Adobe demos mobile RAW editing using Lightroom for iPad

Adobe has demonstrated Lightroom running on an iPad during an internet show, called The Grid, with full RAW processing power.

Mobile devices are becoming more important in people’s lives than full-sized desktops. Most analysts are predicting that tablet shipments will overcome smartphones sales sometime in the next ten years and companies are looking to seize this opportunity.

Adobe Lightroom for iPad has been demoed on The Grid by the company’s Tom Hogarty, who edited a RAW image file.

Adobe edits RAW file using Lightroom for iPad during online photography show

One of the companies which are very serious about mobile platforms is Adobe. During an online show the company has showed its Lightroom software running on an iOS device, the iPad 2.

An Adobe Photoshop version is available on iOS devices. However, it cannot process RAW files. Things will be very differently from now on, as Lightroom is coming to the iPad and photographers will be allowed to edit and organize their photos on the go.

High-resolution RAW photo was taken with a Canon 5D Mark III

The demonstration comes from Tom Hogarty, the Group Product Manager at Adobe. He showed Scott Kelby, the host of  The Grid and a very popular photographer, how to process a RAW image taken with a Canon 5D Mark III on an iPad.

Hogarty edited the shadows, color temperature, and the highlights. He even managed to fully zoom in the photo. All these actions require a lot of processing power, but it is worth mentioning that Lightroom on iPad looks like a stripped down version with a questionable user interface.

Adobe’s Group Product Manager added that some settings will require more power than others, meaning that some of them might “make the iPad explode”.

Creative Cloud subscription may be required

Tom Hogarty said that Lightroom on iPad is connected to Lightroom on PC through the cloud. The collections can be syncronized, thus allowing users to edit RAW photos.

It is believed that Lightroom for iPad will be a part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud services, which cost $49.99 per month. This would mean that the application itself will be free, but it will require a paid subscription as well as owning the full program on your Windows or desktop PC.

Adobe’s Hogarty has mentioned that this is just the beginning and that we are going to hear more about the technology in the near future.