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My favored way of using Lightroom on two computers is to install Lightroom Classic on my main computer and Lightroom desktop on the second.
It means you can save your Catalog and photos on hard drives attached to your main computer. You don’t have to take them with you when you travel.
This setup also works when your second computer is a tablet or phone. You simply use Lightroom mobile instead of Lightroom desktop.
The basic idea is easy to understand, but let’s dive into the detail. These are some of the things you need to know about this mobile workflow.
The mobile workflow and synced Collections
The biggest drawback of the mobile workflow is that it isn’t practical to view all your photos in Lightroom desktop/mobile.
That’s because these two apps work with synced Collections. You can add all your photos to synced Collections, but it makes it difficult to find the Collection you’re looking for in Lightroom desktop/mobile.
Lightroom Classic doesn’t sync Collection Sets, so they don’t show up. You can see a list of Albums (what the Lightroom apps call Collections). The more Collections you sync, the more difficult it is to find the one you’re looking for.
This screenshot shows what to expect in Lightroom desktop (it’s the same for Lightroom mobile).
Tip: Click the Sort & View Albums icon (marked below) to set the order in which Lightroom desktop/mobile displays Albums.
The key getting the mobile workflow to work for you is to be selective with your synced Collections.
Sync the ones that you need to access from Lightroom/mobile. This makes it much easier to work in those apps.
How to sync Collections in Lightroom Classic
A lightning bolt icon in the box next to a Collection indicates that it’s synced. An empty box means that it’s unsynced. Click the box to start the syncing process.
The screenshot below shows what you’re looking for. The first Collection is unsynced (empty box), the second Collection is synced.
When you sync a Collection, Lightroom Classic creates Smart Previews for all the photos inside it and uploads them to Adobe’s servers, ready for Lightroom desktop/mobile to download.
The good thing is that Smart Previews in synced Collections don’t count towards your cloud storage allowance. You can sync as many Collections as you like without fear of exceeding your limit.
Developing photos with a mobile workflow
One of my favorite ways to use a mobile workflow is to create synced Collections in Lightroom classic containing photos ready to develop.
I then develop them in Lightroom mobile on my tablet. The changes update automatically in Lightroom Classic. You don’t have to do anything to make it happen – it just works.
You can also do this with Lightroom desktop on a laptop.
What is a Smart Preview?
A Smart Preview is a compressed DNG file that measures 2560 pixels along the longest edge.
You won’t notice the difference between working with a Smart Preview and the original file in Lightroom desktop or Lightroom mobile.
But it does mean that the largest size file you can export from Lightroom desktop/mobile is 2560 pixels long.
Duplicate photos in Lightroom desktop
In Lightroom Classic you can use Virtual Copies to make multiple versions of the same photo. For example, you might make a color and black and white version of the same image.
Lightroom desktop (but not mobile) has a similar feature. To use it, go to Grid View then Edit > Duplicate 1 photo (this option is also available in the right-click menu).
You now have a duplicate of the photo that you can develop in a different way, as in the screenshot below.
The duplicate photo syncs back to Lightroom Classic, but as a photo, not a Virtual Copy.
The Metadata panel (in the Library module) shows two pieces of crucial information:
1. Lightroom Classic has saved the photo in a folder called downloaded-smart-previews.
2. The size of the file is 2560 pixels along the longest edge.
Important note: The duplicate photo counts towards your cloud storage limit. My article What’s Taking Up My Creative Cloud 20GB Storage Space? has more information on this.
Tip: It’s easy to turn the small 2560 pixel file into a full-size photo. Here’s how you do it. Right-click the thumbnail and go to Develop Settings > Copy Settings. Click the Check All button then Copy.
Next, make a Virtual Copy of the original photo file (right-click > Create Virtual Copy). Right-click and go to Develop Settings > Paste Settings. You now have a full-size Virtual Copy with the same Develop settings as the duplicate photo created in Lightroom desktop.
Importing photos into Lightroom desktop/mobile
Another advantage of Lightroom desktop/mobile is that you can import photos into both apps (great for traveling). Both apps upload the imported photos to Adobe’s servers, and Lightroom Classic automatically downloads them when it’s open.
Imported photos count towards your cloud storage limit.
How to tell imported photos from synced photos in Lightroom desktop
Lightroom desktop has a tool that lets you see which photos are synced (i.e. they originated in Lightroom Classic) and which are imported (i.e. the photo is saved on Adobe’s servers but not your hard drive until it’s downloaded into Lightroom Classic).
Go to Grid View and click the Refine Search icon (the one that looks like a funnel).
Click the Sync Status menu underneath. There are four filtering options.
Syncing: Photos that Lightroom is syncing now (i.e. not uploaded to Adobe’s servers yet).
Synced and Backed Up: Photos that Lightroom has uploaded to Adobe’s servers.
This includes photos made with the Lightroom mobile camera, duplicate photos created in Lightroom desktop, and photos imported into Lightroom desktop/mobile.
These photos all count towards your cloud storage limit.
Original Stored Locally: Photos saved locally (on your computer’s hard drive). Useful for editing when you’re offline.
Synced from Lightroom Classic: Smart Previews synced from Lightroom Classic.
You can use this tool to see which photos are using your cloud storage space.
1. Click on All Photos (on the left, above your Albums).
2. Click the Refine Search icon to reveal the search criteria (if you don’t see them already).
3. Go to Sync Status > Synced and Backed Up.
This search brings up every photo taking up cloud storage space. Above the thumbnails you can see this useful information:
I have 1043 photos in my cloud storage (mainly photos made with my phone).
Using the mobile workflow
Hopefully this article inspires you to try out a Lightroom Classic centered mobile workflow. It gives you the best of both worlds – the power of Lightroom classic and the mobility of Lightroom desktop/mobile. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about it.
Mastering Lightroom Classic: Book Two – The Develop Module
You can learn more about mobile workflows and all other aspects of developing photos in Lightroom Classic with my ebook Mastering Lightroom Classic: Book Two – The Develop Module
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