One of the remaining speed bumps in the way of broader adoption of smartphones as the camera of choice among photo enthusiasts has been a lack of end-to-end support for shooting in Raw. Basic support for capturing Raw (DNG format) images has been rolling out in Android — for some phones running Android 5.0 or later — but processing and storing them has remained awkward. Google’s Snapseed added support for developing Raw images last year, but many have been waiting for a solution that would integrate with their Adobe-centric workflow.
Today, Adobe updated its Lightroom for Android application to version 2.0, and it now includes full support for Raw images through its in-app Camera — assuming your phone can shoot Raw to begin with. It further ups the ante with the ability to preview various presets in real time while you are shooting.
You can see how much difference Raw post-processing can make in the featured split image for this article (above). The left side is a portion of the JPEG as shot with a Nexus 5, and the right side is the Raw version of the same image post-processed using Adobe’s Lightroom. Pros and others who are serious about image quality have long relied on shooting Raw to give them the best possible post-processing possibilities. Now Adobe has full support for them doing it with their smartphones. Just make sure and double-check whether you can capture DNG images with your phone before getting too excited, as Adobe’s support only works on models which already have that capability.
Adobe’s in-app Camera feature is pretty cool
Lightroom 2.0 for Android features a well-designed in-app camera, making it trivial to capture images and have them available for editing and uploading. In addition to the usual set of camera controls, the in-app camera features five “shoot-through” presets that you can preview on your phone’s screen while you are composing and shooting. These special presets are non-destructive, in keeping with Lightroom’s editing mantra, so you can change or remove there effects later. You can further process your DNGs using Lightroom (or Snapseed) on your mobile device, but Lightroom also now syncs the DNG file to your desktop Lightroom, so it will automatically be available for you to work on from your main computer.
Dehaze and split toning also added to Lightroom for Android
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n addition to support for Raw files, Adobe has continued to port some of its most popular image processing features from its desktop into Lightroom for Android. Version 2.0 adds support for Adobe’s popular Dehazing filter, and for Split Toning. You can now also specify specific points when you apply a Tone Curve, as well as set curves separately for each color channel. For those who want ultimate control, Adobe has also added targeted adjustments, so you can control which portions of your image are affected by the adjustments you add in Lightroom.Adobe has also upgraded Lightroom’s sharing capabilities, and is working to build a community feel with the #lightroom hashtag. The new version of Lightroom also integrates directly with Adobe’s clever Clip mobile video editor, so you can very quickly and easily create professional-looking photo stories from your images. Lightroom 2.0 for Android is free, and available now for download from the Google Play store.
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