Mobile phones are the center of our personal and online lives. We use them to take photos, show photos to others in person, and to share online. Many photographers have asked me “how can I share my high-quality DSLR images from my phone?”

It’s a critical question. Over 50% of internet use is now done on mobile devices. If you aren’t engaging in mobile communities, you’re preventing an enormous number of potential viewers or buyers of your art from discovering your work. Which is why mobile-first services like Instagram are the way of the future. At the same time, you don’t have to limit yourself to photos taken with a mobile device to take part. There are simple workflows you can setup to get your finished images from your computer onto your phone.

The basic workflow I use is: DSLR => Lightroom => export folder on computer => iTunes/iPhone

All I have to do is an image into a folder in Lightroom, click “Publish”, and then click “Sync” in iTunes to get the image onto the phone. And if you setup Smart Folders in Lightroom and automatic syncing in iTunes, all you really need to do is click “Publish” in Lightroom. Of course, you need to spend 5 minutes setting this system up, but it’s easy and you can learn how in the video below.

 

If you aren’t using Lightroom, the basic concept of a sync folder is the same. You can use exporting options in your favorite image editing software, or just manually put copies of the images into that folder.

If you are using an Android phone, I don’t know what steps you need to take, but there the process of syncing images should be similarly straight-forward.

If you use a different workflow that works well for you, please comment below so that others can learn from you.