# where do photos go?



## KrisDan (Dec 23, 2014)

Hello,

I'm trying to establish a way to have my iPhone pictures automatically get imported to my iMac through LR Mobile sync. So far I have it working and I like how I don't have to think about it so much. They are mostly just day to day stuff but I want it organized.

My big question:

When LR 'syncs' these photos is it just syncing a smart preview? Are the photos imported somehow automatically (if so where to) or do they just reside on the cloud?

I'm thinking it's probably the cloud as I'm asking.

What I would love to have happen is that the actual photos  import into LR. I know iPhoto does it but I don't have and don't want to get the updated iPhoto, not do I want to mess with the extra steps. I was using dropbox as a watched folder but it slowed my system down considerably and wasn't always as automatic as I wanted it to be.

Any answers/suggestions would be welcome. I want my iPhone pics in my catalog but don't want to have to babysit them so much if that makes any sense. 

Kristy


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## clee01l (Dec 23, 2014)

I don't use LRm with my iPad.  But I don't think it is intended to be an integrated conduit for iPhotos to the LR Catalog although it can do this to some degree.  You can create a LRm Collection on the iPad, enable the collection to read from the camera roll and also enable auto import in LRm on the iPad.
On the computer, a folder is created in the folder that contains your LR catalog.  It will be named "Mobile Downloads.lrdata".  Inside that folder with be created a folder that corresponds to your LRm Collection.  It will be assigned a computer generated name that would look something like this one: "225e7f325ff62d24c010ce7a266412deca32303e0ebb0f5ff585314036491edf" 

If you are happy with that, you are done.   Because of the restrictions that iOS places on third party apps, you can not write to the iOS photo stream with LRm. 

I prefer to Auto Import the iCloud Photostream using LRs Auto Import function which is pointed to a folder.  Every photo that I take with my iPhone or iPad is automatically sync'd to the iCloud photo stream and every iDevice and computer sync'd with iCloud.  I use an app called Photostream2Folder that will intercept my iCloud Photostream and divert images into a folder that LR watches for auto import.   If I want to export to the iCloud Photostream from LR, I export to an alias of the iPhoto AutoImport folder located inside the "iPhoto Library" package
.


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## KrisDan (Dec 23, 2014)

clee01l said:


> I prefer to Auto Import the iCloud Photostream using LRs Auto Import function which is pointed to a folder.  Every photo that I take with my iPhone or iPad is automatically sync'd to the iCloud photo stream and every iDevice and computer sync'd with iCloud.  I use an app called Photostream2Folder that will intercept my iCloud Photostream and divert images into a folder that LR watches for auto import.   If I want to export to the iCloud Photostream from LR, I export to an alias of the iPhoto AutoImport folder located inside the "iPhoto Library" package
> .



Thanks this sounds way more like what I am after. I had located the folder you mentioned but it seemed so weird the way it is named. I'll check into the the app you mentioned. I have been trying with little success to make some sort of workflow using iCloud so that is why I was trying in LR but if this app works that way hopefully it will be what I'm after.

Thanks again

Kristy


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## clee01l (Dec 23, 2014)

The LRm generated folder is named using a random character generator to insure uniqueness.  If you want to Publish to the iCloud photo stream you need to create an alias to the folder in the iPhoto Library  package since LR is unable to see this folder directly The folder that you want to alias is "/Macintosh HD/Users/{yourUserName}/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Auto Import" If you place that alias anywhere outside of the iPhoto Library, then it will be available as a target folder for an export preset to a HD Publish Service.


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## Jim Wilde (Dec 23, 2014)

A couple of comments:

1. Answering your first question, yes the full file is synced back to LR Desktop, not just a smart preview (that is stored locally on the iDevice).

2. Yes the files are stored in the "Mobile Downloads.lrdata" folder/package, but that may not be in the same folder as your catalog. It depends where your catalog is stored, but the "Mobile Downloads.lrdata" folder is in fact always stored in Pictures>Lightroom in the user library (which has upset a few users with small SSD system drives who found the space being taken up unexpectedly by uploads from their iDevice).

3. The folder and files should be visible in the Lightroom Folders Panel, you should see a faux drive which will be shown with the name of the iDevice (e.g. on my system it's "Jim's iPad"), and on expanding that drive you will find a "Folder" named "Imported Photos", which is in fact an alias to the aforementioned folder with the ever-so-long-name in "Mobile Downloads.lrdata". The point is that, being in the Folders Panel, you can move either that folder or just the images files within it using drag and drop, into your normal folder structure.


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## KrisDan (Dec 23, 2014)

Thanks Jim,

Glad to know those are those are the full files. So I probably can just proceed like I do after any import with moving things around as long as it is within LR. So that may just work for what I'm wanting. I just wasn't comfortable with LR just 'deciding' where to put them. If I can still put them where I want and they are hi res files this may just be the solution I need. Clearly there are a lot of options and they seem to have varying behaviors. I purchased iCloud storage from Apple but feel limited on how to integrate with LR so one of these options may just be what I need. I have heard rumors of a 'photos' app coming from apple but can't find much info about when and what it will be capable of. 
Kristy


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## clee01l (Dec 23, 2014)

KrisDan said:


> Thanks Jim,
> 
> Glad to know those are those are the full files. So I probably can just proceed like I do after any import with moving things around as long as it is within LR. So that may just work for what I'm wanting. I just wasn't comfortable with LR just 'deciding' where to put them. If I can still put them where I want and they are hi res files this may just be the solution I need. Clearly there are a lot of options and they seem to have varying behaviors. I purchased iCloud storage from Apple but feel limited on how to integrate with LR so one of these options may just be what I need. I have heard rumors of a 'photos' app coming from apple but can't find much info about when and what it will be capable of.
> Kristy


The files are lossy compressed JPEGs.  These are the same JPEGs that the iOS Camera app produces.  LR OTOH sends lossy compressed DNGs to the iPad.  As lossy compressed images files they (the iOS JPEGs and the LR DNGs) will be smaller and take up less bandwidth during transfer. 

Apple's iPhoto/Aperture replacement is supposed to be released in the 1st quarter of 2015. It will have the functionality of the Photo app in iOS and can probably be used interchangeably on the same images.


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