Lightroom Mobile Quiz – Test Your Editing Knowledge

The free version of Lightroom Mobile lets you shoot in DNG RAW format with its built-in camera on supported phones, keeping far more data than a standard JPEG. You can then edit those files with the core light, color, and effects tools. Cloud storage and some extra tools require a subscription.

DNG, short for Digital Negative, is an openly documented RAW format. It stores the unprocessed sensor data from the camera, so exposure, white balance, and color can be adjusted much more than in a JPEG. Many phones can save photos as DNG files.

A preset records a complete set of adjustment values as a named item that can be applied to other images instantly. Applying the same preset to a series of images establishes a visual consistency across them, and each image can still be refined individually within the framework the preset establishes.

The Light panel contains the six sliders that control the tonal distribution of an image: overall brightness, tonal contrast, recovery of blown highlights, lifting of blocked shadows, and clipping of the extreme white and black points. These adjustments govern the fundamental luminance relationships in the photograph.

Selective editing applies changes to only part of a photo. In Lightroom Mobile you can paint an adjustment with a brush, or use a linear or radial gradient to affect an area such as the sky or a face. The rest of the image is left as it was.

With cloud sync, photos and edits made on a phone appear in Lightroom on a desktop or tablet, and the other way round. You can start editing in the field and finish at home without exporting files. It does not post to social media for you.

The Color Mix panel splits the image into color ranges such as red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. For each one you can change the hue, saturation, and luminance on its own. That lets you, for example, darken a blue sky without changing skin tones.

The free version includes the core editing tools such as light, color, and effects. A paid subscription adds features like cloud storage and sync, more masking options, and healing tools. The free app opens and edits photos without ads between edits.

The Healing tool removes small distractions such as spots, dust, or blemishes. You brush over the unwanted area, and the app fills it with texture and tone sampled from a nearby clean area. It does not fix blur or damaged files.

Lightroom Mobile offers RAW editing with tools similar to the desktop version, all non-destructive so the original stays untouched. Edits and presets sync across phone, tablet, and computer. That lets a professional cull and edit on location and finish later on a larger screen.