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Optimize HDR photos in Lightroom for mobile (iOS)

Last updated on Jun 28, 2024

High Dynamic Range (HDR) displays offer greater brightness and contrast than Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) displays. Optimization for HDR displays has brighter highlights and more detailed shadows, resulting in an increased sense of realism and greater impact.
Lightroom already offers related HDR features, such as Merge to HDR, which blends multiple photos to create an HDR photo.

In the previous Lightroom releases, the rendered results were limited to SDR. Lightroom for mobile (iOS) version 9.0 introduces HDR Optimization, which not only lets you view and edit HDR photos on compatible HDR displays, but you can also save HDR photos to disk and open them in Photoshop.

Capture, edit, and export HDR photos in Lightroom for mobile (iOS)

Lightroom for mobile (iOS) now lets you capture, enhance, and export HDR photos. You can now create stunning HDR photographs that take advantage of the latest display technologies.

System requirements

HDR in Lightroom is optimized for Apple's Super Retina and Super Retina XDR displays on certain iPhones and iPads. Some level of HDR image quality can still be observed on other non-Super Retina displays up to one stop of exposure. Edit in HDR for Lightroom for mobile (iOS) is supported on iPhone X or later with iOS 16.0 or later and all iPads with retina display.

HDR Optimization in Lightroom for mobile (iOS)

You can view HDR photos on Device tab and import them to Lightroom or directly capture an HDR photo in Lightroom for mobile (iOS). You can then open the HDR photo that you want to edit and follow the steps shared below.

In the edit panel, navigate to the Light tool.
Scroll to the bottom of the Light tool and turn on the Edit in HDR mode toggle. You can enable editing in HDR by default by selecting App settings in the three-dot menu > tapping Import and switching on the HDR edit mode for new photos toggle under HDR Edit Setting.

Tap on the toggle to turn on the Edit in HDR mode.
Tip:
Use two fingers while dragging the HDR Exposure slider to get real-time visualization of HDR exposure levels.

Switch on the Histogram by tapping the HDR icon to get an even better visualization experience.
Tap on the HDR logo at the top-right side of the screen to view the HDR histogram. The histogram helps to control the distribution between the darkest and the brightest regions in your photo. If your photo doesn't have HDR data, the HDR part of the histogram will be hidden.

Note:

The HDR section in the histogram will be colored red if the device isn't compatible with HDR. You can select the icon at the lower-right of the histogram for more information.
You can also choose to turn on:
- Visualize HDR toggle if you wish to view a color-coded visualization of different HDR ranges in f-stop increments.
- Enable Preview on SDR display to manage settings for devices that only have an SDR display.
Tap on the toggle to turn on Visualize HDR.

Tap on the toggle to turn on Preview for SDR display.
Select the SDR Settings option to make precise adjustments to the Brightness, Contrast, Clarity, and other local settings.
Once you're done with the adjustments, select the share icon to export your HDR photo. In the Export as... settings dialog box, select the desired File Type and select .

Saving HDR photos

Once you've finished editing a photo in HDR mode, select Share (icon) > Export as... In the Export settings, specify the Image Type and switch the HDR Output toggle.

Supported non-Raw HDR file formats include:

JPG
AVIF
JXL
TIF

iOS version compatibility

It's important to note that HDR photo support and compatibility may vary across different iOS versions:

iOS 15
- The Photos app does not support AVIF and JXL.
- No apps on iOS 15 can display HDR.

iOS 16
- AVIF and JXL can be exported to the camera roll, but only AVIF images can be displayed in the iOS 16 Photos app. There might be some display issues on iOS 16, and is recommended to update to iOS 17.
- It's uncertain whether third-party apps support importing such photos.

iOS 17
- AVIF and JXL can be exported and viewed in the Photos app.
- Support by third-party apps is still evolving and may have compatibility issues.

Exporting as JPG with HDR Gain Map Data

iOS does not currently support the Lightroom HDR gain map data in HDR images exported as JPG. Lightroom for mobile writes HDR gain maps as metadata into the JPEGs. Currently, Lightroom clients and desktop versions of Google's Chrome web browser are able to display such JPG files with HDR gain map data & image qualities. On unsupported apps and platforms, Lightroom's HDR JPGs will display as SDR, including any specific SDR attributes applied during the edit in Lightroom.

Tip:

Use JPG, AVIF, or JXL for sharing with web applications, such as online web galleries.

Switch on the HDR Output toggle to export.

Note:

HDR Output toggle supports export as HDR only for JPG, AVIF and JXL image file types.
HDR images exported from Lightroom as JPG currently have limited support. For example, outside of Lightroom, you can view JPG as HDR in Google Chrome on a Desktop but not in other browsers or apps.

HDR Color Spaces

Lightroom for mobile (iOS) currently supports three color spaces while editing, opening, or saving a photo in HDR:

HDR sRGB (Rec. 709)
HDR P3
HDR Rec. 2020

These are HDR-enabled versions of the existing sRGB, Display P3, and Rec. 2020 color spaces. sRGB has the smallest color gamut, and Rec. 2020 has the largest.

SDR Preview and Settings

When an HDR photo is viewed on an SDR display, it must be adjusted or tone-mapped to preserve its appearance as closely as possible. The High Dynamic Range section provides additional options for previewing a photo on an SDR display and adjusting its appearance. These controls affect how Lightroom for mobile (iOS) saves an HDR photo when the HDR Output toggle is off in the Export as... dialog.

Workflow limitations and recommendations

Software support for HDR photos across is limited. Currently, you can use the HDR optimization feature in Lightroom to view and edit HDR photos, open them in Lightroom for Desktop, Lightroom Classic, Camera Raw, and Photoshop for additional work, and save them to disk in the AVIF, JPEG, and JPEG XL formats to be viewed in Google Chrome.

Currently, Lightroom supports HDR only while editing photos.

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