Ipad screen brightness for editing

[NPUK]

Hi... I'm toying with the idea of getting an ipad for photo editing because as an amateur, I like the convenience of editing while sat on the sofa rather than having to sit at a computer.
I believe the latest ipads have very accurate displays which can't generally be changed, but I'm wondering if people who use an ipad for post processing use a specific brightness each time they edit photos..?

Thanks

 

[dans_shutter]

Don't use an iPad however I do sometimes edit photos on my Samsung Note. I bump up the brightness a bit but not always the same amount as it depends on the ambient light.
If you are going the iPad route I strongly suggest a model pen compatible as it would make the use of brush tool a doddle.

 

[NPUK]

If you are going the iPad route I strongly suggest a model pen compatible as it would make the use of brush tool a doddle.

Yes, I definitely want to try the pen. Torn between the ipad Air and ipad Pro.

 

[dans_shutter]

It all comes down to how much you want to part with (budget). For just editing photos I don't think it's worth paying the premium for the Pro. Having said that the screen is slightly bigger on the Pro.... so it would make it a bit easier.
If you have the funds and don't want to be haunted by the 'what if' question go for the Pro.

I don't think I'm helping with your decision making process am I?

 

[NPUK]

It all comes down to how much you want to part with (budget). For just editing photos I don't think it's worth paying the premium for the Pro. Having said that the screen is slightly bigger on the Pro.... so it would make it a bit easier.
If you have the funds and don't want to be haunted by the 'what if' question go for the Pro.

I don't think I'm helping with your decision making process am I?

Apple price everything just right to make me indecisive. I don't think I'll get the biggest screen as it's overkill for me but the 11 inch ipad pro isn't massively more expensive than the ipad air, although Argos do have a deal on at the moment for an extra £75 off the ipad Air meaning £125 less overall, but when spending hundreds that's not that significant.
I can justify the extra cost to myself but any Pro version might be overkill compared to what the Air is capable of.
And your feedback is welcome and doesn't make the decision making more difficult... Apple do that by themselves.

 

[Yukyum]

If you think you’ll use the iPad as your main editing machine and you can afford it, go for the 12.9 inch version. The extra screen size will make a big difference. Start at the M1 12.9 version, that will give you at least another 5 years of support and updates and be able to handle RAW edits. Some software is starting to insist on the more powerful chips so if you can. Future proof as much as possible.

You could look at the 11 inch Pro too or the latest Air but as Apple have ramped up the pricing it’s easy to just keep jumping to the next model. It’s worth spending an hour in a shop trying them out. The Apple Store tends to have a couple of photo editing apps installed but even the stock Photos app will be enough to fiddle with if you have to go to a Currys or similar.

Look into buying second hand, either somewhere like MusicMagpie or Apple refurbished. Same for the Pencil and any accessories. Always look at second hand savings. If you have a student in the family Apple do a slight discount but not a huge amount. Look into refurbs first, as good as new and same 12 months warranty.

 

[Dave Canon]

I have an iPad and it has Lightroom but I would not consider using it for editing myself and would much rather sit at my properly calibrated dual screen PC. Of course, you must do what you think is right for you.

Dave

 

[NPUK]

If you think you’ll use the iPad as your main editing machine and you can afford it, go for the 12.9 inch version. The extra screen size will make a big difference. Start at the M1 12.9 version, that will give you at least another 5 years of support and updates and be able to handle RAW edits. Some software is starting to insist on the more powerful chips so if you can. Future proof as much as possible.

You could look at the 11 inch Pro too or the latest Air but as Apple have ramped up the pricing it’s easy to just keep jumping to the next model. It’s worth spending an hour in a shop trying them out. The Apple Store tends to have a couple of photo editing apps installed but even the stock Photos app will be enough to fiddle with if you have to go to a Currys or similar.

I think I've decided that if I do take the plunge it will be the ipad pro and not the ipad air. I'm leaning towards that 11 inch version but one thing did occur to me over the weekend that could affect that decision but I'll post that question as a separate thread/title.

 

[Craikeybaby]

I don't think anyone has answered the original question - but another thing to be wary of with the iPad display is "True Tone" shifting the colour balance based on ambient light.

 

[NPUK]

I don't think anyone has answered the original question - but another thing to be wary of with the iPad display is "True Tone" shifting the colour balance based on ambient light.

Thanks for the heads up.... I had heard about that but forgotten so thanks for the reminder.

 

[Craikeybaby]

You may be able to get around it by using the Shortcuts or Focus modes to set up an "editing" mode, with consistent display settings activated whenever you open Lightroom.

 

[NPUK]

You may be able to get around it by using the Shortcuts or Focus modes to set up an "editing" mode, with consistent display settings activated whenever you open Lightroom.

I believe you can just turn off True Tone..... Or are you talking about getting around something else ?

 

[Musicman]

I believe you can just turn off True Tone..... Or are you talking about getting around something else ?

IIRC TrueTone is an option to turn on (or off) during the initial setup of an iPad - I never turned it on with mine for the reason outlined above

In any case it’s always accessible to turn off in Settings

 

[RichardC27]

You may be able to get around it by using the Shortcuts or Focus modes to set up an "editing" mode, with consistent display settings activated whenever you open Lightroom.

You can just turn True Tone off in the display settings, there is a toggle for it.

I've been iPad Pro only for over three years now, on an 11" 2018 model. The Pencil is an absolute must, it transforms the editing experience. I usually have the screen set at about 75% brightness for editing, and always have the Histogram showing in LR so I can confirm my brightness levels. I wish I'd gone for the 12.9" model now, when I finally replace this iPad I'll go for the bigger version.

One thing to note if you're going for a brand new iPad, only the 256GB Air and the Pro models have full external monitor support now. There is nothing really that the Pros can do that the Air can't. The 12.9" Pro has a mini-LED display, whereas the 11" Pro just has a normal LCD panel. The Pros have 120Hz refresh rate which is nice to have but not exactly game changing. The Pros have 4 speakers whereas the Air only has 2. Struggling to think of anything else different to be honest. Obviously if you've got the cash or definitely want the 12.9" screen go for the Pro. The decision between an 11" Pro and the Air is much harder.

If you're going for a keyboard and trackpad the Logitech Combo Touch is more capable and much cheaper than the ridiculously overpriced Apple keyboard

 

[NPUK]

I've been iPad Pro only for over three years now, on an 11" 2018 model. The Pencil is an absolute must, it transforms the editing experience. I usually have the screen set at about 75% brightness for editing, and always have the Histogram showing in LR so I can confirm my brightness levels. I wish I'd gone for the 12.9" model now, when I finally replace this iPad I'll go for the bigger version.

Thanks for the input Richard.... Would you mind giving your thoughts on the subsequent thread that I posted regarding Lightroom on the 11 inch iPad ?....

Lightroom toolbars/sliders query on iPad

Hi... I'm thinking about getting an iPad Pro, and trying to decide between the 11 inch vs 12.9 inch versions and a thought occurred to me over the weekend which could affect that decision... I have read online in the past that Lightroom had an update which resulted in the editing window being...

www.talkphotography.co.uk

 

[RichardC27]

Thanks for the input Richard.... Would you mind giving your thoughts on the subsequent thread that I posted regarding Lightroom on the 11 inch iPad ?....

Lightroom toolbars/sliders query on iPad

Hi... I'm thinking about getting an iPad Pro, and trying to decide between the 11 inch vs 12.9 inch versions and a thought occurred to me over the weekend which could affect that decision... I have read online in the past that Lightroom had an update which resulted in the editing window being...

www.talkphotography.co.uk

Just replied there, think I added some to my previous comment here after you'd quoted as well. As I say I've been 11" iPad Pro only for years now and can't imagine going back to editing with a mouse at a desk.

 

[Craikeybaby]

I believe you can just turn off True Tone..... Or are you talking about getting around something else ?

Yes, but if you are using the iPad for other things, it is useful to have it on.

Basically, if you aren't just using it for editing, you can set it up so that your display settings are optimised for editing, whenever you open Lightroom (or any other app), so they are consistent.

 

[Musicman]

You can just turn True Tone off in the display settings, there is a toggle for it.

I've been iPad Pro only for over three years now, on an 11" 2018 model. The Pencil is an absolute must, it transforms the editing experience. I usually have the screen set at about 75% brightness for editing, and always have the Histogram showing in LR so I can confirm my brightness levels. I wish I'd gone for the 12.9" model now, when I finally replace this iPad I'll go for the bigger version.

One thing to note if you're going for a brand new iPad, only the 256GB Air and the Pro models have full external monitor support now. There is nothing really that the Pros can do that the Air can't. The 12.9" Pro has a mini-LED display, whereas the 11" Pro just has a normal LCD panel. The Pros have 120Hz refresh rate which is nice to have but not exactly game changing. The Pros have 4 speakers whereas the Air only has 2. Struggling to think of anything else different to be honest. Obviously if you've got the cash or definitely want the 12.9" screen go for the Pro. The decision between an 11" Pro and the Air is much harder.

If you're going for a keyboard and trackpad the Logitech Combo Touch is more capable and much cheaper than the ridiculously overpriced Apple keyboard

Possibly depends how much storage you need, especially if you are editing RAW files. I do my photo editing on a MacBook Pro with 1TB onboard storage which I consider the minimum for practical use (allowing a decent amount of space available for swap/virtual memory if it's ever needed).

The Air maxes out at 256GB, but the iPad Pro go up to 2TB.

You can save a few quid buying a previous generation iPad Pro at the Apple Refurb store. A 3rd Gen iPad Pro with 256GB is £719 vs £849 for a similarly-specced current-model iPad Air

Refurbished iPad - iPad Pro 11" - iPad Pro 12.9"

Save up to 15% on a refurbished iPad at Apple Online Store with free delivery. All models are Apple-certified with a 1-year warranty.

www.apple.com

 

[RichardC27]

Possibly depends how much storage you need, especially if you are editing RAW files. I do my photo editing on a MacBook Pro with 1TB onboard storage which I consider the minimum for practical use (allowing a decent amount of space available for swap/virtual memory if it's ever needed).

The Air maxes out at 256GB, but the iPad Pro go up to 2TB.

You can save a few quid buying a previous generation iPad Pro at the Apple Refurb store. A 3rd Gen iPad Pro with 256GB is £719 vs £849 for a similarly-specced current-model iPad Air

Refurbished iPad - iPad Pro 11" - iPad Pro 12.9"

Save up to 15% on a refurbished iPad at Apple Online Store with free delivery. All models are Apple-certified with a 1-year warranty.

www.apple.com

I have a 256GB iPad with 1TB Creative cloud subscription. Always shoot raw and I've never come close to running out of space. LR doesn't store Raw files on the iPad unless you expressly tell it to. One thing to note is the 1Tb and above Pros have 16GB of RAM, below that it's 8GB.

 

[Musicman]

I have a 256GB iPad with 1TB Creative cloud subscription. Always shoot raw and I've never come close to running out of space. LR doesn't store Raw files on the iPad unless you expressly tell it to. One thing to note is the 1Tb and above Pros have 16GB of RAM, below that it's 8GB.

Fair enough. I'm a die-hard Lightroom Classic user with nearly 175K images in my LR Catalog, about 4TB of RAWs accumulated over the last 20 years. My Lightroom Catalog and the JPEG Previews take up 100 GB on their own, which would be a significant chunk of the 256GB if that translated to LR CC on an iPad.

 

[the black fox]

I personally wouldn’t go down the I.pad route for editing . I have a i.phone 12 and I.pad 7th gen , plus a 27inch I.mac the latter being the oldest and due for replacement .but although they should all synch together the i.mac gives me the most control over everything .

 

[RichardC27]

Fair enough. I'm a die-hard Lightroom Classic user with nearly 175K images in my LR Catalog, about 4TB of RAWs accumulated over the last 20 years. My Lightroom Catalog and the JPEG Previews take up 100 GB on their own, which would be a significant chunk of the 256GB if that translated to LR CC on an iPad.

LR doesn't really take up any space on the iPad, it only downloads smart previews unless you specifically tell it to keep the Raw files locally. I tend to keep Raws local while I'm working on them but then they can go up to the cloud and be removed from the iPad.

You can sync your collections from LR Classic to the iPad if you like. It will just upload the previews into the cloud, but they don't count at all towards your cloud storage limit. So you could have your entire library available on an iPad or phone and not use a single MB of your cloud storage. That refurbished 12.9" M1 iPad Pro in your link is very tempting at that price.

 

[Musicman]

You can sync your collections from LR Classic to the iPad if you like. It will just upload the previews into the cloud, but they don't count at all towards your cloud storage limit. So you could have your entire library available on an iPad or phone and not use a single MB of your cloud storage. That refurbished 12.9" M1 iPad Pro in your link is very tempting at that price.

Yes, that's the limit of my usage of LRCC on the iPad - when I put photos into synced Collections in LR Classic on my Mac, they turn up simultaneously in both the web app and iPad/iPhone app. I only really use it for casual review and editing metadata on the iPad, though, and very rarely edit there.

 

[Mintchocs]

On a tangent something like this which I saw for £349. I haven’t used it but it maybe something to consider as you said you just don’t want to sit in front of a desktop.

XP-Pen Artist15.6 Pro 15.6 Inch Graphics Drawing Tablet Pen Display 1920 x 1080 FHD IPS Monitor 88% NTSC Gamut Coverage Support Tilt Function 8192 Pen Pressure With Drawing Stand​

 

[RichardC27]

On a tangent something like this which I saw for £349. I haven’t used it but it maybe something to consider as you said you just don’t want to sit in front of a desktop.

XP-Pen Artist15.6 Pro 15.6 Inch Graphics Drawing Tablet Pen Display 1920 x 1080 FHD IPS Monitor 88% NTSC Gamut Coverage Support Tilt Function 8192 Pen Pressure With Drawing Stand​

That still needs to be connected to a PC or Mac to function.

 

[Mintchocs]

Are there wireless ones? Hopefully someone will know.