# Ipad mini / Photosmith



## andrewinpompey (Dec 17, 2012)

Hi all,

Is anyone using the ipad mini along with LR on their computer? I don't have an ipad (mini or other) yet but I'm curious about several things:

1. Using ipad as a second monitor whilst using Lightroom on my PC, sitting at my PC: means that my normal monitor can be just displaying the image, no LR controls, also if used with a ipad pen, it would be a bit like having a mouse-type tablet, i.e. less wrist strain :(
2. Possibly running Lightroom on the PC but only viewing it on the ipad, in another room (to be more sociable!). 
3. And/or using Photosmith to do preliminary rating of photos on the ipad (basically deciding what to delete), before then transferring the best photos to the PC for editing.

It would be useful to hear about anyone's experiences of this, as I am only going on what I have read on the web and I may be mistaken! Thanks

Sounds like you only see a jpeg rather than the RAW file, but that doesn't matter just for checking sharpness and composition. I think also that transferring the RAW files to the PC would have to be done wirelessly, so if you have 100 RAW files it could take an hour or two. Ipad mini only has 500MB RAM, but I get the impression that isn't a problem as you aren't actually viewing the RAW file (unlike if you were trying to use LR with RAW files on a 500MB RAM PC).

Thanks

Andrew


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## Replytoken (Dec 17, 2012)

Andrew,

I could not imagine trying to use an iPad Mini as a monitor for LR as you mentioned in #2. The LR panels barely fit on a laptop screen, so I cannot imagine what you could comfortably display on the iPad Mini when trying to use LR. When I shoot, I normally shoot raw files, and it is not unusual for me to shoot several GB of files, so 500MB is not going to be very useful even if I could get the images on and off of the iPad Mini quickly. I am sure that others may have different experiences, but I try to use my iPad2 for showing off my images after post-processing. It just does not fit into my workflow otherwise.

Good luck,

--Ken


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## Bruce J (Dec 18, 2012)

Andrew,
Don't know anything about your #1 or #2 (haven't even seen an iPad mini), but #3 is certainly possible with a full-sized iPad.  I use an iPad2 and Photosmith extensively while traveling, I only shoot raw, and it works quite well.  While on location, I load the raw images on the iPad, make a quick pass to mark losers for deletion, and then add metadata to the images (primarily location and description info).  I also use the iPad for immediate slide shows for my traveling companions.  When I return, I sync Photosmith to LR and all of the info that I've entered on location is available in LR.  I now travel with just an iPad and camera connection kit instead of a laptop.  Hope that's useful to you.


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## Victoria Bampton (Dec 18, 2012)

In all honesty, I have Photosmith on my iPad, and I had the greatest intentions... but it's so much easier to do stuff in LR!


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## Bruce J (Dec 18, 2012)

Victoria Bampton said:


> In all honesty, I have Photosmith on my iPad, and I had the greatest intentions... but it's so much easier to do stuff in LR!



Victoria - I couldn't agree more, if you have access to LR.  It took me quite a while to convince myself that I didn't need to carry a laptop when I travel, but now I really appreciate the ease of carrying just the iPad (being retired helps also).  And, I find that the metadata I attach to my images is so much more accurate and complete if I do it immediately, rather than weeks later when I'm finally back to my LR computer, that it makes the use of Photosmith and the subsequent syncing worthwhile.  I feel so unburdened leaving the laptop at home, that I might even carry an additional lens!  Now, if LR ran on the iPad, I'd really be set.  Not trying to convince you, or anyone else, just thought I'd point out another way to get the job done.  [Note: this was totally unworkable before the most recent version of Photosmith, but the latest works well]


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## Mosaic (Dec 18, 2012)

andrewinpompey said:


> 2. Possibly running Lightroom on the PC but only viewing it on the ipad, in another room (to be more sociable!).



Hi Andrew, Check out Mosaic View. If you want to show of your Lightroom photos from the other room, this App mirrors your LR images automatically and allows you to show off your collections. 

I use this this show my LR photos to my wife and then she shares them from Mosaic View to Facebook.  Hope that helps!


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## clee01l (Dec 18, 2012)

Mosaic said:


> Hi Andrew, Check out Mosaic View. If you want to show of your Lightroom photos from the other room, this App mirrors your LR images automatically and allows you to show off your collections. ..


You are being too modest, "The other room" seems limiting. Mosaic opens up viewing of your LR catalog from anywhere you can reach via the internet and a browser.


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## andrewinpompey (Dec 18, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the really useful comments, which have given me some things to think about. If Father Christmas brings me the present I'm hoping for, I'll let you know how I get on!


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## OogieM (Jan 8, 2013)

I'm trying to integrate a regular iPad into my system. What I want to use Photosmith for is to rank and edit metadata on my photos offline form the main computer. I'm still trying to get it all working. I would think an iPad mini would be just as good for that purpose as a full iPad.


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## clee01l (Jan 8, 2013)

OogieM, in all honesty, I can't endorse any iPad App to supplement LR. For the time it takes to manage images on the iPad that eventually need to be imported into your master LR catalog on the "big" machine.  The iPad is pretty much useless for importing and manipulating images  if you are going to be "in the field" for much more than a weekend. A much better solution (I have found) is a retina MBP or even a MBA.  I have found iPads excellent for email, web browsing, sharing images, interacting with my Apple TV, and perhaps reading books (although my iPhone is more portable for handling that task). It is mediocre at image processing and barely adequate for RAW file formats.  If you are a JPEG shooter as you indicate that you are, you might benefit more from developing your RAW postprocessing skills instead of trying to navigate the labyrinth of iPad/Computer interactions.


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## OogieM (Jan 8, 2013)

I almost never do any processing of my images at all. I basically want to use LR as a photo catalog and to edit metadata. For that I see no reason why a more portable item won't work. I'm looking at being able to quickly add a few keywords or give a star rating to a few pictures in moments when I am say, in line at the bank, or waiting in the doctors office. All the places I currently take my kindle and read. It's not reasonable to take a laptop and do that task in that situation. 

For what I use my photos for there is hardly any need to do any post processing on  the image at all. I need ways to find specific images or groups of images.


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## jimburgess (Jan 9, 2013)

Have to agree with Cletus' post...the best "iPad solution" for dealing with photos while you are away from your main computer is a MacBook Air. The iPad and its current collection of photo apps just doesn't cut it. Maybe some day, but not at this point. You'll spend twice as much for a MacBook Air, but you get a whole lot more than twice the horsepower, along with a true solution to dealing with your photos on the road.


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## OogieM (Jan 9, 2013)

jimburgess said:


> Have to agree with Cletus' post...the best "iPad solution" for dealing with photos while you are away from your main computer is a MacBook Air.


What everyone is missing is the fact that for the places I want to use the iPad there is not an option to carry any small portable. You cannot stand in a line at the bank, pop out your macBook Air or otherwise, boot up and tag a few photos. You cannot easily do that task sitting in a doctor waiting room. Actually I'd probably be able to do what I want to do with a portable device on my iPhone. I am not editing photo's I am not cropping or modifying them in any way. I am strictly trying to assign star ratings and tags and perhaps other metadata in a highly portable environment. 

This is the disconnect between folks who are really photographers and the rest of us who are more users. Our needs are completely different. Yes I am handling thousands of photos but I am not doing what 90% or more of you do to them. I just need a good catalog and a  way to add to that catalog on a tablet or phone size device. 

Plus I already have both an iPad and a MacBook. So it's not like I am buying either one. It's just that one is not suited to carrying in my purse with me all the time to work on stuff when I have a few moments.


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## Replytoken (Jan 9, 2013)

OogieM said:


> This is the disconnect between folks who are really photographers and the rest of us who are more users. Our needs are completely different. Yes I am handling thousands of photos but I am not doing what 90% or more of you do to them. I just need a good catalog and a way to add to that catalog on a tablet or phone size device.



I believe that many of us are sympathetic and, whether we would use a tablet as you suggest or not, would like to see this capability. But, the rise in popularity of tablets is still young, and LR is not exactly a simple program. If I were to speculate, I would see two possible paths to what you want in the future. First, programs/apps would be designed to interface with LR's database, such that you could star your images, and this data would be synched with your primary catalog. Alternatley, I can see Adobe taking your work flow to the cloud where you would access your images and catalog from a device like a tablet. I believe that their Creative Cloud is already taking them in that direction. So, perhaps we are just a bit ahead of the curve in our wants and needs?  I am sure that tablets will gain more processor power in the future and be capable of handling more intensive tasks.

--Ken


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## OogieM (Jan 9, 2013)

Replytoken said:


> I believe that many of us are sympathetic and, whether we would use a tablet as you suggest or not, would like to see this capability. But, the rise in popularity of tablets is still young, and LR is not exactly a simple program. If I were to speculate, I would see two possible paths to what you want in the future. First, programs/apps would be designed to interface with LR's database, such that you could star your images, and this data would be synched with your primary catalog.


Exactly, which is what Photosmith does. Which is why I am exploring it as an alternative. 

I don't expect LR to be on this generation of tablets. I do expect to have a way to catalog my photos and a tablet or handheld and interface to LR somehow.


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## Victoria Bampton (Jan 9, 2013)

How are you getting on with Photosmith Oogie?  I had great intentions for doing the same kind of rating/keywording on my iPad but gave up in the end.


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## OogieM (Jan 9, 2013)

Got it installed, got a sample catalog of about 2100 pictures down to my iPad, and have started ranking/keywording some. Also exploring creating collections in Photosmith. I expect to continue playing today and tomorrow and then pull the data back into LR and verify. 

I'll post back, probably in a separate thread my results.


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## jimburgess (Jan 9, 2013)

OogieM said:


> I almost never do any processing of my images at all. I basically want to use LR as a photo catalog and to edit metadata. For that I see no reason why a more portable item won't work. I'm looking at being able to quickly add a few keywords or give a star rating to a few pictures in moments when I am say, in line at the bank, or waiting in the doctors office. All the places I currently take my kindle and read. It's not reasonable to take a laptop and do that task in that situation.
> 
> For what I use my photos for there is hardly any need to do any post processing on  the image at all. I need ways to find specific images or groups of images.



OogieM...what you are trying to achieve certainly seems reasonable, and on the surface would seem to be possible. However, in  my experience with iPad apps so far it just doesn't work well.


A couple of examples to illustrate...


Yes, Photosmith can be used on an iPad Mini. It can be used to tag, rate and label photos which have been imported into the app. It can be used to apply metadata to those photos. And it is capable of syncing those photos back into your LR catalog. The problem is that in spite of the tremendous effort put into the app by the developers for almost 2 years, it still doesn't work reliably. I'm sure you've looked at the App Store reviews if you haven't already purchased it. You stated you need ways to find specific images or groups of images, but AFAIK Photosmith cannot filter or sort on anything but ratings, flags and labels. You can't filter or search for keywords, for example. On the other hand, it's only $20 so maybe it's worth a try (if you haven't purchased it already) to see if it will reliably meet your needs.


There's also another app in the store called PicturePro, which purports to do what you are looking for. The bad news is that it costs a whopping $99.99! And that's an introductory price! There is a demo version available, though, so it could be tried out for free. But I for one am not about to pay $100 for any iPad app in today's software market regardless of how well it works. Or doesn't...the app has been available for a few months and there's only two crummy ratings for it, and no reviews. To me that's pretty telling.


The point is that what you are looking for seems like it should be possible. It's just that the iPad is still a relatively young product with many limitations in the power of the hardware and the underlying iOS software, so practically speaking it just isn't a truly useful solution yet. If you do give it a try, please let us know your experience, which I hope will be good.


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## Bruce J (Jan 9, 2013)

I guess I'd better put in a bit of a contrary view here.  I use an iPad and Photosmith whenever I travel to add metadata to my images while I can still remember pertinent information, and I'm quite happy with it.  Note, I only use it as a one-way application: load new RAW images on to iPad, add metadata, later sync those images to LR on desktop machine. I don't try to move images from LR to iPad, so know nothing about syncing in that direction.  And, I don't need to search for groups of images, because I am usually working on a set of images that were taken on a single day.  I have had up to ~3000 images in Photosmith at one time without issues.  Within the constraints of how I'm using it, Photosmith on the iPad works quite well and saves me a bunch of time when I finally get to processing my images at home.


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## arghman (Oct 12, 2014)

Here we are almost 2 years after the last post, and I wanted to check in and see if the state of things has changed. Ipads are faster, LR Mobile exists now, and it seems like Photosmith has evolved a lot too. But no matter how much I search, it seems like all I can find is claims of Photosmith's new abilities, but no actual users backing that up with experience. I can find reviews, but I can't actually talk to a human who is currently using Photosmith 3 for doing what has been discussed in this thread. 
I'm considering switching from Windows to Mac, and perhaps getting an iMac and iPad if all of this is really viable. 
Any new insights?


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## Jack Henry (Oct 12, 2014)

I record orchestras and choirs and use my iPad (or two) as extra screens for my iMac during the editing process. It allows me to get level and other meters off screen. I've been using AirDisplay from Avatron Software with great success.


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## Victoria Bampton (Oct 12, 2014)

arghman said:


> I can't actually talk to a human who is currently using Photosmith 3 for doing what has been discussed in this thread.



It's on my to do list, but I probably won't get to it till the spring.


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## Bruce J (Oct 12, 2014)

arghman said:


> I can find reviews, but I can't actually talk to a human who is currently using Photosmith 3 for doing what has been discussed in this thread.



If you read the message posted before yours, you'll see that I am a real, live person who uses Photosmith for travel photography.  Nothing has changed in the intervening 2 years; I still use Photosmith in the way described above.  I have tried LR Mobile, but its lack of compatibility with RAW files makes it a non-starter for me.  If you have specific questions about using Photosmith, I'd be happy to try to answer them.


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## arghman (Oct 12, 2014)

Bruce J said:


> If you read the message posted before yours, you'll see that I am a real, live person who uses Photosmith for travel photography.  Nothing has changed in the intervening 2 years; I still use Photosmith in the way described above.  I have tried LR Mobile, but its lack of compatibility with RAW files makes it a non-starter for me.  If you have specific questions about using Photosmith, I'd be happy to try to answer them.



Bruce, 
Thank you so much! You're probably the first person who I've actually been able to get in touch with that is using Photosmith NOW. It appears a lot has changed in v3 regarding stability and RAW handling and stuff. Are you finding that it's pretty solid and usable now?
-Do you use a 128GB iPad? 
-Have you tried to use some combination of LR Mobile and Photosmith, or do you just save all the "real" work for at home on your computer?
Any other insights would be great! I'm considering dropping my current combination of Windows 7 desktop and Windows 8 laptop (12 inch) for a more streamlined and mobile combination, of perhaps just an iMac and an iPad. Any comments on how you think that would work?
Thanks!


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## Bruce J (Oct 12, 2014)

Arghman - To answer your direct questions first,

1.  There were a lot of changes with ver. 3 of Photosmith.  I was not able to use the previous versions successfully, but have no problems with ver. 3.  Yes, it is stable, it handles my RAW files (NEFs) perfectly.

2.  I run it on a 64 GB iPad 2.  Because I still use a Nikon D200 and a Canon G9, I don't usually have any problems with storage space.  On long trips where I might store up to 3000 images, I have been known to temporarily remove some of my music collection, etc., but usually I don't bother.  Your mileage may vary, depending on the amount of memory available and the size of your RAW files.

3.  No, I haven't tried to do anything with both LR Mobile and Photosmith.  As I mentioned earlier, without RAW capability, LR mobile is a non-starter for me.

You should be aware that I don't even attempt to "process" images on the iPad, nor would I do so on a laptop.  I do all of my processing on a desktop system w/ a calibrated 21" monitor (and wish I had a bigger one).  My field workflow for travel photography goes something like this:  At the end of each day, I use an Apple Photo Connection kit to download photos from all cameras (mine and my traveling companions) to the iPad.  I then import the day's images into Photosmith.  From there, I can add metadata to the images.  This is the real benefit, as I see it: the ability to add caption, keyword, location, rating, etc. data to the images while on site with the ablity to later sync the metadata back to LR on the desktop.  I also cull images on the iPad.  However, I do not delete the images from the camera cards.  So, the images on the iPad also serve as a temporary backup until I return.  Because I have all of the day's images on the iPad, I can also put on an impromptu slide show for my companions each day, which seems to be much appreciated.

When I return, I import the images into LR from the original camera cards and then sync the metadata from the iPad to LR using the Photosmith plug-in.

That's about all I use the iPad and Photosmith for, and it works very well in this context.  Hope that's useful for you,

B


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## andrewinpompey (Dec 17, 2012)

Hi all,

Is anyone using the ipad mini along with LR on their computer? I don't have an ipad (mini or other) yet but I'm curious about several things:

1. Using ipad as a second monitor whilst using Lightroom on my PC, sitting at my PC: means that my normal monitor can be just displaying the image, no LR controls, also if used with a ipad pen, it would be a bit like having a mouse-type tablet, i.e. less wrist strain :(
2. Possibly running Lightroom on the PC but only viewing it on the ipad, in another room (to be more sociable!). 
3. And/or using Photosmith to do preliminary rating of photos on the ipad (basically deciding what to delete), before then transferring the best photos to the PC for editing.

It would be useful to hear about anyone's experiences of this, as I am only going on what I have read on the web and I may be mistaken! Thanks

Sounds like you only see a jpeg rather than the RAW file, but that doesn't matter just for checking sharpness and composition. I think also that transferring the RAW files to the PC would have to be done wirelessly, so if you have 100 RAW files it could take an hour or two. Ipad mini only has 500MB RAM, but I get the impression that isn't a problem as you aren't actually viewing the RAW file (unlike if you were trying to use LR with RAW files on a 500MB RAM PC).

Thanks

Andrew


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## arghman (Oct 13, 2014)

Bruce J said:


> Arghman - To answer your direct questions first,
> 
> 1.  There were a lot of changes with ver. 3 of Photosmith.  I was not able to use the previous versions successfully, but have no problems with ver. 3.  Yes, it is stable, it handles my RAW files (NEFs) perfectly.
> 
> ...



Bruce, 
You're the man, and you've answered most of my questions. I was thinking about dumping my laptop + desktop and switching over to ipad + imac, because basically right now that's about all I can do on my laptop anyways. Might as well sell it while it still has some value and have a streamlined system that works well all together. Thanks for your wisdom. 
Have you ever tried any of this with an iPad mini? Which iPad are you using? (RAW images from my 6D are about 30MB each, so I would imagine processing power is a must.)


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## Bruce J (Oct 13, 2014)

No, never tried it on a mini.  I've run Photosmith on the iPad 2 that I now use and on the original iPad.  Both work fine.  I think more important than processing power is plenty of memory.  I suspect Photosmith will run fine on a mini, but the menus may be a bit hard to read; there's a lot of information on the screen, plus the images.  Good luck,


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## Victoria Bampton (Oct 13, 2014)

The current mini's almost about as powerful as the current Air.  If it's usable on Bruce's iPad 2, you should have no trouble on a Mini Retina.


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## arghman (Oct 13, 2014)

Wow!

What kind of transfer times are we looking at for like 10GB of pics from an SD card to the iPad?


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## Bruce J (Oct 14, 2014)

arghman said:


> Wow!
> 
> What kind of transfer times are we looking at for like 10GB of pics from an SD card to the iPad?



Sorry, I can't answer that one directly as I never have that much to transfer in one day.  I generally transfer images while doing something else at the end of the day; a couple GB takes a few minutes (ie. less than 15) is about as close as I can get.  You might research the Camera Connection kit to see what the advertised transfer speed is.


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