Today’s Question: What is the easiest way to transfer photos from Lightroom Classic to my iPad [or other mobile device]?
Tim’s Quick Answer: In my opinion the easiest way to transfer photos to a mobile device from Lightroom Classic is to add those photos to a collection and then enable synchronization for the collection. You can then view that collection of photos using the Lightroom mobile app on your device.
More Detail: Many photographers seem to associate the Lightroom app for mobile devices with the “cloud” version of the Lightroom desktop application, rather than with Lightroom Classic. The reality is, the Lightroom mobile app can be used in conjunction with both Lightroom Classic and the “cloud” version of Lightroom.
For Lightroom Classic users, the synchronization feature of Adobe Creative Cloud provides a great solution for getting photos to your mobile device so they can easily be shared with others, for example.
In Lightroom Classic synchronization is handled via collections. So, the first step is to add the photos you’d like to have available on your mobile device to a collection in the Collections section of the left panel in the Library module. If you want to create a new collection for this purpose, you can click the plus (+) symbol to the right of the Collections heading on the left panel and choose “Create Collection”.
In the Create Collection dialog you can enter a name for the collection, and adjust any other settings based on your preference for the collection. You can also turn on the “Sync with Lightroom” checkbox, so that synchronization will be enabled for this collection. Click the Create button to create the collection.
If you are working with an existing collection, you can turn synchronization on (or off) at any time. To the left of each collection (but not smart collections or collection sets) you’ll see either an empty box or a double-headed arrow synchronization icon. You can click in the space to the left of a collection name to toggle the synchronization status. The empty box means synchronization is disabled, and the double-headed arrow means synchronization is enabled.
Of course, you also need to add the applicable photos to a collection that has synchronization enabled, so that those photos will be synchronized to the Adobe Creative Cloud.
You can then install the Lightroom mobile app on your mobile device, from either the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. Sign in with your Adobe Creative Cloud account, and the photos synchronized from your computer will magically appear in a collection in the Lightroom mobile app.