Photosmith for iPad: Rate, Tag, and Organize Photos for Lightroom

Introduction

Apple introduced the iPad Camera Connection Kit at the same time as the original iPad. In the two years since, we’ve seen all kinds of software innovations with Apple’s tablet, but surprisingly, being able to rate and tag photos hasn’t quite succeeded until now. It seems like a natural request: Import images onto the iPad; assign star rankings to weed out the undesirable shots and elevate the good ones; add important metadata such as keywords; and, lastly, bring the photos and all that data into a master photo library on the computer.

Photosmith 2, in my opinion, finally delivers those capabilities. When you’re shooting in the field, you can act on those photos instead of keeping them in cold storage. Rate and tag them on the journey home or during other idle stretches of time. And later, back at the computer, sync your photos smoothly into Photoshop Lightroom, so you don’t have hours of sorting ahead of you.

In this book, you’ll learn not just how to use Photosmith 2, but also how to structure an iPad photo workflow that moves your images-and crucially, the metadata you apply on the iPad-from camera to Lightroom. That involves choices at the outset: Due to the way iOS handles images, shooting JPEG, Raw, or Raw+JPEG affects how the photos are processed.

Shoot Raw or JPEG (or Both)?

Before you start shooting photos, it’s important to figure out how you want to capture the images that will end up on the iPad. The question of whether to shoot images in raw format or JPEG format initially seems irrelevant to the iPad-the device can import both types. But choosing one (or both) leads to considerations that ripple through the entire iPad workflow. So let’s take the time to look at this first. (The table below provides a quick overview of the discussion.)

Raw image files contain the unaltered information captured by the camera’s image sensor, which provides much more data to work with when editing in a desktop program such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, or Apple’s Aperture. In general, professional and intermediate cameras offer a raw capture option.

JPEG files, on the other hand, are processed within the camera before they’re saved. Each image is color corrected, sharpened, compressed, and adjusted in other ways to create what the camera believes is the best image.

When brought into an image editor on the desktop, a JPEG file doesn’t offer as much image data and therefore can’t be edited as thoroughly as a raw file. For example, you’re more likely to successfully pull detail out of shadow areas with a raw file than with a JPEG. All digital cameras can capture JPEG images; for some models, JPEG is the only choice.

Read on for an overview of the options. Although I assume you want to shoot raw if you’re able to-after all, the ultimate consideration is usually image quality-some situations may call for you to switch formats.

Shoot JPEG

If your camera doesn’t shoot in raw format, JPEG is your only option. You might also choose to capture JPEGs when you’re deliberately shooting snapshots that need to be processed or shared quickly, or when you want to employ the simplest workflow (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Workflow for shooting in JPEG format

1. Capture photos in JPEG format on your camera.

2. Import the photos into the iPad (discussed in detail later in the book).

3. Review the photos using the Photos app.

4. Optionally edit, rate, tag, or share pictures.

5. Synchronize the pictures to photo software on your computer when you’re back at home or the office.

The main advantage of the JPEG workflow is that it’s largely friction free. Photos occupy less storage space on the iPad, making even the lowest-capacity model (16 GB) workable for holding pictures on location. You also deal with just one set of images, unlike with raw files (as you’ll see shortly).

The primary disadvantage is that JPEG images are compressed and corrected within the camera, so you’re not getting the fullest possible image data. Editing images, whether on the iPad or on the desktop, further reduces image quality because the JPEG format applies lossy compression-image data is removed from the file whenever it’s saved. If you edit the images on the iPad, many editing apps apply still more compression when they output the corrected JPEG files. When you bring the photos into the computer, you don’t have as much latitude for editing them.

I don’t mean to sound alarmist, as if shooting in JPEG is going to produce muddled images or as if you need to go out and buy an expensive DSLR to end up with decent photos. JPEG compression is based on how the eye perceives images and is generally very good. It’s just that, when compared to working with a raw file, JPEG files start you at a disadvantage.

Shoot Raw

Capturing photos in raw format adds some complexity to the iPad workflow (Figure 2). Although the iPad can import raw files, it can’t edit them natively (in most cases; a few apps exist). Instead, any editing or sharing is done on JPEG previews supplied by the camera.

Figure 2 Workflow for shooting in raw format

1. Capture photos in raw format on your camera.

2. Import the pictures into the iPad.

3. If you edit or share photos on the iPad, the work is done on the JPEG previews. Edited versions are saved as new JPEG files, and the raw files remain untouched.

4. If you rate and tag photos using Photosmith, the metadata is retained when photos are exported from the iPad to Lightroom.

5. Since any images you edited on the iPad are separate versions, they’re added to your photo software. For images you didn’t edit, the JPEG previews are ignored.

The advantage to the raw workflow is that you retain all of the image data for later editing, giving you the most flexibility with the photos on the desktop. Also, metadata that you add in Photosmith stays with the raw images when imported into Lightroom, so you don’t need to undertake another round of rating and keyword tagging.

However, a main disadvantage is that raw files occupy much more storage space, which is an issue if you’re shooting hundreds or thousands of photos. Most editing apps work only on JPEG previews, so you can’t take full advantage of the raw image data unless you use a dedicated raw editing app. Also, unless the iPad is acting as just temporary storage between camera and computer, you end up with separate JPEG versions that must also be imported (unless you dump the JPEG versions).

Shoot Raw+JPEG

For cameras that support it, a third option is to shoot in Raw+JPEG mode. In this case, the camera writes two files: the raw file, plus a JPEG file as specified by the camera settings instead of an automatically generated preview file. The workflow looks something like this (Figure 3):

Figure 3 Shooting Raw+JPEG using one memory card

1. Shoot photos using the camera’s Raw+JPEG mode.

2. Import the photos into the iPad, which displays just one thumbnail for each image and a "RAW+JPG" badge, although each image is made up of a raw file and a JPEG file.

3. Optionally edit and/or share photos, which applies to the JPEG counterpart for each photo. Edited images are saved as new JPEG files.

4. Rate and tag images in Photosmith. When you do so, the Raw+JPEG pair is treated as a single image.

5. Export the photos to your computer. The Raw+JPEG pair is treated as one image.

On some high-end cameras that accept two simultaneous memory cards, you can specify that raw files be written to one card and JPEG files to the other. This implementation can be somewhat cleaner, treating the raw files as "digital negatives" that exist separately from the iPad (Figure 4):

Figure 4 Shooting Raw+JPEG using two memory cards

1. Capture photos in Raw+JPEG format, specifying that raw files be written to one card and JPEG files are written to the other.

2. Import the JPEG images into the iPad. Leave the raw files on the card and store it in your camera bag.

3. Edit and/or share the JPEG files on the iPad.

4. Export edited versions of the JPEGs to the computer; delete the rest.

5. Export the raw files to your computer.

The primary advantage of shooting Raw+JPEG is that you have more control over the JPEG files that you import into the iPad. If your intent is to quickly preview and share photos from the iPad with a little editing here and there, and if you can save to separate cards, you can specify a smaller JPEG image size in your camera’s settings. That speeds up import time and saves storage space on the iPad without affecting image quality much. Also, the raw originals are still available for editing on your computer. The disadvantage is that you’re taking up more storage space.

Looking at these various options, I prefer to shoot just raw images and bring them into the iPad. (None of my current cameras can record to dual memory cards, so shooting Raw+JPEG doesn’t offer a compelling advantage to me.)

Import Photos

Photosmith offers three avenues for importing photos into its catalog: from the photo library in the iPad’s Photos app, directly from an Eye-Fi wireless memory card, or synced from Photoshop Lightroom on the computer. (I cover Lightroom syncing later in the book.)

Import into the iPad using the iPad Camera Connection Kit

Apple’s $29 iPad Camera Connection Kit is one of the few truly essential iPad accessories; without it, I wouldn’t have been able to write this book! The kit is made up of two pieces that attach to the iPad’s dock connector: an adapter that accepts SD memory cards, and one that accepts a standard USB plug (Figure 5).

Figure 5 The two pieces of the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit enjoying a sunset together

When you’re ready to transfer the photos you shot, do the following:

1. Remove the SD card from your camera and insert it into the SD card adapter. Or, connect the USB cable that came with the camera (typically a USB-to-mini-USB cable) between the USB adapter and the camera’s USB port.

2. Wake the iPad if it’s not already on.

3. Insert the adapter into the iPad’s dock connector. If you’re connecting via USB, you may also need to power on the camera or switch it into its review or playback mode. The Photos app automatically launches and displays thumbnails of the memory card’s contents (Figure 6).

Figure 6 The contents of a memory card

When importing Raw+JPEG images, the format is marked on their thumbnails (Figure 7). You can’t choose whether to import JPEG or raw independently, though.

Figure 7 Raw+JPEG files are clearly identified.

4. If you wish to bring in all of the photos, tap the Import All button. Otherwise, tap the thumbnails of just the photos you want; a blue checkmark icon indicates a photo is selected. Unfortunately, there’s no option to view a larger version of the shots at this point. There’s also no easy way to select a range of thumbnails other than tapping each one. (iOS 4 actually included a great shortcut: touch and hold one photo, and then drag to select others without lifting your finger. That capability disappeared in iOS 5; I’m hoping it’s a glitch and that the shortcut returns in a future software update.)

5. Tap the Import button (Figure 8). You still have the opportunity to ignore your selections and import everything by tapping the Import All button. Or, tap Import Selected to copy the ones you chose in the last step. The photos begin copying to the iPad’s memory; a green checkmark icon tells you the photo has been imported.

Figure 8 Import only the photos you want.

6. After the photos are copied, you’re asked if you want to delete the imported files from the memory card. I recommend tapping the Keep button and then erasing the card using the camera’s controls.

The images appear in your Photo Library in two new, automatically created albums: Last Import and All Imported.

7. At this point, you can remove the adapter-no need to eject it, as you would on a computer. The Photos app switches to the Last Import album, where you can review the imported photos.

When the Photos app scans an inserted memory card, it identifies shots you’ve already imported with a green checkmark. For example, suppose you’re shooting with the same card that you used yesterday because there’s still plenty of free space left on it. If you tap the Import All button, you’re asked if you want to re-import all of the photos-in which case you end up with multiple copies-or to skip the duplicates.

Import from an iPhone

While I was having coffee with a friend, he asked, "So, are you going to get the cool new camera?" I must have looked puzzled, because he followed up with a grin and, "You know, the camera that also has some smartphone features." He meant the iPhone 4S, which was about to be released. He was far less interested in the specifications or new features of the device than in the substantial improvements made to its camera.

That camera is quite impressive, made more so by the fact that the iPhone is always with me. I can capture great shots without also carrying a separate camera all the time.

Getting photos from the iPhone into the iPad is as simple as importing from any other digital camera. Plug a regular iPhone sync cable into the Camera Connection Kit’s USB adapter, and then connect the iPhone and the iPad. Thumbnails appear in the Photos app, ready to be imported (Figure 9).

Figure 9 Importing photos from an iPhone into the iPad

Another direct import route from iPhone to iPad (or between any two iOS devices) is to transfer the photos wirelessly using an app called PhotoSync. As long as both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, they can bounce images back and forth, like so:

1. On the iPad, launch PhotoSync and tap the red Sync button.

2. Tap the Receive Photos/Videos button.

3. On the iPhone, launch PhotoSync and tap the thumbnail of the image or images you want to transfer.

4. Tap the Sync Selected button.

5. In the next dialog, tap the iPhone-iPod-iPad button to specify where you want to transfer the image or images to (Figure 10).

Figure 10 Transfer photos from an iPhone (shown) to an iPad using PhotoSync.

6. Tap the name of the iPad that appears. The photo or photos that you selected copy from the iPhone to the iPad.

Import photos into Photosmith

Photosmith automatically scans the iPad’s photo library and updates its catalog based on what it finds. However, you get to choose what gets included-you may not want to scroll through family photos that you synced via iTunes when you’re working in Photosmith.

The first time you launched Photosmith 2, the Setup Wizard gave you the option of choosing which photos should show up in the catalog. If you quickly skipped through the wizard in anticipation of getting started, you can run it again. Go to the Dashboard menu (tap the Dashboard button at the bottom of the screen) and tap the Setup Wizard button (Figure 11).

Figure 11 The Photosmith Setup Wizard

On the Welcome screen, tap one or more of the following buttons (and then tap the Next button several times to complete the wizard):

• Camera Roll and Imported. The Camera Roll is where the iPad stores photos it’s shot (in the case of the iPad 2 and third-generation models) or that have been imported. The Photos app also creates a Last Import Smart Album, which Photosmith peeks at to include in its Recent Imports collection.

• User Albums & iTunes Photos. Anything synced from the computer via iTunes falls into this category.

• iCloud Photo Stream. If you have an iCloud account and you’ve activated Photo Stream, those photos appear.

Of course, you can also be selective about what appears. Go to the Services menu, under Import, and tap the iPad Photos button. From there, tap the "Include specific albums" button and mark the albums you want (Figure 12). Tap the Scan Photos Now button to update the catalog.

Figure 12 Choosing which albums to scan

Import from an Eye-Fi card

Photosmith can also import photos directly from an Eye-Fi card. This is a great shortcut for getting photos onto the iPad as you’re shooting-where you can review the results on the larger screen-without having to first go through the Eye-Fi app (or better, ShutterSnitch).

However, there’s a bit of a catch: Getting the Eye-Fi to work correctly can be fussy. So, I’m going to punt here and recommend that you consult the Photosmith instructions for making the Eye-Fi transfer work: Go to the Services menu, tap the Eye-Fi button, and tap the i button in the upper-right corner of the drawer. Once you configure the card (using your Mac or Windows PC), tap the Enabled button in the Eye-Fi settings to activate Photosmith’s Eye-Fi import; tap Disabled when you don’t want to use it.

Rate Photos

As you’ll learn in the pages ahead, Photosmith features several ways to organize and group your photos. But let’s start with the most likely first action: reviewing and rating the images you imported. The app supports ratings (1-5 stars) and color labels that track with those features in Lightroom. You can also mark photos that don’t make the cut as rejected.

To rate photos, do the following:

1. Double-tap a thumbnail to expand the photo in Loupe view. Or, select a photo and tap the Fullscreen button to hide the sidebar and review the image larger. Pinch to zoom in or out to view more or less detail.

You can also tap once on a photo in Grid view to select it and then apply a rating; see "Rate multiple photos simultaneously," just ahead.

2. Tap a star rating on the QuickTag bar to assign it to the photo (Figure 13). Or, if the shot isn’t salvageable, tap the red Reject (X) button to mark it as rejected. (However, be aware that the Reject flag doesn’t sync to Lightroom; instead, the photo is just ignored and not copied into the Lightroom library.)

Figure 13 Rating a photo in Loupe view (with thumbnails visible)

To help you evaluate each photo, Photosmith displays shot metadata and a histogram above the image. Tap the histogram to toggle between RGB and grayscale values.

3. If you use colors to label your shots, tap one of the color buttons.

4. Use the Rotate buttons to turn photos that arrived with incorrect orientation in 90-degree increments.

5. Swipe left or right to switch to the next or previous photo.

6. Continue until you’ve rated all the photos you want.

To return to Grid view, tap the Grid button; the photos are marked with stars to indicate their ratings (Figure 14).

Figure 14 Ratings and color assignments appear on thumbnails in Grid view.

The values of the stars are up to you. My approach is to rate anything that looks promising (which sometimes means, "Oh hey, that one’s in focus after all!") as one star. Photos that strike me more creatively get two stars. On rare occasion I’ll assign three stars at this stage, but usually I reserve stars three through five for after I’ve edited the photos in Lightroom.

Rate multiple photos simultaneously

For an even faster initial review pass, you don’t need to enter the Loupe or Fullscreen views. Select the photos you want to rate or categorize in Grid view, and apply the information at once, like so:

1. In Grid view, tap once on a photo to select it. Tap to select others.

2. Tap the rating or color label in the QuickTag bar to apply it to each selected photo.

3. To let go of your selections, you can tap each one again, but there’s a better way: Swipe up on the QuickTag bar and tap one of the selection buttons—All, None, or Invert (Figure 15).

Figure 15 The filter controls in the expanded QuickTag bar include buttons to select all thumbnails or none, or to invert the selection.

Assign Keywords

In the interests of speed and convenience when reviewing photos, one task that’s often ignored is assigning keywords to the images. On the computer, it’s a mundane but important task (especially if you’ve ever found yourself trying to find an old photo and ended up just scrolling through thousands of shots); on the iPad, it was darn near impossible to do until only recently. Photosmith makes it easy to apply tags to a single photo or to all photos you’ve selected.

Assign existing keywords

If any of your photos already contain keywords, Photosmith pulls that information when it first scans your library. So most likely, you’ll start with a populated list of keywords.

Bring up a photo in Loupe view or select one or more photos in Grid view, and then do the following:

1. Tap the Tagging button in the sidebar.

2. Tap the Keywords field to bring up the Keywords editor (Figure 16).

Figure 16 The Keywords controls

3. To assign an existing keyword, locate it in the list on the left and tap its button. You can also choose from the lists of Recent and Popular keywords that appear to the right.

To quickly locate a keyword, begin typing it in the Search field at the top of the screen.

4. Tap Done when you’re finished.

Create new keywords

The Search field also acts as the control to define new keywords. As you type, in addition to listing matches to existing terms, the text also appears under a Create New Keyword heading (Figure 17). Tap the tag that appears to add it to the selected photo or photos and to the keyword list.

Figure 17 Creating a new keyword

Build keyword hierarchies

Keywording is a form of organization, and organization varies from person to person. While I prefer a single list of tags, you may be more comfortable with multiple levels of parent and children terms. Photosmith caters to both styles, letting you build keyword hierarchies that Lightroom understands, like so:

1. With the Keywords editor open, tap the Detail (>) button to the right of any tag to set that tag as the parent.

2. Type the name of the child keyword in the Search field. As the child keyword appears under the Create New Keyword section, Photosmith notes that it will belong to the parent tag (Figure 18).

Figure 18 Creating a new child keyword, “chocolate,” under “croissant”

3. Tap the new keyword to add it to the list and to the selected photo or photos.

4. Tap Done when you’re finished.

Remove keywords

Suppose you mistype a keyword or apply it to a term by accident. To remove a keyword from those already applied to a photo, tap and hold it and then tap the Remove button (Figure 19). Or, if you want to just remove a keyword from the hierarchy, swipe left to right over it and tap Delete.

Figure 19 Removing a keyword

Edit metadata

Keywords are essential for locating your images later and for assigning terms that can be found in photo-sharing services and commercial image catalogs, but you should also take advantage of other metadata while you’re processing your photos in Photosmith.

With one or more photos selected in your library, go to the Tagging panel of the sidebar and tap any field to enter text (Figure 20). The Photo Title and Caption fields, for example, are used to identify images on Flickr and other sites. The IPTC fields are also important, because they embed your contact information, copyright statement, and job-specific metadata into the image file.

Figure 20 Add metadata to multiple selected photos.

Create metadata presets

Unless you’re narcissistic and enjoy typing your name over and over, you don’t want to re-enter the same metadata for each photo. Create metadata presets that include all your information, and then apply them to your photos in batches.

1. Select at least one photo in Grid view, or switch to Loupe view.

2. In the Tagging menu, tap the New Preset button.

3. In the drawer that appears, rename the preset at the top of the drawer, and fill in any other metadata fields you wish to save (Figure 21). For example, you may want a generic preset that includes your contact and copyright information, and an additional one that applies to a specific location or project.

Figure 21 Creating a metadata preset

To apply that metadata, do the following:

1. In the Tagging menu, tap the name of the preset you created. The information appears in the drawer.

2. Any fields you filled out before are selected automatically; if you want to omit one, tap the checkbox to the right of the field to deselect it.

3. Tap the “Apply to X photos” button to tag the selected photos.

If you want to choose a different preset without applying anything, tap the preset’s name in the sidebar to hide its drawer.

You can edit a metadata preset at any time simply by updating the contents of the fields. However, the change isn’t retroactive—earlier photos tagged with that preset don’t gain the new information.

Filter Photos

Now that you’ve rated and tagged the photos and applied metadata to them, take advantage of Photosmith’s filtering tools to customize which images appear based on all that information. Swipe up on the QuickTag bar in Grid view to reveal the filtering options.

Filter by metadata

Here’s where that rating and tagging pays off. To display photos that match certain criteria, do the following in Grid view:

1. Swipe up on the QuickTag bar to reveal the filter options.

2. Tap the Set Filters button to reveal more specific filter controls.

3. Tap the criteria you wish to filter against (Figure 22). Selecting a star rating displays only images matching that rating. Selecting multiple ratings displays photos tagged with any of those ratings; for example, choosing the 1-star and 3-star buttons reveals only images with one or three stars, not two stars.

Figure 22 Filtering by metadata

You can also filter by color labels and rejected status, or you can enter text that would match titles, captions, or keywords.

4. Tap Done to apply the filters.

5. To toggle filtering on and off, tap the button to the left of the Set Filters button.

Filter using Smart Groups

Here’s an issue I run into often when importing photos into Lightroom. The pictures on my memory cards tend to span several events, or even days if I haven’t been shooting regularly. Lightroom sees the photos as one big collection, regardless of their contents. If I want to split them out into groups—and more importantly, apply accurate metadata during import—I need to bring them over from the camera in several batches.

Photosmith’s Smart Groups feature enables you to view those photos in separate batches, adjusted on the fly using a simple slider control. Even if the photos cover one larger event, it’s likely they represent distinct experiences. For example, when I’m on vacation I don’t usually sit around and shoot in one place. I could be fly-fishing in the morning, sightseeing in town in the early afternoon, hiking later in the day, and waiting for the sunset at a scenic overlook in the evening.

When I bring the photos I took during that day into the iPad, I get them all in one event based on the date they were shot. Even importing in batches doesn’t help, because I end up with just the iPad’s Last Imported and All Imported smart collections, not the groupings I prefer (and I can’t assign metadata anyway).

A better and faster workflow instead works like this:

1. Import all the photos into the iPad.

2. In Photosmith, swipe up on the QuickTag bar to make the Smart Groups slider visible.

3. Drag the slider to the left to break the library down into finer events (Figure 23). Or, to group more photos together, drag to the right.

Figure 23 Viewing using the Smart Groups slider

Although this grouping doesn’t change the locations of the files in the Photos app—they’re not put into new albums or anything like that—it does give you the opportunity to select ranges of photos by tapping the button to the left of the date stamps. Then you can apply ratings and keywords in batches that better match the grouping of real-life events.

Change the sort order and criteria

Normally, photos appear in Grid view based on their capture date, with the newest additions at the bottom of the list. To change the order in which they appear, or to list them by import date, star rating, or color label, do the following:

1. Swipe up on the QuickTag bar to reveal the filter options.

2. To toggle the sort order between descending and ascending, tap the arrow to the right of the Sort button.

3. Tap the Sort button itself (which is named according to the current criteria) to reveal more sorting options.

4. Tap the button for the sorting criterion you wish to use (Figure 24).

Figure 24 Choosing sort criteria

5. Tap Done to go back to the filter options.

Group Photos into Collections

I mentioned earlier that people organize photos in different ways—and that includes how they group photos. For some, having metadata in place is good enough to locate photos using filters and searches. Other people prefer to store images in albums, folders, or other types of digital shoeboxes. Photosmith’s collections scratch that itch, giving photos an address within the app where they can be easily found, versus being scattered throughout the larger library. (Collections also play an important part in syncing between the iPad and Lightroom, as I’ll discuss shortly.)

Follow these steps to add photos to a collection:

1. Select the photos in your library that you want to include in a collection.

2. If you need to create a collection from scratch, tap the New Collection button and give the collection a name.

3. To add the selected photos to the collection, take one of two actions:

• Drag one of the photos onto the collection’s name in the sidebar; all selected photos will accompany it.

• Tap the collection’s Detail (>) button to view its options in the sidebar drawer, and then tap the Add Selected Photos button (Figure 25).

Figure 25 Adding photos to a collection

Deleting photos from a collection is just as easy: Select the photos you wish to remove, tap the collection’s Detail (>) button, and tap the Remove Selected Photos button.

Sync with Photoshop Lightroom

And now we get to the whole point of using an app like Photosmith. Rating and tagging is helpful, but if you can’t transfer that metadata with your photos to Lightroom, all the work you put into it ends up being futile. Photosmith offers two methods to synchronize your images and data: a publish service that enables bidirectional transfer between Lightroom and Photosmith, and a plug-in that allows only transfer from Photosmith to Lightroom.

Photosmith publish service

Lightroom’s Publish Services panel lets you sync photos to your libraries on Flickr, Facebook, and others. Photosmith takes advantage of this conduit, enabling two-way synchronization between the iPad and the desktop. Download the free Photosmith plug-in at www.photosmithapp.com, and install it in Lightroom using the Plug-in Manager.

Figure 26 Choose where on disk your images will end up.

Sync photos

To synchronize everything in Photosmith’s catalog, do the following:

1. Make sure Photosmith is running on the iPad, Lightroom is running on your computer, and both devices are on the same network.

2. In Photosmith, go to the Services menu and click the Lightroom button.

3. Tap the Sync Now button to sync the catalog. The photos transfer to Lightroom, and any collections you’ve made are kept intact (Figure 27).

Figure 27 Sync all photos in your catalog.

Or, synchronize just a collection. I like this option when I am dealing with a specific project—a single photo shoot or location—and don’t want to transfer every new photo from the iPad to Lightroom. Tap the collection’s Detail (>) button and then tap the Sync Now button (Figure 28).

Figure 28 Sync the photos from just one collection.

Apply Develop settings

Does your camera tend to capture everything with a slight color cast? Or perhaps you’ve hit upon a favorite combination of edits that reflect your photographic style. If you’ve saved those values as Develop module presets, you can apply them (or any of the built-in Lightroom ones) during the sync process. Since Lightroom is performing the edits, they’re non-destructive, so you can change or remove them within Lightroom at any point. Double-click the Photosmith publish service to bring up the Lightroom Publishing Manager, and expand the Photosmith -> Lightroom Image Options section.

Then select the Develop Settings checkbox and choose the setting you want (Figure 29).

Figure 29 Apply During Import options

Apply a metadata preset

Earlier, I bemoaned the fact that Photosmith can’t save keyword tags in a metadata preset. With help from Lightroom, you can overcome that limitation by applying one of Lightroom’s metadata presets at import. If you’ve already created metadata presets in Lightroom, go to the Lightroom Publishing Manager, select the Metadata Preset checkbox, and then choose the preset you want. In the Action pop-up menu that appears, set how the data will be applied: Photosmith first, Lightroom first, just Photosmith, or just Lightroom.

Sync keywords

In addition to transferring the image files, Photosmith keeps Lightroom’s library of keywords up to date every time you sync. This option, also in the Lightroom Publishing Manager, gives you the option of syncing just the keywords applied to the current set of photos or syncing all keywords in the catalog (which happens more slowly).

Photosmith Plug-in Extras

If you’d prefer to transfer photos one-way from Photosmith to Lightroom, use the Plug-in Extras functionality:

1. In Lightroom, choose File > Plug-in Extras > Photosmith, and then choose one of the following options:

• Sync Keywords: Transfers only the keyword list.

• Sync Multiple Collections: Transfers one or more collections that you choose.

2. Click the Sync Now button to transfer keywords. Or, select one or more collection names and then click the Sync Collections Now button to transfer collections (Figure 30).

Figure 30 Sync multiple collections from Lightroom.

3. Click Close to exit the dialog.

Sync photos from Lightroom to Photosmith

Consider this alternate scenario: You didn’t get a chance to review your photos in Photosmith while you were out in the field, and you imported them into Lightroom directly from the camera. However, you’d still like to use Photosmith to review the shots, rather than accomplish the task while chained to your computer. The Photosmith plug-in can transfer JPEG versions of your photos (optimized for the iPad’s screen if you want, cutting down on storage space and transfer time). Rate and tag them there, and then sync the metadata back to Lightroom when you’re ready.

1. In Lightroom, right-click the Photosmith publish service and choose Create User Collection.

2. Enter a custom name for the collection in the dialog that appears (Figure 31).

Figure 31 Create a user collection in Lightroom.

3. Click the Create button. If Photosmith is running, an empty collection automatically appears.

4. With the collection selected, click the Publish button. Or, in Photosmith, sync the catalog or just the collection. The images copy to the iPad.

After you mark the photos on the iPad, sync the collection or your entire library to update the changes in Lightroom. The same applies if you update a synced photo’s metadata in Lightroom: When you sync again, the last-updated version is retained on both devices.

Export to Photosmith

If those aren’t enough options, you can also set up Photosmith as an export target. In Lightroom, choose File > Export and then specify Photosmith from the Export To menu. You can specify the image format and size, and you can choose whether to sync keywords for the entire library (slower) or just the keywords in use by photos (faster). The export settings can also be set up as a preset for easier export later.