3.6.3 Lightroom (Sync Configuration) *

← 3. Using the Photosmith for iPad App

While Photosmith for iPad can be used as a standalone product to help organize your photos using industry-standard metadata, where our app really shines is as a mobile companion for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.  Syncing with Lightroom allows you to view your photos and edit metadata like Star Ratings, Color Labels, Keywords, Location, and other important information about your photos... all while you’re away from your Mac or PC running Lightroom.

This is actually a source of much pride for us: Photosmith is the only iPad app that allows two-way sync of your photos and metadata like stars, keywords and location information with Adobe Lightroom.


Syncing between Photosmith for iPad and Lightroom on your Mac or PC is a two-part process: 

  1. Photosmith’s Lightroom plugin must be downloaded, installed and configured on your Mac or PC running Lightroom (Section 2.2).
  2. Your iPad must be awake, and Photosmith must be the actively displayed app for Lightroom sync to begin.  Once Lightroom sync is running, you may switch apps and sync will continue in the background for three minutes.  This is a time limit imposed by Apple.
Both your iPad and Mac or PC must be connected to the same local area network (LAN) for Lightroom sync to work, or connected via Bluetooth. It doesn't matter if your Mac or PC is hard-wired via ethernet or wireless via Wi-Fi, as long as it's on the same internal network as iPad. While it may seem obvious, this is the source of a large number of support queries from users. Please triple-check that both your iPad and Mac or PC are on the same LAN or connected via Bluetooth prior to seeking assistance.

Below, we've outlined the configuration options for Lightroom sync, from the Photosmith-side of things.  For Lightroom plugin configuration options, please see Section 2.2 of this User Guide.

Current IP


Current IP is the internal network (LAN) address of your iPad. This isn't something you usually configure on your iPad, as it’s usually assigned by your Wi-Fi router.  A local network (LAN) IP address usually begins with the numbers: 192, 172, or 10.  If your IP address begins with a number other than 192, 172, or 10, chances are your iPad is connected to a cellular data network and sync will not work.

The Current IP field is view-only and not user editable in Photosmith.  It’s provided as a means to help when identifying the current network IP address when manually configuring Photosmith’s Lightroom Publish Service, as discussed in Section 2.2.5.

Sync Port


Sync Port is the “channel” on which both Photosmith’s Lightroom plugin and Photosmith app for iPad communicate. This number can be changed, and should match the port number listed in Service Options in the Photosmith’s Lightroom plugin, discussed in Section 2.2.3.5.

The default sync port number is 8080 and shouldn't be changed unless there is another program or background process on your Mac or PC using the same port, such as a web server.

Under normal circumstances, once the Photosmith’s Lightroom plugin is installed, Photosmith will automatically locate your Mac or PC running Lightroom, as long as they're both connected to the same local network (LAN).  We designed things to be set-and-forget.

If you change your sync port, you will need to shutdown and restart Lightroom.

Discovered Instances


This is where Photosmith shows all Mac or PC computers running Lightroom with the Photosmith plugin installed, and the local hostname and sync port number.

Lightroom Host


This is your Photosmith Publish Service in Lightroom name, if one is configured and found on the local network (LAN). The Lightroom Host name is a user editable field in the Photosmith’s Publish Service configuration in Lightroom, as described in Section 2.2.4.

3. Using the Photosmith for iPad App

  1. 3. Using the Photosmith App
  2. 3.1 Interface Overview
  3. 3.1.1 Grid View
  4. 3.1.2 Loupe View
  5. 3.1.3 Fullscreen View
  6. 3.2 QuickTag Bar
  7. 3.2.1 Photo Rotation
  8. 3.2.2 Color Labels
  9. 3.2.3 Star Ratings
  10. 3.2.4 Flags (Pick/Reject)
  11. 3.2.5 Deleting Photos in Photosmith
  12. 3.2.6 Deleting Many Photos at Once in Photos.app in iOS 7
  13. 3.3 Catalog Mode
  14. 3.3.1 Importing Photos into Photosmith
  15. 3.3.1.1 Importing Photos into Photosmith from iPad Albums / Camera Roll
  16. 3.3.1.2 Importing & Exporting Photos Using iTunes
  17. 3.3.2 Sync with Lightroom
  18. 3.3.3 Collections
  19. 3.3.3.1 Photosmith Collections
  20. 3.3.3.2 User Collections *
  21. 3.3.4 Activity Center
  22. 3.3.5 Filters Bar
  23. 3.3.5.1 Filters
  24. 3.3.5.2 Sort
  25. 3.3.5.3 Smart Groups
  26. 3.3.5.4 All, Invert, None
  27. 3.4 (Metadata) Tagging Mode
  28. 3.4.1 Adding & Editing Metadata in Tagging Mode
  29. 3.4.2 Adding, Editing & Deleting Keywords *
  30. 3.4.3 Adding, Editing & Deleting Metadata Presets *
  31. 3.5 Export Mode
  32. 3.5.1 Export to Dropbox *
  33. 3.5.2 Export to Facebook *
  34. 3.5.3 Export to Flickr *
  35. 3.5.4 Export to Email *
  36. 3.5.5 Export to iPad Album *
  37. 3.5.6 Export via PhotoCopy *
  38. 3.5.7 XMP Export *
  39. 3.6 Dashboard Mode, Photosmith Version, IP Address & Sync Port
  40. 3.6.1 Eye-Fi (Import Configuration) *
  41. 3.6.1.1 Eye-Fi Mobi
  42. 3.6.1.2 Eye-Fi X2
  43. 3.6.2 FTP Server (Import Configuration) *
  44. 3.6.3 Lightroom (Sync Configuration) *
  45. 3.6.4 Convert Links (Tools)
  46. 3.6.5 Maintenance (Tools) *
  47. 3.6.6 Diagnostics (Tools) *
  48. 3.6.7 Welcome Wizard (Help)
  49. 3.6.8 Knowledge Base (Help)
  50. 3.6.9 Ideas & Suggestions (Feedback)
  51. 3.6.10 Contact Us (Feedback)
  52. 3.6.11 Love Photosmith? (Feedback)

Feedback and Knowledge Base