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I'm trying to find a good workflow for importing photos shot on an Android phone into Lightroom on a PC.

Ideally this would be via wireless sync in some way (Dropbox? Google+ Photos?), but with automatic removal of captured images from phone's storage once they're imported into Lightroom successfully.

I've tried this with Dropbox, but can't get LR to import directly from the Dropbox Camera Uploads. The folder isn't shown in the 'Import Sources' and if I try and add it, Lightroom silently ignores me. And then I would still have to manually remove photos from the phone.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ What have you tried to wirelessly sync so far? How did that work for you? What did it not do that you are stuck on? You offered Dropbox as a potential solution but no reason why you haven't yet tried this(or indication about what it was lacking if you have already). Why do you spell "Android phone", "Android 'phone"? \$\endgroup\$
    – dpollitt
    Dec 7, 2013 at 21:34
  • \$\begingroup\$ @dpollitt - I have tried Dropbox - I've added why I found it problematic. (I write 'phone sometimes because they were called still called telephones when I went to school. And they had rotary dials!) \$\endgroup\$
    – Roddy
    Dec 7, 2013 at 22:34
  • \$\begingroup\$ Do you import photos from Dropbox into Lightroom or just try to make lightroom use Dropbox's folder as Lightroom folder? If you use import feature from Lightroom it should be able to detect dublicates... so no need to remove anything from phone unless you choose to. \$\endgroup\$
    – user1681
    Dec 8, 2013 at 11:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ @RafalZiolkowski : Yes, I import, and duplicates are not the issue. I need to remove 'originals' from phone for same reason I'd remove imported files from SD card : So my camera doesn't say "memory full" on me at inopportune moments. \$\endgroup\$
    – Roddy
    Dec 9, 2013 at 10:10

1 Answer 1

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The way I would do it:

  1. Install BitTorrent Sync to your phone
  2. Install same software to your PC.
  3. Setup syncing (not backup) between your phone's camera photo folder and PC.
  4. 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.

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