FRAME 01 - PUBLISH · LIGHTROOM CLASSIC PLUGIN
Your edits, in your Google Photos album. Always.
A Lightroom Classic plugin that publishes your Collections to Google Photos albums. Edit a photo, hit re-publish, the album updates. Done in 1 click - without leaving Lightroom.
LIGHTROOM CLASSIC 6+ · MACOS & WINDOWS · FREE GOOGLE ACCOUNT
TRY IT - THIS IS THE REAL PLUGIN, NOT A VIDEO. DRAG A SLIDER, THEN RE-PUBLISH - THE ALBUM CATCHES UPLIVE DEMO
SEE IT IN ACTION - THE REAL PLUGIN
From Lightroom to Google Photos
in seconds.
CLICK TO PLAY - 60 SECONDS, WITH SOUND, CAPTIONS ON SCREEN
Read the transcript
The video is narrated, and the narration is also captioned on screen. This is the full spoken text:
- Your best edits deserve better than a manual upload.
- Right now, getting them into Google Photos means export, upload, repeat.
- The Google Photos plugin connects Lightroom straight to your albums.
- Setup takes a minute. Paste your license key to activate - a one-time purchase, no subscription.
- Connect your Google account once. The plugin asks only to add photos to its own albums.
- Name a collection in Lightroom, and it becomes an album in Google Photos.
- Hit Publish, and your edited photos upload at full resolution, straight into the album.
- It's live in Google Photos - ready to share from any device.
- Change an edit later? Re-publish, and the album updates. No duplicates, no re-uploading.
- Keywords, captions, and albums all stay in sync. Everything you need, nothing you don't.
- Get the plugin, and your albums stay as polished as your edits.
FEATURES - WHAT DEVELOPS
Built for photographers who back up
through Google Photos.
Edit once. The album updates.
Tweak a photo in Lightroom, hit re-publish, and the version in your Google Photos album updates in place. No duplicates, no manual cleanup, no second copy floating around your library.
Collections become albums.
Every Published Collection maps one-to-one to a Google Photos album. Organize once in Lightroom and the same structure shows up everywhere you view your photos.
Publish without leaving Lightroom.
No browser tab, no dragging files into a folder, no Drive-sync workaround. Drop photos into a Published Collection and hit Publish - that's the whole workflow.
Big files just work.
Resumable uploads handle anything Lightroom can export - full-resolution JPEGs, large TIFFs, even 100MP files. A spotty connection won't restart the whole upload from scratch.
Removed photos land softly.
Remove a photo from a Published Collection and it moves to a "To Delete" album in Google Photos. Review them in one place before you actually delete - no accidents, no surprises.
Works on Mac and Windows.
Built on Lightroom's native plugin SDK. The same install, the same workflow, the same behavior on both platforms. No separate downloads, no platform-specific quirks.
UNDER THE SAFELIGHT - WHY IT'S DIFFERENT
Publish once. Edit forever.
The usual way: export from Lightroom, open photos.google.com, drag the files into an album. Edit one of those photos a week later? Export again, hunt down the album, delete the old version, drag the new one in. Repeat for every tweak. Google Drive sync isn't a fix either - it dumps your originals into Drive without album structure, with no idea that the photo in your shared album is now out of date.
Google Photos Plugin handles the whole loop. Your Lightroom Collections become Google Photos albums automatically. Edit a photo in Lightroom and re-publish - the album version updates in place. No duplicates, no manual cleanup. The plugin talks to Google directly using their official Photos API, so the only thing that ever sees your sign-in is Google itself.
HOW IT WORKS - THREE STEPS
Up and running
in minutes.
Buy
Purchase the plugin and receive your license key by email - usually within seconds.
Connect
Install the plugin in Lightroom, enter your license key, and sign in to Google - one consent screen and you're done.
Publish
Create a Published Collection, drop in your photos, and hit Publish. They appear in a matching Google Photos album.
CONTACT PRINTS - WHAT PEOPLE SAY
Quietly loved by
working photographers.
Finally a Lightroom-to-Google-Photos workflow that doesn't fight me. Edit, hit publish, the album updates. I'd been duct-taping shell scripts for a year - this replaced all of them in an afternoon.
I shoot 30k+ frames a year and the back-and-forth uploading was the worst part of my month. Smart re-publish alone saved a full afternoon last weekend - edits flow through automatically.
Bought it half-expecting jank, got a clean native plugin instead. Love that removed photos land in a "To Delete" album so I can review them in Google before they're actually gone - saved me twice already. Worth every penny.
FAQ - BEFORE YOU INSTALL
Frequently asked
questions.
Which Lightroom versions and operating systems are supported?
The plugin works with Adobe Lightroom Classic (the desktop version) on both macOS and Windows. It is not compatible with the cloud-based "Lightroom" (formerly Lightroom CC). Any recent version of Lightroom Classic should work.
How is this different from uploading manually or using Google Drive sync?
Manual upload means exporting from Lightroom, opening photos.google.com in a browser, and dragging files into an album. Every edit means doing it again - export, find the album, delete the old version, drag in the new one. The albums and your Lightroom Collections drift apart over time.
Google Drive sync isn't a fix - it dumps your original files into Drive without any album structure. Your shared albums stay frozen in time, and Drive has no idea the photo your family is looking at is now out of date.
This plugin plans the whole loop: Collections in Lightroom map to Google Photos albums automatically, and re-publish updates the cloud version in place. You stay in Lightroom and the cloud catches up.
What happens to my existing Google Photos library?
Nothing changes. The plugin only manages photos and albums that it creates itself. It cannot read, modify, or delete any of your existing Google Photos content - that's enforced by Google, not just a plugin choice. Your existing library stays completely untouched.
Do uploads count against my Google account storage?
Yes - uploads count toward your Google account storage just like any other photo or video. The plugin doesn't compress or alter the original. Whatever Lightroom exports is what gets uploaded, and that's what counts against your quota. If you're tight on space, the Lightroom Publish dialog lets you set a quality and size limit on what's exported.
Can I import photos from Google Photos into Lightroom?
Not currently. Google retired the read scope on their Photos API in March 2025, which means no app can pull photos out of a user's library anymore. The plugin is publish-only: it pushes photos from Lightroom to Google Photos. We're tracking a future solution using Google's Picker flow, which lets users hand-pick photos to import.
If I edit a photo and re-publish, does it create a duplicate?
No. When you re-publish, the updated version replaces the original in your Google Photos album. No duplicates, no second copy, no manual cleanup. The album simply reflects your latest edit.
Can I delete photos from Google Photos through the plugin?
The Google Photos API does not allow third-party apps to delete photos - that's a Google-side restriction. When you remove a photo from a Published Collection, the plugin moves it to a "To Delete" album in your Google Photos. You can review them all in one place before actually deleting from Google.
Does it edit my photos in Lightroom?
No. Nothing about your photos in Lightroom changes - not your edits, not your ratings, not your originals, not your catalog. The plugin reads what's in a Published Collection, exports a copy through Lightroom's normal export pipeline, and uploads that copy to Google. Your master files stay exactly where they are.
Is my Google sign-in safe?
Yes. The plugin uses Google's official sign-in flow. Your Google sign-in happens directly with Google in your browser - your password never touches the plugin, and never touches Lightroom Tools. The plugin only asks for the minimum permissions it needs to create albums and upload photos, and Google has verified those permissions in March 2026. See our Privacy Policy for full details.
Is this a subscription or a one-time purchase?
One-time purchase. Pay $9.99 once and the plugin is yours forever. No recurring fees, no usage limits, no expiration.
How many computers can I use the plugin on?
Your license key can be activated on one computer at a time. If you switch machines, deactivate the old one from inside Lightroom's Plug-in Manager and activate on the new one. Takes a few seconds.
Can I get a refund?
Yes - 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. If it is not right for you for any reason, email us within 30 days of purchase and we will refund you in full. We would rather you be happy than keep a sale. Full terms on the Terms of Service page.
Still have a question? Email [email protected] or use the contact form - a real person reads every message and replies, usually within a day. Ask before you buy; we would rather answer than have you guess.
FROM THE JOURNAL
Deep dives for
Lightroom photographers.
THE PRINT - READY WHEN YOU ARE
Stop re-uploading
every time you edit.
Publish your Collections to Google Photos albums. Edit, re-publish, the album updates. Done in 1 click.
- One-time $9.99 - it pays for itself the first time you don't re-upload an album by hand
- Publish unlimited photos - no quotas from us, ever
- 30-day money-back guarantee - no questions asked
- Direct upload to Google - we never see your photos
LIGHTROOM CLASSIC ON MACOS OR WINDOWS · FREE GOOGLE ACCOUNT