a 512 GB in my Osmo Action. I have to use smaller cards. The 500 GB on the external is a tad limiting. I recently maxed it out when I was on the road for a month. I'll probably look to upgrade it to a 2 TB drive soon.
@@imaaronross I knew there had to be a good reason and that’s a damn good one! 🤣
I've long lost count on how many iPad vs. MacBook type editing videos ... but yours really made me stop to think re the interactivity between photographer and image using the Apple Pencil... I suspect that is why for a long, long time I've so enjoyed just editing on my phone. I shall try your suggestion, and thank you for your insightfulness!
Thanks for the helpful workflow tips! How quickly do you find your storage filling up? I have multiple 4TB external hard drives, a 2TB Dropbox Pro act, a 200GB iCloud storage plan, and a 100GB Adobe Creative Cloud Storage plan, but I still feel like I'm constantly racing to clear space as more photos come in. Do you eventually "retire" photos and move them off the cloud and onto an external somewhere? Or are you just constantly buying larger storage plans to keep up? For me I think quadruple backups seems excessive, I'll probably do triplicates. My iPad syncs with my iPhone and iCloud...do you have photo stream turned on or do you turn it off so as to not have to buy more iCloud storage? Thx
Hi, did you or someone else had the same problem as me sometimes ? When I import .raw images to my IPad Pro 2020 or Put them with it from my SSD to an extenral hardrive, some of my pictures get demaged.
Same here, I would double check the hardware you're using to import your RAW files. I noticed that is usually the culprit during the import process.
I know this was geared toward photos but what about video files? I have been using iPad Pro for photo and video editing. My issue is the iPad not recognizing or reading the video files on the memory card when using the dongle. The only work around I have found is actually connecting the camera to the iPad through a usb cable which allows the iPad to read and download the video files. This only works on DSLR style cameras, it will not work with my Sony ax100 video camera. This one I have to download the files on a PC to a portable HD and then into the iPad. File transfer is the worst part of the iPad.
I'm trying to figure this workflow a little more before I buy a iPad Pro. I'm primarily a film editor. I work in Media Composer. I never use internal drives. Everything is on external drives. Usually the drives are assigned to individual clients. I have no interest in dragging every photo onto the internal drive of the IPad Pro. I want to drag photos from SD cards onto external drives and work off the external drives. Can the iPad Pro do that? Will Lightroom or the Photos app work on external photos directly?
does lightroom create a copy of your images when they are imported from your photos app? or are they edited and later saved in the photos app?
Can you connect 2 external hard drives and copy photos from one external hard drive to the other using the iPad?
Good morning! I’m deciding if buy this or MacBook Pro. I like ipad very very much for the dame reason you’ve explained but I would like ti ask one thing. Is it possibile to work on images directly from external hard disk without importing them on ipad , so the ipad memory is not so big? Thanks a lot!
Unfortunately, no. I wish this was possible but you have to import to the device to be able to work on the files.
hey short question can u also work with the files only on the ssd? so u don't need to use the space from the iPad?
You are not able to work with files on an ssd in Lightroom for photography. However, LumaFusion just updated their app for this functionality for video work.
Great flow and set up - just wondering why not too many photographers do not use Apple ICloud as the first stage of back up. I used Flickr but they are saying they need to raise the rates huge or shut it down.
the sandisk is no harddrive :D is a SSD as you said seconds after ^^ but nice video about your workflow. i got the same sandisk but with 1TB. i use a multi adapter to put the photos directly on the SSD and not on the ipad bcs i only have 256gb on that and it would be full so fast.
Hei dude, nice content but I dont get how you handle one issue: when copy out of Apple Fotos App to external drive etc, the app always converts the raw files to jpgs including all eventually made editings. There is no way to share the files out of Photos app in RAW, according to Apple documents. Did you solve this somehow or do you use jpg files in your workflow?
I don't really use the Apple Photos app anymore. I have a more recent workflow video that I'd recommend that you checkout: ua-cam.com/video/oy4O-4boH3g/v-deo.html
Great video! Have you ever experienced importing/exporting issues with the ssd? I found that a lot of my photos were getting corrupted, so I just rely on cloud storage :/
The corruption comes from disconnecting the drive from the iPad or pulling the card too soon, at least that’s what happened to me. The process of copying the images off the sd card showed it was finished copying or importing, but it wasn’t really finished. As it turns out there can still be a delay or lag while meta data from images is still being synced between the iPad or a usb drive,, especially with the cloud. Now I wait 5 or 10 minutes more between the time the process shows the copy or import is complete before disconnecting the card or drive. No more corruption since. Good luck, hope this helps.
Do you think I could do all my photo editing on the iPad Pro and completely ditch the desktop. Right now I’m struggling with the decision to purchase a new iMac or go with the more mobile iPad Pro?
Thanks so much!
John.
John McKenna I recently just used my iPad to edit and export about 10-15 photos after a mini shoot. Worked great, no lag, quick and easy. Took a minute to understand the flow, but easy enough. Make sure you purchase a size with plenty of internal storage.
Love the video I do have 1 question donyou use a screen protector like paper like or just the regular one 🤔 I have been looking at paper like and can't decide if it will distort the color
I do have a screen protector. I don't remember the exact version but it was a relatively cheap one off of Amazon. I haven't experienced any color shifts myself.
I really just want it for backing up to an external hard drive and editing later on my desktop
Super heplful video, new sub here, just wondering your format/advice on formatting for your external drive?
When you ‘open in’ you can edit to rearrange by to move your photoshop higher up in that workflow
What photography do you do, is it your full time career?
Not full time but I mainly focus on street photography and landscape photography. I also do some family portraits and headshots.
Thanks for sharing this workflow. I just started thinking about a full iPad process!! I have a question. Do you use iCloud sync for Photos?
I don’t use iCloud. I stick to Dropbox and my external for long term file management. The Photos app ends but being a staging area before moving it to the various places.
Aaron Ross thanks for quick answer !
Can you access masks and brushes in Lightroom on iPad?
Hi Aaron!
Say please. How do you work with photographs on an iPad with a protective glass glued to it?
It affects the contrast and color on the screen, is this really good for photography?
thanks in advance for your reply!
I'm always checking my photos on other devices and screens before finalizing. This means I've learned a bit about how the screen protector impacts my photos. In reality, it is very very minor so nothing to really worry about.
@@imaaronross thanks!!!
How many GB do you have ? Or what is your Opinion ? I’m HobbyIllustrator & Photograph, but normally I’m going to school and I can’t chose one ..
I have the 256gb version. I'm not sure on file sizes for illustration but for photography, it's definitely enough. I run into issues when I'm working on video project with 4K files.
@@imaaronross what are you doing with all projects ? Do you save them forever on two ways like in the video ? Or do you edit,Post and Delete ?
@@antonial6649 I'm not saving the project file but all original files and final video are saved to my external hard drive and the cloud.
@@imaaronross oh but it’s enough ? Okay I do many Videos :D but I’m so between the chairs
Great technique. I just invested into the Fuji ecosystem, and I'm learning capture one, but as far as I know, there's no c1 options on iOS :(
I'm crossing my fingers for an iOS version as well. I know Capture One handles Fuji files a bit cleaner.
Nice job!
Great video! I'm looking at moving more towards Lightroom mobile at the moment so am planning on using a similar workflow. What do you do when your Adobe Cloud Storage fills up with all the files you import into LR mobile? Coming from LR Classic, once I'm finished editing a folder of images that are located on my desktop drive I move them to an external drive from within LR. That way if I want to re-edit some of the images later on i can connect the external drive and all my images are there with all the adjustments I have already made to them. Not sure if there's a similar solution for the mobile/cloud version?
I have a similar problem, I want to keep an archive of my images *with my edits* on an external hard drive the way that lightroom classic does. So far I haven’t found a way, other than syncing between lightroom mobile and the classic version on my laptop, then I can move those images from the laptop to an external hard drive, and once they’re transferred I can delete them from the app on the iPad. It’s a long way around because it has to go through the cloud and uploading/downloading huge amounts of data, and still requires a laptop in order to back up unedited photos with edits files alongside them. I would love to find a solution that allows me to get rid of the laptop altogether.
@@LuigiAnzivino yea I'm doing the same thing at the moment. I think until theres an option to export the images with an adjustments file so they can be put into a folder on an archive drive then I dont think I could use the mobile version without classic! If anyone knows if this is already possible please let us know? 😅
This is the only thing stopping me from really getting into the iPad Pro work flow system, because the sheer amount of images I edit I would eat through the storage so quickly so I need an external storage solution WITH edits
Can you also backup the raw files as well as the JPEG document using the same way that you introduced:) would like to know how to backup the raw files too directly from iPad to any other devices.
Yes, I mainly work with raw files and use this workflow for all of it.
Is that a matte screen protector on your iPad?
I am asking because I am currently waiting on my iPad Pro and I am looking to get a screen protector before it arrives.
Drbwting between a clesr and matte finish. I will be using the iPad for editing my photos on the go.
Need your help.
Yes, this is a matte screen protector. I wasn't ready to go all in on the Pencil Like protector so I went with this one (affiliate link): amzn.to/34bykAz
@@imaaronross I am from Canada so I don't think it would help using this link.
Also, I am skeptical about the matte since the colors will be dimmed down and for me editing is what I will be doing 100% of the time. The main reason for buying it in the first place
@@meetpatel7564 Get a clear one then
Are you able to switch sides in lightroom for editing with the pen in the ipad if you are left handed?
Yes you can! If you go into settings > gesture shortcuts > there is a toggle for Left Handed Editing
Thanks for that.
do you have any tutorial video step by step on how to do tether, so that my client can see real time result from my ipad pro? should i tether from my camera to my macbook pro, then connect it wirelessly to my ipad pro? any idea what apps can do that and how to set 'em up ?
Is Capture One a program you have used before or maybe considered using since you shoot with Fujifilm?
Since I use the iPad for all of my photo editing, I haven’t been able to give Capture One a try. I’ve heard great things for those who edit on a desktop/laptop.
Hey Aaron, great stuff. Love my iPad Pro for editing video using LumaFusion. Great for mobile/take anywhere.. Enjoyed your video. Big thumbs up. 👍
Hi Grant, I hardly do much video but have used Final Cut Pro a number of years on my Macs. Can I actually edit video on an iPad Pro? The files can be huge and rendering a bear. Does LumaFusion handle these intensive tasks on an iPad well? How do you deal with the storage of video files and the final rendered file sizes? Thanks, Richard
Is there a way to use content aware fill in the photoshop app on the iPad Pro? I feel like I have used this feature somehow but can’t remember if it was on desktop
Hi, how do I copy pictures and videos from external ssd / storage back into iPad photo gallery without going thru a computer? Possible?
the cable that comes with ipad only for power delivery when it comes to transfer files its way to slow try sandisk cable instead of that and if u format the ssd as apfs you will see the speed different
Hi, great video thanks. I was wondering, I use an iPad Pro for everything and I have been considering buying a FUJIFILM X-T3 ( great price, great specs, great camera) but I’ve heard that Lightroom/Photoshop create noise/worms with flies from Fujifilm, what is your experience with this? Thanks!
I've never had much of an issue with it. However, I will say that I'm not much of a sharpener or pixel peeper. Both would probably make it more apparent.
@@imaaronross thanks for the fast reply! :-)
Hello great video. As a sports & news photographer I need to write a brief caption when sending each photo to my editor can this be done on Lightroom when using an IPad Pro. I am thinking for budgeting reasons to bypass a MacBook Pro & go for an iPad Pro instead.
Sorry if this is late, you can always write it in the metadata of the photo in all versions of lightroom. Thanks :)
@@owendavies5231 I haven’t purchased but Thanks for the information. Ideally I plan to have both an IPad Pro and a Mac Book Pro & switching between the two depending on assignments.
This is one of the best videos about using a tablet for photography! Indeed, when we have limits using an electronic instead of other, we just have to work with it and challenge ourselves more on how to achieve the result we want as we would in a desktop. And a lot of people don't talk about that and if they talk, they say about like it's the most horrible thing. Amazing video!!!
I just got an iPad Pro and an iPad Pro without even considering using the iPad to edit photos, but Lightroom and sd card support is amazing and I prefer it
to capture one on my pc.
Which gen pro is this? I'm sorry if I didn't here this in the video.
This is the 2018 12.9 in with 256gb of storage. Thanks!
If you shoot raw+jpeg, only the jpeg files are copied to the photos app on my iPad. How does one copy both, raw & jpeg to camera roll?
Good question
Just ordered my iPad Pro 2020 12.9. Video was awesome so excited to use it
..i wanted the ipad pro could do tethering...that would be great...
LR is already backing up on adobe cloud, also photos on iCloud can do it too.
So for the most users it doesn’t need an external solution.
I don’t pay for either of those expanded storage options so Dropbox is my cloud of choice and the external ssd is an extra piece of mind when I’m out in the field and away from wifi.
Aaron Ross I know, you told this already a few times. In LR you can offline albums. So it’s isn’t necessary too. When people editing pictures on iPad they need more storage, so it’s no problem for a good workflow without external drives and 3rd party apps.
I use Darkroom on my iPP. Great results. Warning: what looks fantastic on your iPP, will not look nearly as good after being uploaded/compressed on social media. Even Apple Photos on iOS or MacOS is good enough if you shoot JPG and do very little post-processing (like some quick cropping/sharpening/contrast).
Why back-up pix before you review them - you may end up deleting many???
I back up everything because I don’t delete anything, ever. I’ve found that there are times when I go back to old photos and see something I didn’t catch the first time around. The obvious mistakes are usually deleted in camera immediately.
Which size do you use, the 11” or 12.9”? Thanks
12.9
Can you calibrate the screen?
Hey bro great video thank you! What size storage is your iPad? Do you use cloud for your photos app?
This is the 12.9 inch version. I do not use icloud photos. The only cloud storage is Dropbox. Thanks for watching!
Aaron Ross yes I see that is the physical size but I’m asking about storage size? 128gb, 256gb etc?
@@RussBenning Oh! My bad! It's the 256 version.
Aaron Ross thank you! Sorry FYI all time questions. Do you think that’s a good amount? Do you think it’s possible to use your workflow with 128?
Why do u have so less subs !!!!!!!!!!!!! You are so underrated dude !!!!! U deserve more subs !!
This is precisely the information I was looking for regarding photo editing workflow on the iPad. The file management is not as complicated has I thought, no weird dongles . Thanks. Subscribed.
I really wish that adobe would understand the power of the iPad Pro and magic keyboard/pencil kit and offer a more fluffy iOS version since many of us are wanting to toss the lap tops for this set up.
ChrisTopher switch to Affinityphoto, I have and it works great.
I have an issue with my ipad pro 11 inch 2018. If I import my images via dongle/airdrop to a file folder, the images look blurry but they are fine once I add them to lightroom. Same happens while I view them directly from the memory card without uploading them. Any idea?
What type of camera are you using? Are you using RAW or JPG? It could be that the iPad isn't able to fully recognize the RAW files from your camera but Lightroom can.
Aaron Ross jpg. Even after exporting out of Lightroom into a folder in the iPad. The images look pixelated. When saved to camera roll there is no problem.
I wish they would add the ability to export images at 300dpi for print
Have you tried to edit Fuji gfx file on an iPad ?
I’ve never used a gfx camera so no experience with the files on the iPad either
solid video. finally explains a better workflow vs a laptop when you travel
How do you get the Fuji raw .raf files in your iPad and how do you get them to work in Lightroom
The raf files work natively in both the photos app and Lightroom. No issues!
Hi Aaron thanks for a great video. I do have 1 question you did not talk about filling up the iPad's memory. You did save to the cloud and external HD. But do you keep everything on the iPad especially after editing ?
Once I'm done editing, everything gets deleted so I'm not taking up space. That does mean I will have to edit from scratch if I ever need to come back to it but that is a rare situation for me.
Can you bring the photo back to Lightroom and save it into a collection that will then be synced to adobe creative cloud to access it on the laptop later?
Oh man. I mean, if you’re doing low volume work I guess this works. But I’m shooting 4-8 shoots a week for clients and this would kill productivity and a shit ton of time. Plus with loopdeck I’m flying through edits. It’s just not ready for heavy volume shooters.
I haven’t gotten to try out the loopdeck but it looks like a productivity powerhouse!
Aaron Ross I was skeptical at first but it’s the real deal. The simple act of being able to crop photos with incredible speed is probably the biggest timesaver especially when you’re editing a lot of photos that need some adjustments.
Can I download actions on the iPad photoshop?
You can share your iPad wallpaper?
Are you using Raf file? Can Lightroom mobile read the Raf file of Fujifilm or u just using Raw+Fine?
Yes, I’m using the raf files straight out of camera and Lightroom works great!
@@imaaronross ok man. Thank you.
Can I create a smart album in Apple Photo’s on a iPad Pro?
Smart albums are only available on MacOs from what I can tell
What size ipad do you use?
The only program I really miss, is something like Photo Mechanics, to make very quick a IPTC description for my sportphotos, supported by so called code replacements!
Can you shoot tethered to an iPad Pro into Lightroom?
No, this is not available. Hopefully Adobe adds some features soon. Especially with the power of the new M1 iPad Pro.
So, I’ve recently switched to using iPad Pro for all my photography editing. I’ve notice some of the pictures I copy over to my ssd hat drive comes out really weird. I usually transfer RAW images from my sd card to my iPad cloud storage, then to my Sandisk ssd extreme external hard drive. I’ve also tried directly to ssd hard Drive also. Usually copying about 50-100 images or more at a time. Are you or anyone else having this issue?
Yes, It seems that making the copy of the multiple large files, like RAW, onto the external ssd drive, ends up quite often that some of them are corrupted when you try to open them next time form the external drive. It happened to me several time. For this reason I simply do not trust in any copies done on IPad and after each such copy I reconnect the ext drive making sure that the files are not only copied but also not corrupted. The files app also opens the raw files with the limited resolution and through this you are not able to decide if the focus is really fine. I wish such you tubers would really dug deep enough, while they quite often just scratch the surface and let it be.
Thanks for the video. After a 4 year photographic layoff, I've been getting back into it. I have LR Classic on my desktop but I'm looking at using LR CC on the iPad By storing your photos on your iPad, don't you run out of space quickly? Obviously depending on how much, you shoot.
Once I'm done editing, I remove from the iPad since I have them stored elsewhere. Thanks for watching!
@@imaaronross Good video! I have a follow up, if you remove raws from your iPad (from camera roll and LR) then you are left only with files in your personal cloud and dropbox (and exported, edited JPEGs ofc). But if you remove them from LR you will also loose your edits, am I right? If you ever want to go back to those RAWs you will have to edit them all over again.
Thank you, can you do a pen editing video and eventually a tab s6 comparison.
Are you using any of the protect screens on your iPad?
I have a basic screen protector that I picked up online. Nothing fancy though.
Great stuff! Does Dropbox have an advantage over iCloud?
No real advantage besides that I already pay for it and keep all of my documents there as well.
Really nice video. I just subscribe.
And hello from France
Peace
can you rename the photos in mass on the iPad?
When you export you can choose to rename them but not quite like you can on the desktop.
Aaron Ross Thanks for the info!!
Why not just get a color-accurate windows tablet or 2-in-1 13" laptop so you can use the web version of PS and LR instead of the mobile version? Seems like you're making a lot of concessions, and buying a lot of accessories to get this job done.
Side note: that is an amazing hat
Great video! Do you know if there is a dongle for XQD cards? -thanks in advance
Do you use the IPad Pro or one of the lightning connector IPads?
Sony has one which has both xcd and sd. I have it but only used it with MacBook Pro, not iPad
Ohad Bairey iPad Pro. For now I download the pictures via WiFi but it is slower than if I used a card reader
JohnHanssonDotCom yeah I have a 3rd party that use for my windows laptop
Nice camera strap, where’s it from?
I handmade this one myself from some paracord I picked up at a crafts store.
Amazing!