Getting Started with Adobe® Carousel
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Installing Adobe Carousel
Start by installing Adobe Carousel to your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Tell family and friends who will be viewing your Adobe Carousel photos to install the apps, too.
1. Download the Adobe Carousel application
- Download Adobe Carousel for your Mac from the Mac App Store.
- Download Adobe Carousel for the iPad or iPhone from iTunes or the App Store.
(Adobe Carousel requires Mac OS X Lion and iOS 4.2 or later.)
2. Open Adobe Carousel on your Mac, iPad, or iPhone.
Tap or click Get Started.
3. Log in with your Adobe ID
- If you don't have an Adobe ID, tap or click Create Account and follow the onscreen instructions to create one. (It's free.)
- Choose a subscription plan.
(All subscription plans, including the complimentary 30-day subscription, provide the full feature set.)
Tip: Why do I need an Adobe ID?
TIP: Your Adobe ID lets you access your photos everywhere you have Adobe Carousel installed.
Importing photos
Bring all the photos you have stored in different places into an Adobe Carousel library so they'll be available to you everywhere. Click + to import photos.
Import from iPhoto
- Open Adobe Carousel on your Mac and click the + button.
- In the Import Photos dialog box, click Photos in the Media area of the list on the left.
- Select iPhoto, and then select the photos you want to import.
- Click Import.
TIP: If iPhoto is open, you can drag photos from it directly onto Adobe Carousel to import them.
Import from your hard drive
- Open Adobe Carousel on your Mac and click the + button.
- In the Import Photos dialog box, navigate to the folder that holds your photos.
- Select the photos or folders you want to import and click Import.
Import from your iPhone or iPad
- Tap + in Adobe Carousel on your iPhone or iPad.
- Tap Choose Existing Photos and then select an album.
- Select the photos you want to import, or click Select All to import everything in an album, and then tap Done.
Tip: Import the highest quality
TIP: If you have the same images on different devices, import them from your Mac, because those are likely to be the highest quality versions of the photos.
Viewing and sharing photos
You can invite up to five trusted family members and friends to access your carousel so that they can also upload, edit, and delete photos. You can also share photos with a wider audience through Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and email.
Working with carousels
About carousels
A carousel is a library of photos organized by date. When you first import photos, Adobe Carousel creates a carousel and adds the photos to it. You can have up to five carousels, and you can give up to five people access to each one.
Create a carousel and invite others to collaborate
To create a new carousel, tap or click the Settings icon and then choose Create A New Carousel. Name the carousel. Tap or click Add User to invite someone to collaborate on the new carousel.
To add others to an existing carousel, tap or click the Settings icon, tap or click the blue arrow next to the Carousel name, and choose Add User. Enter the person's email address and tap or click Done.
Tip: Get the whole family involved
TIP: Give family members access to one of your carousels so that each of you can combine your photos, edit them, share them on Facebook, Twitter, or through email, and view them on your devices.
Browse photos
On an iPhone or iPad, swipe a row to see more photos from that date. On the Mac, drag the horizontal scroll bar under the row. (When you position the pointer under the row, the scroll bar will appear.)
To see photos from additional dates, swipe up or down on an iPad or iPhone. On a Mac, drag the vertical scroll bar on the right side of the window. (Again, the scroll bar will appear when you move the pointer to the edge.)
Working with individual photos
In Loupe view, you can zoom in and out, mark photos as favorites, duplicate photos, delete photos, and share them.
View individual photos
Tap or click a photo to open it in Loupe view. On an iPad or iPhone, swipe to see the next photo from that date. On a Mac, click the Left and Right arrow buttons.
TIP: To mark a photo as a favorite, click or tap the star icon. Click or tap again if you want to remove its status as a favorite.
Zoom in
To zoom in, pinch your fingers open on the device or trackpad; to zoom out, pinch your fingers closed.
Share photos
On an iPad or iPhone, you can share a photo on Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr or through email. Just tap the Actions icon and choose a Share option. On a Mac, you can export or copy versions of the photo to use in other applications.
Editing photos
You can edit a photo on your Mac, iPad, or iPhone using Adobe Carousel. Changes are saved to your photo library, so the photo looks the same on any device.
Edit a photo
To edit a photo, select it and then tap Develop (iPad or iPhone) or click the +/- icon (Mac). Make your changes and then choose Apply.
Tip: How permanent are photo edits?
TIP: You can always change your mind. When you make edits, Adobe Carousel keeps the original file intact in case you want to return to it later.
Change a photo's look
To change the appearance of the photo, tap or click Looks, and then select a style you like.
Adjust lighting and contrast
To improve lighting or contrast, tap or click Adjustments. Drag the White Balance, Exposure, and Contrast sliders to achieve the effect you want. Tap or click the two-way arrows for additional sliders that give you finer control.
Rotate a photo
To rotate the photo, tap or click Crop & Rotate. Then, tap or click the Rotate Left or Rotate Right icon; or tap or click the Flip Horizontal or Flip Vertical icon.
Crop a photo
To remove unwanted areas of the photo, tap or click Crop & Rotate. Drag a corner or side of the frame to resize it. Drag the photo itself to reposition it. Pinch your fingers open to zoom in on the photo within the frame.
What Carousel does with your photos
Adobe Carousel intelligently downloads just enough data for you to enjoy and edit your photos without using up all the storage space on your mobile devices.
Storing your original photos
When you import a photo, Adobe Carousel uploads a copy of the original to the cloud. By default, Adobe Carousel also stores a copy of the original on your computer in /Pictures/Adobe Carousel Library.
Tip: Manage multiple computers
TIP: If you use more than one computer, you may want to store the original files on only one computer. To prevent Adobe Carousel from downloading the full original files to a particular computer, click the Settings icon in Adobe Carousel on that Mac and select Store Originals > Off. You should store back-ups of your original photos on at least one computer.
Viewing photos on an iPad or iPhone
As you browse your photos, Adobe Carousel downloads thumbnails of the photos. If you edit a photo, Adobe Carousel downloads the original file.
Editing photos
Edits you make to a photo appear when you view the photo on any device. Because Adobe Carousel saves the edits as separate instructions rather than as changes to the original photo, you can always undo any edits you’ve made. For example, you can select a black-and-white look, and then if you change your mind, tap or click Undo. If you make a series of edits and then change your mind, tap or click Cancel.
TIP: If you want to restore the original photo after you've applied changes, tap or click Develop again. Right-click (on a Mac) or touch and hold (iPad or iPhone) and then choose Revert To Original.
Deleting photos
Be careful! Deleting a photo removes it from Carousel on all your devices, not just the one you’re working on. Make sure you really don’t want the photo anymore before you delete it.
TIP: If someone accidentally deletes a photo from Adobe Carousel, you can retrieve it from the Trash on the desktop of the computer where the original images are saved — as long as no one has emptied the Trash!
