Photo workflow was easier with a 2-point transfer between your digital camera, an Eye-Fi card, and your computer of choice. It is much more complicated now with iPhoneography as the number of devices, a number of apps, and outlets for those images grows exponentially.  The purpose of this series is to reassure you that yes, this is a mess and no, you are not crazy.

There are many digital photo workflows and it’s a lot to untangle. In this series of posts, I’ll help you name the animals and their place in the jungle by showing you one workflow with a few options that I have explored.  The options are by no means exhaustive but it’s a good path to start from.

In Part 1 we’ll take a look at Device to Device Transfer. Wow, doesn’t that sound thrilling? I know, but this workflow stuff is the backbone of our operation that allows us to easily use all the creative tools at our fingertips. If the workflow is easy, then we can free our minds to focus on the creative stuff.

Why would you want to transfer photos from your iPhone to your iPad or visa versa?  The iPad has a larger screen making some editing functions much easier to practice particularly with intricate masks.  It’s easier to get your pointer into a small corner on a bigger screen. Additionally, some apps may work only on an iPhone or only on an iPad or only on a certain version of either, so you need to transfer the photo to where the app lives and breathes.

For wirelessly transferring photos from one device to another via WiFi, I use an app called Photo Sync on both my iPad and iPhone.  I prefer to edit photos on my iPad because the screen is larger and I have a better chance of both seeing details and making sure my masking is in the right places.

Photo Sync also allows you to transfer files between devices via Bluetooth which comes in handy when WiFi is in short supply or non-existent.  You can transfer an unlimited number of images.

You may also have tried or heard of iCloud.  You can use iCloud to keep all of your devices synced.  This means if you take a photo on your iPad, and you’re connected wirelessly, this photo will also be transferred to your iPhone. The file size on both devices is the same.  However, there are folks who swear that there is damage caused to the file because of the compression algorithms used during the transfer.  I haven’t found real evidence of this but I’m not sure I’m looking in the right place. If you have I would love to see it.  Please leave me a comment below telling me about it.

Photo Sync became my transfer utility of choice because Dan Burkholder recommended it.  To use Photo Sync, you open the app on both devices, select the photos on the device you want to transfer them from, point to the device you want to transfer them to via the menu and presto, you have copies on both devices.

The app has some features I haven’t tried out yet.  You can use it to transfer images from your devices to your computer and it works with both Mac and PC. You can also use it to transfer images to web services like Dropbox, Google+, Facebook and Flickr. Those are good next steps for down the road.

Do you have any experience with Device to Device transfer?  How do you do it?

If you’re like me, you’d like to know what’s next:

• iPhoneography Workflow Part 2: Device to Computer Transfer 
• iPhoneography Workflow Part 3: Connecting Social Media
• iPhoneography Workflow Part 4: Backups and Storage

Related articles

• What Does Your Workflow Look Like? (jenniferhartnetthenderson.wordpress.com)