Thinking of an ipad: I am considering getting an ipad pro: light, good for travel, and likely a different experience for photoediting. Has anyone had experience using Lightroom on it...

aikiboy

I am considering getting an ipad pro: light, good for travel, and likely a different experience for photoediting. Has anyone had experience using Lightroom on it, did you like it, were there any serious drawbacks or advantages?

Thanks,

Jonathan

Dave327 Loc: Duluth, GA. USA

I use PhotoShop Express on my IPad. It works great and does everything I need to do on my IPad. I have not tried the Lightroom app yet.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

I am a long time Apple user, I own multiple apple products. I bought an iPADpro to see if it would be good to use for editing. It has not worked out for me. The reason is iOS. It’s not the hardware, the iPADpro is a great piece of hardware. However the hardware is hobbled by iOS. Believe me, iOS is not macOS. Simple things that take a few things on macOS are difficult or impossible to do in iOS. Years have passed and many iOS versions later, and things are not much different. Add to that the screen is smaller, and it is not possible to truly color calibrate the screen. I use the iPAD for reviewing sometimes, but it does not work for me in my photo workflow. The iPAD is great for surfing the net and reading email but I will not buy another iPAD for photo editing or retouching.

Your mileage may vary but that’s my experience with the iPADPro.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The new M1 version has gotten rave reviews. I prefer the Kindle - but not for processing, of course.

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

jerryc41 wrote:

The new M1 version has gotten rave reviews. I prefer the Kindle - but not for processing, of course.

...I got the latest M1 and spent a ton adding enough storage to pop it up to 32 GB of RAM. The goal was/is to be able to process on the road with LR/PS and fully utilize the Procreate app, which has tons of layer capability and is contingent on RAM. It works fine, really peppy, so I know if I get out there I'll have tidy machine to wash my jeans in...heh.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

aikiboy wrote:

I am considering getting an ipad pro: light, good for travel, and likely a different experience for photoediting. Has anyone had experience using Lightroom on it, did you like it, were there any serious drawbacks or advantages?

Thanks,

Jonathan

My wife has an iPad Pro and trying that was one reason why I bought an M1 MacBook Air instead.

The Air is a powerful Mac, not an OS-limited tablet. It’s not much bigger or heavier, and it’s now my main computer.

george19

I’ve been using LR on my iPad Pro for years. I’m no expert, and my skills are fairly limited here. Also, haven’t tried printing bigger than 8 x 10…but I find it quick, easy, and convenient.

I have LR (I believe v6) on my laptop, and hardly ever use it. No…I don’t use LR for cataloging…although that might be my next exploration. Laptop gets pretty much used only for photo download and backup.

Shooting D810 and Z7 ii, so glad I don’t have to worry about backward compatibility.

Think about getting the pencil, although that doesn’t get used all that much in LR, mostly PS when I use it.

Definitely get the USB adapter for easy download.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

JD750 wrote:

I am a long time Apple user, I own multiple apple ... (show quote)

I have to agree here. I have an iPad Pro 3. As you say, it’s great for light stuff, but not serious editing. The Photos program in iOS is good for some basic editing, but the features and controls are limited and limiting. Moving things around is difficult and frustrating sometimes, and where doing the same on a computer requires, perhaps only a couple steps, doing the same thing on the iPad is complicated. I don’t do a lot of serious editing of my images, so the iPad works for me, however I miss my MacBook Pro. I will be getting another one in the near future. Where the iPad works well is for traveling where you can download photos in order to keep your SD (or other) cards empty for the next shoot. It give you an opportunity to cull images and toss the non-keepers. You can always copy your images over to your computer later.

uhaas2009

I don’t like to learn again LR other version. But the iPad Pro is a great tool for a lots of other things......

aikiboy

Much appreciate the replies. I have a MacBook Pro, which has been my workhorse and, after transitioning from a PC, I really like. It is a 16 inch, so kind of heavy to tote around. If I get the ipad pro I will get the pencil. My general intent is to use it while traveling or away from home in general then transfer the files over to the MacBook Pro. Any feedback on the experience of using the pencil for editing and general use in Lightroom and PS? I have read several articles, of course, which mostly gushed over the experience but I suspect that there is a tendency to be less than critical as writers may be under some pressure not to alienate a potential source of revenue.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

burkphoto wrote:

My wife has an iPad Pro and trying that was one reason why I bought an M1 MacBook Air instead.

The Air is a powerful Mac, not an OS-limited tablet. It’s not much bigger or heavier, and it’s now my main computer.

And the MacBook Air runs macOS!! That the most significant difference.

If ONLY Apple would add touch screen to the macs....

JD750 Loc: SoCal

aikiboy wrote:

Any feedback on the experience of using the pencil for editing and general use in Lightroom and PS?

I bought the pencil but it wasn't supported by much software at that time. It's somewhere around here...

It will probably be ok for what you plan to use it for. But as wingpilot explained you will find moving things around more frustrating than if you had a Mac. A MacBook air is not much bigger than the iPad. If you add a keyboard to to the iPad then the MacBook Air might be smaller!! You don't get a touch screen with the Mac but it's a much more capabable system.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

aikiboy wrote:

Much appreciate the replies. I have a MacBook Pro... (show quote)

I got the Apple Pencil 2 with my iPad Pro and I really recommend it. It’s not cheap, but is definitely worth it. And it charges by attaching magnetically to the top edge of the iPad.

aikiboy

I have been considering both the MacBook Air and the ipad, and was asking about the user experience of the ipad given the glowing reports I'd been reading (but not entirely believing) which emphasized flexibility and ease of use, as well as a more immersive hands-on user experience using the pencil. From the comments here, it sounds like the ipad OS is more cumbersome than represented, which is unfortunate, and I'll likely go with the Macbook Air as a result.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

The iPad Pro has it’s uses, and is easy to use. It can do nearly everything a regular computer can, but there are still some things that require a computer. I wouldn’t abandon the idea of the iPad Pro as a supplement to the MacBook Air, though. The iPad OS isn’t cumbersome, but it does have its limitations. I haven’t regretted getting the iPad Pro at all. But I do wish I’d kept my MacBook Pro.