Adobe’s Lightroom Mobile apps for Apple and Android mobile devices have both been given significant updates that allow users a much wider range of controls when editing and shooting. The company has quite different apps for the two operating systems, and while Android users have been able to edit Raw files for some time the facility is now offered to iOS users via version 2.4. Owners of Android devices can now install version 2.1 which offers what Adobe calls a ‘Pro’ shooting mode that allows much more detailed control over the way pictures are recorded.
Adobe says the version 2.1 for Android has a completely new Lightroom Camera function that features a mode that gives the photographer access to shutter speed, ISO, white balance and focus so that they can all be adjusted manually. Aperture isn’t listed as few mobile cameras have significantly variable apertures. The company also says it has improved the app’s ability to export high resolution files.
Apple iPhone and iPad users get Raw Technology Preview, which effectively allows photographers to import files from all the cameras supported by the main desktop version of Camera Raw. These Raw files can be edited using a wide range of tools to control contrast, exposure and white balance, and marked with star ratings and flags – all of which can be synched with Lightroom on the owner’s other devices. The company says it has edited 50MP images from the Canon EOS 5DS on an iPhone 6 to demonstrate how powerful the application is.
iOS users can also now make radial and linear selections that allow local editing of particular areas of the image.
Both the Android and iOS versions of Lightroom Mobile are free to download and use, but to enjoy the new features iOS users need to have a subscription to Creative Cloud.
Two big updates for Lightroom for mobile are now available for download
Lightroom for iOS 2.4
In version 2.4, two major improvements have been added: a raw technology preview and the addition of local adjustment tools. In addition to these major improvements, we’ve also added the ability to use keyboard shortcuts with physical keyboards connected to iPads, the ability to add your copyright to all imported photos, functionality to turn on lens profiles (if your camera and lens combination are supported), as well as the usual bug fixes and improvements.
Raw Technology Preview
We’re sure it’s happened to you before: you’re out taking photos (in raw of course) and you capture a real stunner that you can’t wait to share with the world. Until now, you had to either transfer a JPEG version of the file over or you had to wait until you got back to your desktop or laptop. With the raw technology preview, you’ll be able to import raw photos immediately to either your iPhone or iPad, edit them, and then share them, anywhere you’ve got a connection. Our goal with Lightroom for mobile is to make it an indispensable part of your photography workflow, providing the tools that you’re familiar with and the quality you expect in a product that can be with you, no matter when inspiration strikes. With this technology preview, we want to push the boundaries of how photographers around the world work with their mobile devices.
You get all of the benefits of raw, such as the ability to change the white balance, being able to recover blown out highlights, access to the full range of color information, as well as editing an uncompressed file, all using the exact same technology that powers Lightroom on your desktop. An added benefit is that the raw file that you’ve imported into Lightroom for iOS will be synced with Lightroom on your other devices, such as Lightroom for desktop or Lightroom on the web, along with any of the edits, star ratings, or flags that you added.
Lightroom for mobile supports all of the same raw files that Lightroom for desktop as well as Adobe Camera Raw support, with the full list available here.
To transfer photos to your mobile device, you need to use either the camera connection kit or the lightning to SD or USB kits from Apple to transfer your raw files over to your device, which will bring up the Import tab within the iOS Photos app. Importing the files will add them into your camera roll, where you can then access and load in any raw file directly into Lightroom mobile. It’s important to keep in mind that raw files are significantly larger (3-5 times larger) than JPEGs, meaning the raw files will take longer to import, upload, and take up more space on your device. Even as such, we found that the added control and quality that the raw files afforded were so useful that it outweighed the negatives.
Just as when working with raw files that were synced from Lightroom for desktop or Lightroom on the web, you’ll be able to perform raw-specific enhancements, such as changing the white balance with greater control and recovering clipped highlights, but unlike when working with raw files synced from Lightroom for desktop, you’ll have access to the full resolution file AND you can do it anywhere in the world, even from your iPhone!
We’ve run Lightroom for mobile through its paces on a number of different files, including the 50MP Canon 5DS running on an iPhone 6, proving that you really can edit nearly any photo anywhere. After playing with the app for a few months, we’ve found that it’s a really great way to take a few of your favorite images from the day (or even that you just captured), review to make sure you captured what you saw, edit, and then share them, all right away, and with all of your edits carried through the rest of the Lightroom ecosystem.
We had the pleasure of working with a number of photographers while creating the raw technology preview, take a look at how travel photographer Elia Locardi was able to put the technology to use while shooting on location in Greece.
You can read more about the images that were created for this release through an article about Elia on Adobe Create as well as on Elia’s own blog.
Linear and Radial Selections
In addition to the raw technology preview, we’ve also added in the ability to perform local adjustments with linear and radial selections, the two most requested features after raw support.
Lightroom for iOS Availability
Lightroom mobile 2.4 is available immediately for iPhone and iPad from the iOS App Store for free. Both of these improvements are available only for members with a creative cloud subscription or or if you start a free Creative Cloud trial.
Lightroom for Android 2.1
While the iOS team was working hard on the raw technology preview, the Android team doubled-down on the unique end-to-end DNG capture experience first announced in Lightroom for Android 2.0 and created a brand new capture experience. Our goal is to create the best mobile photography experience available, and with the amazing quality possible on Android devices, especially thanks to DNG raw capture, we wanted to provide all of the controls and functionality needed.
Now, the built-in camera has a new Pro mode that lets you control the shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and focus all manually, in a brand new interface.
You can access the camera directly using the new Lightroom Camera widget. This new widget will launch the Lightroom camera directly, making it faster for you to get in and start taking pictures.
In addition to the new built-in camera, we’ve also improved the app’s ability to export full-resolution files. If the files are available somewhere within the Lightroom ecosystem, Lightroom for Android will now download the full resolution version and enable you to export them.
You can download Lightroom for Android 2.1 here now for free.
You must be logged in to post a comment.