How to get iPhone pictures onto my laptop and into LR

[hdomke]

How can I get iPhone 6 Plus JPGs automatically moved into the Pictures folder on my MacBook Pro and imported into LR5 at the same time?

Ideally the JPGs on my iPhone would be automatically deleted after they’ve been moved onto the laptop.  

I have zero interest in using LR on my iPhone.
I looked at using LR Mobile but it seems to store the JPGs in the Creative Cloud.

I’m not sure what pathway the JPGs would follow to travel from my iPhone to the laptop.
The way I get this to work now is to use a wired connection and import them from the iPhone.
I do use Apple's iCloud. 
I do subscribe to Adobe’s Creative Cloud

I'm using Mac OS 10.10 (Yosemite) on the laptop, iOS 8.1 on the iPhone and I'm running LR 5.6 on the laptop.

[jtmiller]

Setup your phone to copy pix to iCloud. Setup Lightroom to autoimport from your iCloud pictures directory.

jim

[hdomke]

Setup your phone to copy pix to iCloud. Setup Lightroom to autoimport from your iCloud pictures directory.

I'm not sure how to do that. Could you explain it in more detail?
Thanks!
Henry

[Schewe]

I'm not sure how to do that. Could you explain it in more detail?

How you get iPhone (or iPad) images kinda depends on how you backup your devices...when iCloud first came out, I thought it was a bad idea to use the "cloud" and backed up my devices to my local computer.

When backing up (locally) you have the ability to go into the device (from within iTunes) and specify what photos (& movies & music etc) you want to back up. By default it want to look for photos in "Pictures" inside of your main user folder. If you place a folder of sRGB JPEG images in that folder (ideally sized to 2X the rez of your mobile device screen), then you can select that folder to add to your device.

So, from LR export to a named folder in your "Pictures" folder, then the next time to backup/connect, make sure to add that folder to import. This will add an "album" (iPhone name) to your device. Result: photos on your iPhone/mobile device.

[hdomke]

This will add an "album" (iPhone name) to your device. Result: photos on your iPhone/mobile device.

I don't want photos stored on my iPhone/mobile device.
My goal is less complex.
The iPhone is only to be used for it's camera.
The Laptop will store the iPhone images and use LR to view, edit and catalog the images.
My goal is to automate getting the JPGs from the iPhone and onto the laptop and into LR.
Ideally the JPGs would be automatically deleted from the iPhone after file transfer.

Is there a way to do that?

Note: To simplify my life I plan to not use iPhoto at all. Instead LR will be the image hub.
Thanks!
Henry

[Robert Katz]

I have been using an app called Photosynch on my i-phone for a few years.
It is easy to use and can be set up to take the photos that are sent your computer to automatically import into LR
It is really easy.
Here is the url: http://www.photosync-app.com/
Robert

[john beardsworth]

"I looked at using LR Mobile but it seems to store the JPGs in the Creative Cloud. "

It initially puts them there, then sends them to your computer hard drive. And it's automatic - the next time you open LR on the desktop, the iPhone photos just appear.

[ButchM]

My goal is to automate getting the JPGs from the iPhone and onto the laptop and into LR.
Ideally the JPGs would be automatically deleted from the iPhone after file transfer.

Henry

I have been using an Automator folder action in OS X, and then the Watched Folder function in Lightroom. The importation of my iPhone and iPad still images into Lightroom is automatic and seamless. Nearly as smooth as when using iPhoto or Aperture.

If you have the iPhone set to share Photo Stream/iCloud Photos with your host computer(s) running Lightroom, once the images have been added to the iLife assets folder on the computer, the folder action will copy the images to a permanent home at the location of your choosing. That way, if your Photo Stream/iCloud Photos ever does a roll over, or you delete images from Photo Stream/iCloud Photos, you have a permanent copy available for Lightroom. The iLife assets folder is the same folder that iPhoto and Aperture use for working with Photo Stream/iCloud Photos. As far as I can tell, the images saved to this folder are full resolution and not modified in Photo Stream/iCloud Photo to a lower pixel count or receive further compression.

This method has been working since Mountain Lion, but has worked well for me in Mavericks and Yosemite too. If Apple should ever change the folder name or location, the Automator action would need to be updated or re-written.

https://plus.google.com/101906353514641308377/posts/e1K1iZZFVbD

[jrsforums]

I use Dropbox, set to automatically upload any iDevice images to a folder call Camera Upload.  I like this because most other methods will sync with the iDevice and require the image on the device or erase it on the uploaded folder when erased on the device.

I also like it that Dropbox renames the image files (jpg, prn, or tif) to a date/time name.  This is great to avoid duplicate names, either with a number wrap or if multiple iDevices are used...I use iphone, ipad, and iPad mini.

The images can be automatically imported either using the native folder watch or Jeffrey's Folder Watch.

If I want any of the images available on the iDevice, I can create a collection and use LR Mobile.

[jrsforums]

"I looked at using LR Mobile but it seems to store the JPGs in the Creative Cloud. "

It initially puts them there, then sends them to your computer hard drive. And it's automatic - the next time you open LR on the desktop, the iPhone photos just appear.

I tried this, but found if I deleted an image in LR mobile, it deleted in LR.  I want do not, necessarily want all the images to remain on the iPhone.

[john beardsworth]

It removes it from the collection used for images from camera roll, not from the hard drive.

[jrsforums]

But is it  still available to LR or would it need to be reimported?  If it is a collection, where is the LR folder?  I guess I missed some pieces when I looked at mobile

[Rendezvous]

I've found the easiest way is to just plug in the iPhone using the USB cable, then open Lightroom and import the pictures from it, just like it was a memory card.

[hdomke]

I've found the easiest way is to just plug in the iPhone using the USB cable, then open Lightroom and import the pictures from it, just like it was a memory card.

That is how I do it now and perhaps I'll stay with it. The other options have me scratching my head (which is best? I'm confused).
Thanks to all for offering other options.

[londonhannah]

You can get your iPhone pictures onto your laptop with iTunes.
 Then you just run iTunes to transfer your photos to laptop and follow the steps below:
1) In laptop, create a folder with the photos you want to transfer.
2) In iTunes, press your device name and switch to the Photos tab in the right panel.
3) Choose the folder you just created.
4) Click the Apply button to start syncing photos from your Mac to your iPhone.
Besides, iPhoto is another way for you to transfer photos from iPhone 4 to Mac.

[Rainer SLP]

Have you tried connecting your iPhone via cable to the PC ?

If I remember well the iPhone appears as a hard drive there. Look where the pictures are and copy them to your hard drive into a folder you created as you wish.

[BradSmith]

I've been an Apple owner since 1980, but the implementation of the storage of photos on the iPhone and moving them from the iPhone to your computer is absolutely pathetic as evidenced by this thread.   

This should be an absolutely, perfectly straightforward process, but it obviously isn't.

Brad 

[ButchM]

I've been an Apple owner since 1980, but the implementation of the storage of photos on the iPhone and moving them from the iPhone to your computer is absolutely pathetic as evidenced by this thread.   

This should be an absolutely, perfectly straightforward process, but it obviously isn't.

Brad 

Actually, now, it is easier than ever to get your photos from your iDevice to your computers. All you need is iCloud and the Photos app ... all your images are synced seamlessly ...

Now, auto deleting images from your iPhone ... and easily getting them into Lr ... that's another issue.

[jrsforums]

I use Dropbox to get them off the iPhone and iPad.  While there were other options, i particularly like Dropbox as it automatically renames the image as 'Date-Time'. Which avoids any naming conflict between devices and is accurate as to when taken or screen saved.

For LR, i use Jeffrey Friedl's 'Folder Watch' to automatically import and new images.

Basically the only manual effort is to periodically open Dropbox on the device and hit photo button.

[Hans Kruse]

How can I get iPhone 6 Plus JPGs automatically moved into the Pictures folder on my MacBook Pro and imported into LR5 at the same time?

Ideally the JPGs on my iPhone would be automatically deleted after they’ve been moved onto the laptop.  

I have zero interest in using LR on my iPhone.
I looked at using LR Mobile but it seems to store the JPGs in the Creative Cloud.

I’m not sure what pathway the JPGs would follow to travel from my iPhone to the laptop.
The way I get this to work now is to use a wired connection and import them from the iPhone.
I do use Apple's iCloud. 
I do subscribe to Adobe’s Creative Cloud

I'm using Mac OS 10.10 (Yosemite) on the laptop, iOS 8.1 on the iPhone and I'm running LR 5.6 on the laptop.

Connect the iPhone to the Mac using the USB cable.

You can copy all pictures and movies from your camera roll on your iPhone to a selected folder on your Mac by using the Image Capture application. After copy have copied all you can then select all photos and movies in the camera roll and delete them in this app. Then after that you can import into Lightroom.

Alternatively import directly into Lightroom and after that start the image capture app and then select all pictures and delete them.