Lightroom toolbars/sliders query on iPad

[NPUK]

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 relatively small due to the dominance of the toolbars. This may have been an update from a few years ago and may have been rectified now but I'd just like to check that if you are editing a portrait orientation photo and the ipad is also in portrait orientation then do the side toolbars dominate the screen too much on the 11 inch version ?
I watched some youtube videos over the weekend and it seems that you can tap once on the photo and enter full screen mode and continue editing with just the slider/tool you are using being visible and the others disappear but I'm not sure if that applies to all tools or just some ?

Thanks for any info.

 

[RichardC27]

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 relatively small due to the dominance of the toolbars. This may have been an update from a few years ago and may have been rectified now but I'd just like to check that if you are editing a portrait orientation photo and the ipad is also in portrait orientation then do the side toolbars dominate the screen too much on the 11 inch version ?
I watched some youtube videos over the weekend and it seems that you can tap once on the photo and enter full screen mode and continue editing with just the slider/tool you are using being visible and the others disappear but I'm not sure if that applies to all tools or just some ?

Thanks for any info.

I've never found it to be a problem on mine, put it that way. I tend to edit in landscape mode all the time but editing a portrait orientation photo in portrait mode isn't bad. I've never felt cramped. I can post a photo of my 11" iPad editing in portrait orientation tomorrow if that helps? LR for the iPad is updated all the time so something posted a couple of years ago may not apply now.

 

[NPUK]

I've never found it to be a problem on mine, put it that way. I tend to edit in landscape mode all the time but editing a portrait orientation photo in portrait mode isn't bad. I've never felt cramped. I can post a photo of my 11" iPad editing in portrait orientation tomorrow if that helps? LR for the iPad is updated all the time so something posted a couple of years ago may not apply now.

Thanks Richard. It would be great if you could test out the one touch full screen mode that I mentioned to check if most tools can be used whilst still viewing the whole photo on full screen.

 

[RichardC27]

Thanks Richard. It would be great if you could test out the one touch full screen mode that I mentioned to check if most tools can be used whilst still viewing the whole photo on full screen.

So what happens if you zoom into the photo is that the toolbars still remain, but when you actually start adjusting a slider the toolbars all disappear and you have a sort of floating slider with the image underneath. It's much easier to just use the normal UI. There isn't a button to go to 100% like on desktop LR. I only zoom in when I'm doing detail masking or cloning with the pencil when obviously it's easier to just work on a tiny bit of the image.

 

[Lost_Manc]

I have the 11 inch Pro. So hopefully I can offer some general insights too as well as answer your point in this thread.

Firstly. Having bought the 11 and seeing how much quicker it is to do everything in LR vs my i5 MacBook Pro (admittedly low spec and never intended to be used for editing but did anyway!) I wish I gone for the 12.9 for the screen size. I don’t regret the 11 though as I use it for much more than just editing and for those uses it’s much more comfortable to hold than the 12.9 imo at least.

A benefit to the Pro’s which I didn’t notice mentioned in your other thread is the Pencil 2 vs Pencil 1.
The Pencil 2 is much better imo. Read up on the differences if you haven’t already but the biggest issue now at least with the original Pencil 1 and the non Pro but usb-c iPads is to pair and wake up the Pencil you need an adapter and cable to hand whereas the Pencil 2 wireless charges by magnetically Attaching to the side of the iPad Pro.

As for editing on the iPad Pro 11 I know a screenshot is not always helpful but I find the room to be absolutely fine even for intricate work. A mixture of finger and Pencil use makes it a doddle to do.

Landscape…


Portrait…


To me both useable but landscape is better.
If I had no option but to only use the iPad I wouldn’t be overly bothered.

Glyn Dewis on YouTube has started doing a lot of videos showcasing LR Mobile on both mobile and iPad. Worth a look.

 

[NPUK]

I have the 11 inch Pro. So hopefully I can offer some general insights too as well as answer your point in this thread.

Firstly. Having bought the 11 and seeing how much quicker it is to do everything in LR vs my i5 MacBook Pro (admittedly low spec and never intended to be used for editing but did anyway!) I wish I gone for the 12.9 for the screen size. I don’t regret the 11 though as I use it for much more than just editing and for those uses it’s much more comfortable to hold than the 12.9 imo at least.

A benefit to the Pro’s which I didn’t notice mentioned in your other thread is the Pencil 2 vs Pencil 1.
The Pencil 2 is much better imo. Read up on the differences if you haven’t already but the biggest issue now at least with the original Pencil 1 and the non Pro but usb-c iPads is to pair and wake up the Pencil you need an adapter and cable to hand whereas the Pencil 2 wireless charges by magnetically Attaching to the side of the iPad Pro.

As for editing on the iPad Pro 11 I know a screenshot is not always helpful but I find the room to be absolutely fine even for intricate work. A mixture of finger and Pencil use makes it a doddle to do.

Landscape…
View attachment 384453

Portrait
View attachment 384454

To me both useable but landscape is better.

Thanks Lost_Manc.... But what about editing a portrait orientation photo ?

 

[NPUK]

@Lost_Manc .... What does the 6th tool down on the right hand side do ? It looks like it might minimise the sliders ? or does it switch the side of the screen they are on ?

 

[Lost_Manc]

Thanks Lost_Manc.... But what about editing a portrait orientation photo ?

I don’t have anything to hand to post a screenshot as it has identifiable people in however just loaded one up and again. No issue whilst holding or standing iPad in either orientation imo.

 

[Lost_Manc]

@Lost_Manc .... What does the 6th tool down on the right hand side do ? It looks like it might minimise the sliders ? or does it switch the side of the screen they are on ?

It allows you to copy adjustments between photos…



You can switch to left handed mode in the settings and put the controls on the left though if wanted or needed…

 

[RichardC27]

I have the 11 inch Pro. So hopefully I can offer some general insights too as well as answer your point in this thread.

Firstly. Having bought the 11 and seeing how much quicker it is to do everything in LR vs my i5 MacBook Pro (admittedly low spec and never intended to be used for editing but did anyway!) I wish I gone for the 12.9 for the screen size. I don’t regret the 11 though as I use it for much more than just editing and for those uses it’s much more comfortable to hold than the 12.9 imo at least.

A benefit to the Pro’s which I didn’t notice mentioned in your other thread is the Pencil 2 vs Pencil 1.
The Pencil 2 is much better imo. Read up on the differences if you haven’t already but the biggest issue now at least with the original Pencil 1 and the non Pro but usb-c iPads is to pair and wake up the Pencil you need an adapter and cable to hand whereas the Pencil 2 wireless charges by magnetically Attaching to the side of the iPad Pro.

As for editing on the iPad Pro 11 I know a screenshot is not always helpful but I find the room to be absolutely fine even for intricate work. A mixture of finger and Pencil use makes it a doddle to do.

Landscape…
View attachment 384453

Portrait…
View attachment 384454

To me both useable but landscape is better.
If I had no option but to only use the iPad I wouldn’t be overly bothered.

Glyn Dewis on YouTube has started doing a lot of videos showcasing LR Mobile on both mobile and iPad. Worth a look.

Have you used the new toggle in iPadOS display options to get More Space? It makes the toolbars and sliders slightly smaller, giving more space for the image and more vertical space for tools. With it enabled I can see all of the HSL Sliders in the Colour menu without scrolling down on my 11" iPad.

 

[NPUK]

Have you used the new toggle in iPadOS display options to get More Space? It makes the toolbars and sliders slightly smaller, giving more space for the image and more vertical space for tools. With it enabled I can see all of the HSL Sliders in the Colour menu without scrolling down on my 11" iPad.

Along the same lines... The following video from Peter McKinnon has full screen editing with minimised sliders at 4m36s and again at 4m59s. I'm hoping this is possible on the 11 inch version and not just on the 12.9 inch version.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHDYJ7e5BMg

 

[RichardC27]

Along the same lines... The following video from Peter McKinnon has full screen editing with minimised sliders at 4m36s and again at 4m59s. I'm hoping this is possible on the 11 inch version and not just on the 12.9 inch version.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHDYJ7e5BMg

Yes that's exactly how it works on the 11" as well. He posted an earlier version of this video in 2019 which actually convinced me the iPad was the way to go for my photo editing. LR on the iPad has come on a long way even since that video you have posted.

 

[NPUK]

Yes that's exactly how it works on the 11" as well. He posted an earlier version of this video in 2019 which actually convinced me the iPad was the way to go for my photo editing. LR on the iPad has come on a long way even since that video you have posted.

Ok, thanks for clarifying. I couldn't work out from the videos how the minimised sliders are triggered. Sometimes all the sliders and toolbars are present and visible while adjusting them and sometimes only the one being used is visible.

 

[Lost_Manc]

Have you used the new toggle in iPadOS display options to get More Space? It makes the toolbars and sliders slightly smaller, giving more space for the image and more vertical space for tools. With it enabled I can see all of the HSL Sliders in the Colour menu without scrolling down on my 11" iPad.

I hadn’t tried that but just have. Makes a difference. Will see how it goes and whether it is too much elsewhere but looks useful so thanks for mentioning it.

Ok, thanks for clarifying. I couldn't work out from the videos how the minimised sliders are triggered. Sometimes all the sliders and toolbars are present and visible while adjusting them and sometimes only the one being used is visible.

The behaviour depends on whether the picture is zoomed in or not.

So in the screenshots above where you can see the whole image you will have the complete toolbar and all sliders regardless of whether you are adjusting one.

If you zoom the image in a bit so that the whole image is no longer being shown on screen then when you start to adjust a slider they all disappear to show more image and just the overlay of the slider you are using remains on screen. As soon as you lift finger or pencil off the screen it snaps back to showing all tools/sliders.

 

[NPUK]

I hadn’t tried that but just have. Makes a difference. Will see how it goes and whether it is too much elsewhere but looks useful so thanks for mentioning it.


The behaviour depends on whether the picture is zoomed in or not.

So in the screenshots above where you can see the whole image you will have the complete toolbar and all sliders regardless of whether you are adjusting one.

If you zoom the image in a bit so that the whole image is no longer being shown on screen then when you start to adjust a slider they all disappear to show more image and just the overlay of the slider you are using remains on screen. As soon as you lift finger or pencil off the screen it snaps back to showing all tools/sliders.

Depending on how little you need to zoom in for that to kick in it' a shame you can't just choose to work like that with the full image. I've seen that the tone curve adjustment can be carried out overlayed with the image covering the full screen. Do you know if other adjustments can be done like that too ?

 

[RichardC27]

Depending on how little you need to zoom in for that to kick in it' a shame you can't just choose to work like that with the full image. I've seen that the tone curve adjustment can be carried out overlayed with the image covering the full screen. Do you know if other adjustments can be done like that too ?

The Android app works like that on tablets, as it's just the blown up phone UI rather than a specific tablet app. Maybe a Samsung tablet would be better if working that way is your primary consideration? I'd honestly never thought the slider UI gets in the way at all on my iPad.

 

[NPUK]

Maybe a Samsung tablet would be better if working that way is your primary consideration?

Ha... That was my original plan last year but after posting on here at the time, I got steered away from Android to iPad.

 

[RichardC27]

Ha... That was my original plan last year but after posting on here at the time, I got steered away from Android to iPad.

I have an Android phone, I've been an Android user since about 2010 but tablet wise I wouldn't consider anything but an iPad or a Surface. The app support just isn't there on Android tablets. But if the toolbars disappearing is that important then Android is the way to go. The caveat to that is you're only one update away from Adobe making an actual tablet UI and it looking the same as the iPad anyway. Best thing I can say is go to an Apple Store or somewhere like Currys and have a play with a display iPad Pro.

 

[RichardC27]

As promised, here is a screenshot of a portrait orientation image in LR on my 11” iPad held in portrait orientation. Also a landscape image with the colour and HSL sliders visible so you have an idea of how much space the tools take up..

 

[NPUK]

As promised, here is a screenshot of a portrait orientation image in LR on my 11” iPad held in portrait orientation. Also a landscape image with the colour and HSL sliders visible so you have an idea of how much space the tools take up..

Thanks Richard