How can I wirelessly import Android phone photos into Lightroom on a PC and remove them from the phone afterward?
Asked 12/7/2013
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2 answers
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I want a workflow for getting photos shot on an Android phone into Lightroom on a PC over Wi-Fi, without using a cable. Ideally, once Lightroom has successfully imported the images, they would be removed from the phone to free up space. Dropbox camera uploads didn’t work well for me because Lightroom wouldn’t import directly from that folder, and it still wouldn’t automatically clear the phone. Is there a workable sync-based setup for this?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
6
The way I would do it:
- Install BitTorrent Sync to your phone
- Install same software to your PC.
- Setup syncing (not backup) between your phone's camera photo folder and PC.
- In Lightroom's import dialog, select "Move" instead of default "Copy".
The special thing with BitTorrent Sync compared to Dropbox/Google+ Photos is that a) it syncs directly between your phone and computer, and b) whenever you remove photo on your computer, it's removed from your phone too (moving it to another folder counts as "removing").
Only files inside BitTorrent Sync folder(s) are synced. On the phone, you can select /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera (depending on your phone, might be something else). On your PC, use a separate folder for syncing, as sync is two-way: if you put new files to sync folder on your PC, it will sync those to your phone.
Originally by user3810. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user3810
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A workable approach is to use a two-way sync tool rather than a cloud camera-upload folder. One community suggestion was to sync your phone’s camera folder directly to a folder on your PC, then import from that folder into Lightroom using Move instead of Copy.
Why this helps:
- A direct sync folder is visible to Lightroom like any normal local folder.
- Using Move in Lightroom transfers the files out of the synced PC folder into your Lightroom photo storage.
- With two-way sync, removing the files from the synced PC folder is mirrored back to the phone, so the photos are cleared from phone storage after import.
Important caveat: use a dedicated sync folder on the PC, because two-way sync means changes on either side are reflected on the other. Don’t point it at your main Lightroom library folder unless you fully understand the consequences.
So yes: the general workflow is phone camera folder ⇄ synced PC folder → Lightroom import with Move.
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