Lightroom/Photos workflow

[mrnorwegian]

I like the advanced editing tools and organizing part of Lightroom and have also started experimenting with RAW and need Lightroom for that part. But still like to use Photos for fast browsing and sharing images to my other devices through iCloud Photo Library and family though shared photo stream.

Now I'm more or less organizing two libraries manually, one in each program. Is there any way of getting the programs to work together? Like a plugin to send pictures to and from Lightroom to iCloud Photo Library or something similar? Or a way to use Lightroom as an external editor for Photos?

Does anyone else use both programs together and have figured out a good way of doing it less manually? Any tips appreciated

 

[MCAsan]

When you see any plugin for Photos, let us know.

Edit in LR then export collection from as jpg. Import into Photos.

 

[thedeske]

When you see any plugin for Photos, let us know.

Lightroom was never invited to Apple's playpen for photos, nor has Adobe ever extended any olive branch in the other direction.

 

[robgendreau]

Both programs could reference the same photos.

The problem is that Photos will only do iCloud Photo Library synch on managed photos, right? So even if you export/publish from Lr into a folder, that in turn would have to be consolidated into Photos System Library, right? Ugh.

I was thinking about doing a hack I did back in the day. Basically it involves going into the package that is the Photos Library and creating a link to the Master folder. I copy this to my ~/Pictures folder. I can then access it in Bridge or in Lr. But a caveat: you make changes and all kinds of problems will ensure. I use a completely new Lr catalog, with the option to write changes to these photos turned off. It's pretty much set up as read only, but I can still export to a folder for my regular Lr catalog. And I have to still use Photos to import into the Library itself obviously.

 

[MCAsan]

I'll stick with Lr and Mobile Lr for my IOS devices. Personally I have no interest in using Apple iCloud storage.

 

[ChrisA]

Best workflow I've found is to use LR as normal. Keep RAW and JPG files there. then the ones you want to share yo export as reduced resolution JPG files. There is not reason to export full size images if you are only going to view them on an electronic screen that has less than 2 megapixels.

I do some times go the other way. I took some images with my iPad. I moved them to LR and then if I want to share them I'll move them back (after edits) to Photos.

 

[maflynn]

Now I'm more or less organizing two libraries manually, one in each program. Is there any way of getting the programs to work together?

No, there's no way. They're competing products and so there's no way that adobe would look to increase the usability of Photos at the expense of using LR (other then just a mere editor).

I also don't think having two libraries is the best approach, the risk of getting things out of sync is quite high and/or just causing more problems then its worth.

Stick with one photos program and life will be a lot smoother.

 

[MCAsan]

Fully agreed.

 

[Traverse]

it in LR then export collection from as jpg. Import into Photos.

This is the workflow I'll use. There is no way to sync directly to iCloud or iOS devices from LR and I don't need or want Adobe's cloud service. I'll export select album/collections to Photos for sync.

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Stick with one photos program and life will be a lot smoother.

But then how do you get your photos on an iOS device. Adobe only offers 2GB (if I'm not mistaken) and I don't want to upload my photos to the cloud. I don't even use iCloud Photo Library.

Having the main library in LR and exporting the ones you want on your mobile device to Photos doesn't seem like it would get too out of hand.

 

[simonsi]

How about Apple make a more advanced editor with IOS/iCloud integration for those that want it.

Oh, that was Aperture, right there.

 

[MCAsan]

How about Apple make a more advanced editor with IOS/iCloud integration for those that want it.

Oh, that was Aperture, right there.

LOL Yep, Apple has been there, done that, has the shirt, but no longer wears it in public.

 

[simonsi]

but no longer wears it in public.

Haha - best summing up of it!

 

[geoff.c]

I like the advanced editing tools and organizing part of Lightroom and have also started experimenting with RAW and need Lightroom for that part. But still like to use Photos for fast browsing and sharing images to my other devices through iCloud Photo Library and family though shared photo stream.

Now I'm more or less organizing two libraries manually, one in each program. Is there any way of getting the programs to work together? Like a plugin to send pictures to and from Lightroom to iCloud Photo Library or something similar? Or a way to use Lightroom as an external editor for Photos?

Does anyone else use both programs together and have figured out a good way of doing it less manually? Any tips appreciated

Just found out that you can drag-and-drop between the Grid view in LightRoom and an open OSX Photos window

So to achieve the publishing of LR photos to iCloud, I open both apps and tile them on the screen.
Then, I drag the photo(s) from LR to the Photos window (into an album especially created for the purpose).
Once the photos have een imported (look for the notification ion the desktop), I switch to Photos, and use the sharing icon (box with an arrow coming out of it) to share the images via a photostrem of my choosing.

Works pretty reliably for me (using MacBook Pro with OSX 10.11.1 - El Capitain, and Lightroom 6.1 CC).

Hope this helps
Geoff

 

[Enrico]

Just found out that you can drag-and-drop between the Grid view in LightRoom and an open OSX Photos window

So to achieve the publishing of LR photos to iCloud, I open both apps and tile them on the screen.
Then, I drag the photo(s) from LR to the Photos window (into an album especially created for the purpose).
Once the photos have een imported (look for the notification ion the desktop), I switch to Photos, and use the sharing icon (box with an arrow coming out of it) to share the images via a photostrem of my choosing.

Works pretty reliably for me (using MacBook Pro with OSX 10.11.1 - El Capitain, and Lightroom 6.1 CC).

Hope this helps
Geoff

What format is Lightroom exporting into Photos library? Full size JPEG?

 

[geoff.c]

What format is Lightroom exporting into Photos library? Full size JPEG?

In my case, they seem to be exported as full resolution RAW files (CR2) - 5472x3648 (24.3MB)
Once uploaded into the shared photo stream, the resolution is reduced but they seem to go up as RAW again

Geoff

 

[robgendreau]

What format is Lightroom exporting into Photos library? Full size JPEG?

I can drag and drop into Photos from Lr, but I use a referenced Photos library, so Photos simply references the original photo (say my DNG). Unless I export from Lr I don't get the Lr edits into Photos. Note that dragging the same photo from Lr to say a folder in the Finder results in a copy of that photo being made, again the original. Which raises a question for me: is there a way to get Lr to do an export as JPEG by simply dragging out of the grid? I haven't seen anything like that, but it could be useful. I have a variety of export presets to do that, but sometimes just a drag would be faster.

 

[caprica21]

I like the advanced editing tools and organizing part of Lightroom and have also started experimenting with RAW and need Lightroom for that part. But still like to use Photos for fast browsing and sharing images to my other devices through iCloud Photo Library and family though shared photo stream.

Now I'm more or less organizing two libraries manually, one in each program. Is there any way of getting the programs to work together? Like a plugin to send pictures to and from Lightroom to iCloud Photo Library or something similar? Or a way to use Lightroom as an external editor for Photos?

Does anyone else use both programs together and have figured out a good way of doing it less manually? Any tips appreciated

I started using iPhotos/Photos but migrated to Photoshop Elements - primarily because I use Elements Editor for most of my editing purpose and Elements Organizer does pretty good job in maintaining my photos.

But things changed after I purchased 70D and started shooting RAW. Organizer is extremely slow with RAW images (takes lot of time loading thumbnails, for example). So I changed my workflow.

1. Copy photos to folder and organizer based on category / events
2. Reject / Organize photos using tools like Fast RAW Viewer or Lyn
3. Use Lightroom / Photos to add in catalog

Step 2 is important as it will eliminate most of redundant / bad photos which you don't want in your catalog. If you cannot decide, just move to separate folder for review later.

 

[Enrico]

I started using iPhotos/Photos but migrated to Photoshop Elements - primarily because I use Elements Editor for most of my editing purpose and Elements Organizer does pretty good job in maintaining my photos.

But things changed after I purchased 70D and started shooting RAW. Organizer is extremely slow with RAW images (takes lot of time loading thumbnails, for example). So I changed my workflow.

1. Copy photos to folder and organizer based on category / events
2. Reject / Organize photos using tools like Fast RAW Viewer or Lyn
3. Use Lightroom / Photos to add in catalog

Step 2 is important as it will eliminate most of redundant / bad photos which you don't want in your catalog. If you cannot decide, just move to separate folder for review later.

You do not apply adjustments to RAW directly in Fast RAW Viewer or Lyn, do you?
I'm not sure if those would be carried over to Lightroom.... (suspect not)