Adobe doesn't tend to answer questions about future features.

Since LR is cross-platform, my guess is that answer would be "no" anyway, but I have no actual information and, like I said, Adobe doesn't pre-announce future features.

Oh.  I had never heard of it before and since it was from Apple, I assumed it was Apple-only like most of their stuff.

I found it on Wikipedia.  I hadn't heard of it before, but regardless Adobe doesn't pre-announce Lightroom features so there's no telling if LR 4 will support it or not whenever it happens to come out.  And doesnt' Adobe's own Carousel compete with it?  I don't pay a lot of attention to all the hundreds of "cloud" services out there.  Maybe a plugin author will support it.

Are you thinking for your library, or for the images?

My library is only 3.7Gb, so that is only a 2-3 hour download on a 10Mbit line, on an upload that will be 4 times as long.

Also the libraries are very bloated, once zipped they are ±10% of that size, so would the clould zip the library?

Then would the cloud make a zip copy on your computer, compare it with the zipped cloud in the sky and send the differences?

I agree with imacken, its not a simple process, its fine for the odd doc, or iphone shot photo, but not so simple for LR.

It would be more interesting to see if a company like Super Duper or other backup software companies offer a cloud service, rather than just a basic online backup.

imacken wrote:

 

Sorrry, I have explained what I meant, but I think that maybe you guys don't understand what Photostream is.  Please correct me if I'm wrong, but your comments suggest that you are not aware of Photostream as part of Apple's iCloud service.

I guess I don't know what that means.  If you don't upload your images there, how do they get there?

imacken wrote:

 

Every photo from your mobile devices and cameras is automatically streamed to ALL your devices - mobile, desktops, laptops, TV etc.

I don't take photos with "mobile devices" and none of my cameras are in any way hooked to cell or wifi networks.  All my images are on my computer on a hard drive and Lightroom has cataloged them through the import process.  So to get my images to "photostream", I'd have to upload them somehow.

I think you're asking for a procedure whereby your images automatically get to this Apple service through their own methods and then Lightroom automatically downloads them from the Apple service through the import window.  Again, I have no information, but I can't see why Adobe would support that natively when there are so many other similar services including at least two of their own that aren't yet supported natively in Lightroom (Photoshop.com and Carousel).  Maybe a plugin author will support it at some point.  Like I told you originally, Adobe isn't likely to pre-announce new features before they become available so there's no way to answer your original question, "will LR support importing directly from Apple's Photostream in the future".

imacken wrote:

 

I'll wait and see if there are developments.

That's the only solution, and I did answer your original question.

If someone is giving me some hints about the photostream API of iCloud, I can write a little tool that imports the stream's pictures and stores them in a folder on a Mac...

Found the path where the photostream is stored

/Users/yourusername/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

The files are then text (XML) files but if you open them with preview.app it show an image

Inside the text file you will find this, if its an Image

Example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="1.0">

<dict>

          <key>MSAssetMetadataDateContentCreated</key>

          <date>2011-11-09T12:00:07Z</date>

          <key>MSAssetMetadataDateContentModified</key>

          <date>2011-11-09T12:00:08Z</date>

          <key>MSAssetMetadataDeviceID</key>

          <string>e843c2b2a11a3549a203d0dfc07ffaaa562d7c20</string>

          <key>MSAssetMetadataFileSize</key>

          <real>430337</real>

          <key>MSAssetMetadataPixelHeight</key>

          <real>1200</real>

          <key>MSAssetMetadataPixelWidth</key>

          <real>1200</real>

          <key>MSAssetMetadataStreamIDKey</key>

          <string>1313823429</string>

          <key>isDerivedAsset</key>

          <false/>

          <key>k-filename</key>

          <string>IMG_0266.JPG</string>

          <key>kPLPhotoStreamMasterAssetMetadataKey</key>

          <dict>

                    <key>MSAssetMetadataDateContentCreated</key>

                    <date>2011-11-09T12:00:07Z</date>

                    <key>MSAssetMetadataDateContentModified</key>

                    <date>2011-11-09T12:00:08Z</date>

                    <key>MSAssetMetadataDeviceID</key>

                    <string>e843c2b2a11a3549a203d0dfc07ffaaa562d7c20</string>

                    <key>MSAssetMetadataFileSize</key>

                    <real>430337</real>

                    <key>MSAssetMetadataPixelHeight</key>

                    <real>1200</real>

                    <key>MSAssetMetadataPixelWidth</key>

                    <real>1200</real>

                    <key>MSAssetMetadataStreamIDKey</key>

                    <string>1313823429</string>

          </dict>

</dict>

</plist>

Good Luck who ever tries to work that one out.

It's only a matter of time the photostream will be incorporated into the MacOS (without the aid of iphoto) then it will simply be a case of adding it to published drives or simply syncing it in LR.

Seems silly it will just be on mobile devices only for the future but i did read on a generic Mac website somewhere it would be rolled out in an update to Lion.

Although i have to say it seems a bit useless for DLSR stuff especially now you can wirelessly sync folders/itunes in IOS5 anyway.  I do that with my jpg portfolio but wouldn't touch it with any RAWS.

I have published my little application that copies pictures from your iCloud PhotoStream folder to a folder of your choice, and which can be integrated with Lightroom.

The application is available for free, however please do not hesitate to support the developper if you like it and want to see it evolve.

http://www.petits-suisses.ch

It's possible to set up automatic Photo Stream to Lightroom imports using just Automator in OSX...

Instructions from here:  https://plus.google.com/101906353514641308377/posts/e1K1iZZFVbD

Step 1: Create an Automator folder action to copy all files added to your hidden Photo Stream folder to a folder elsewhere on your computer.

Start in Automator by creating a 'Folder Action' workflow. Click 'Choose folder', then press SHIFT-COMMAND-PERIOD while the Automator folder picker is open so that you can browse hidden folders. Choose the iCloud Photo Stream folder here: {USERNAME}/Library/Application Support/iLifeAssetManagement/assets/sub

Add a 'Get Folder Contents' action to your workflow, being sure to check the 'Repeat for each subfolder found' option.

Add a 'Copy Finder Items' action to your workflow, selecting a folder where you'd like Lightroom to import from. Something like "/Pictures/Lightroom Import" might be a good idea.

Save your workflow. You've just activated an Automator action that copies new Photo Stream images to a folder of your choosing.

Step 2: Tell Lightroom to automatically import images from this folder. In the Lightroom menu go to: File -> Auto Import -> Auto Import Settings... This will move the files out of the folder you just created and into Lightroom, leaving the hidden photostream directory un-modified so that we don't confuse iCloud or prevent you from viewing your Photo Stream on other iOS devices.

Step 3: There is no step 3. Just go out and take some awesome photos. Next time you launch Lightroom, they'll be there, and your images will continue to be imported on the fly when Lightroom is open.

This even works to get images from Aperture to LR.  Just drag the images to Photo Stream within Aperture and they will 'magically' appear in the designated folder in LR.

That's really neat!

It's good that people are trying to wrestle with this problem but, unfortunately neither EarthHobbit or portilaj81 saw fit to mention that both their solutions require you to already have iPhoto or Aperture installed. So, with all due respect guys, a bit pointless really: "here's a way to avoid having to use iPhoto that.. er.. requires you to install iPhoto"

Back to the drawing board, methinks!