# Editing images on iPhone



## kmessamore (Dec 31, 2016)

I like most of the new editing in the new Lightroom Mobile on the iPhone (version 2.6.0), however the screen is so small you run into situations where the tools cover the image so that small adjustments can't be made.  I have attached a file showing a screen shot where I was attempting to use the Radial Filter tool to lighten three children's faces.  I just couldn't do it as the tools were too close to the face and I couldn't move the circle onto the face.  You have to allow moving the tools off of the image so that the circle can be positioned, then allow adjustment of for example "exposure" and "feathering."


 eathering."


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## Tony Jay (Dec 31, 2016)

Image editing on such a small screen is an oxymoron as far as I am concerned.

As you have discovered there are real practical issues - not least what you have related - with trying to achieve such tasks on a Smartphone.

I know that Adobe, possibly ahead of many other in the larger photographic industry, have realised that the common currency in photography today is actually the smartphone and that those using DSLR's, medium format etc are rapidly becoming a small minority in the bigger scheme of things and so are trying to position themselves for this market.

However the bottom line is that I struggle a bit even trying to use a laptop screen when image-editing.
There is a reason why so many of us have gone to 30" screens, often dual monitors in fact, to do the job!

I think of Lightroom Mobile as just being a concept offering, an experiment in evolution, rather than as a serious tool for photographic workflow currently.
I don't "blame" Adobe for taking this approach. 
The market for what we call "cameras" has changed dramatically in the last few years and will continue to change radically going forward.
This is Adobe trying to get their foot in the door into a market they cannot ignore.
How successful they will be is debatable since most phones shoot only JPEG's (although some now do offer a raw option) and there are many competitors already offering much more user-friendly tools.
Maybe future iterations will improve (and I guess they would have to if Adobe wants to be a serious player for Smartphone photographers).

Tony Jay


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## kmessamore (Dec 31, 2016)

I see Lightroom Mobile as a new enhanced workflow based on connectivity.  It ranges from something simple such as taking a photo with an iPhone, processing the image, and uploading it to social media, (The majority of images today are taken with an iPhone.  Just look around).  The workflow could be more complex such as shooting while traveling with a DSLR and shooting in RAW tethered to an iPad, post processing on the iPad where screen size is no issue, and syncing to the laptop/desktop you left at home. Or even more complex, shooting in a studio tethered to a laptop, post processing, and sending selected images to a remote client for review in Lightroom Web and feeding comments back to the photographer.  This improved workflow is based on the rapidly improving availability of wifi everywhere, the improvement in internet speed, the cost reduction of storage, the inovation in editing on small devices, and the fact that everyone has a cell phone in their hands with a camera in it that is improving with every release of cell phones.


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## Tony Jay (Dec 31, 2016)

I have no problem with the concept - just the current tool - Lightroom Mobile.

I am well aware of what Smartphones are and aren't capable of.
Interestingly enough almost all of the millions of Smartphone photographers do not do much in the way of post-processing (JPEG's mitigate against that as well as simple convenience of posting an unaltered image), and, if they do, use simple user-friendly apps.

On other forums I have written extensively about how Smartphones have come to dominate the larger photographic industry almost without the supposed main players really noticing. And now, many of those players find themselves with big problems because the market for their products is rapidly evaporating. The truth is that for most "photographers" a Smartphone as a camera is "good enough."

Lightroom Mobile is Adobe's attempt to adapt to these changing circumstances.
I stand by my comments that, for now anyway, Lightroom Mobile does not hit the mark.

Tony Jay


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## Fred Stephenson (Apr 16, 2017)

I'm a retired and disabled photographer. It's not easy carrying my camera equipment anymore and Lightroom Mobile has really opened back up a world I've truly missed. It may not hit the mark yet but it will


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## clee01l (Apr 16, 2017)

Fred Stephenson said:


> I'm a retired and disabled photographer. It's not easy carrying my camera equipment anymore and Lightroom Mobile has really opened back up a world I've truly missed. It may not hit the mark yet but it will


I think you have a very good point about LR Mobile. It isn't everything to all people but the features that are present are useful to some people.  My Wife (in a similar situation to yours) doesn't use LR or LR Mobile but has adopted the iPhone as her only camera.


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## Fred Stephenson (Apr 16, 2017)

I'm very happy to hear that someone else is happy with there phone camera. I have an Iphone SE and can imagine what the 7 and soon to be 8 can do.


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## Fred Stephenson (Apr 17, 2017)

I wonder what her editing tools are?


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## Ian.B (Apr 17, 2017)

phones are OK as a convenient communication come photography tool  but an editing tool it is not imo. Too many variables for consistently --- same goes for those tablet things even if my daughter does OK with hers . 
Certainly not a lot wrong as far as a camera goes for the right subjects but editing is far better done on a computer imo 
good to hear Fred you can enjoy again something you have missed. I became  sick of lugging dslr gear around that will only give me  bit better photos pixel wise but offer nothing better towards better photography . Much of my photography is now done on the computer; however I still need that good file and image to start with.


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