Mylio, which is an acronym for My Life is Organized, made it’s debut at the PhotoPlus Expo 2014 an event I was unable to attend. This put me at a disadvantage when trying to figure out all the details of the new program. Normally I would spend a lot of time with a representative at the show and pick their brain on every detail. Instead, I had to search the net for what fellow photographers and what Mylio’s own website is saying about the product. I then read between the lines to see if Mylio will make it’s way into my workflow.

What exactly is Mylio?

DPREVIEW’s Allison Johnson: Mylio is a subscription-based photo organization plus basic editing system for photographer. It offers cross-device access to a user’s collection of photos, without having to change their local storage structure. The software makes photos available for viewing and editing on a desktop, laptop, phone or mobile device, with edits synced between devices and original files backed up in several places in an effort to keep them safe.

My interpretation: A tool for photographers to organize their images and create an unlimited number of portfolios that can be viewed on multiple devices such as smartphones, tablets and their computer.

Facebook images

Making sense of it all

Basic editing system for photographer

This is a nice feature, but I’ll stick with Lightroom and Photoshop for my editing needs. With that said, I like that the changes I make using Lightroom and Photoshop are automatically synchronized with Mylio allowing me to see the changes on all of my devices.

Mylio offers cross-device access to a user’s collection of photos, without having to change their local storage structure.

At first I was confused where my images were being stored. Was Mylio copying, moving or adding my images to a different location? The answer is it can if you choose that option. I’ve created a file structure that works for me. I would use the Add option and keep my file structure as is.

Original files backed up in several places in an effort to keep them safe.

Mylio isn’t an answer to a storage problem. It’s designed to work with an existing storage structure, not replace it. If you’re low on disk space, you’ll be even lower if you choose to copy RAW files from different locations.

Mylio for Professional Photographer

A typical workflow for a professional photograph: a primary workstation; traveling laptop; tablet for showcasing with clients. Photos captured with a camera, imported onto primary workstation.

  1. Set up an external hard drive of sufficient capacity to store full-resolution copies of all your photos.
  2. Set up a duplicate of that hard drive, stored off-site. (In case of fire or other disaster, you don’t want your physical back-ups in the same place!)
  3. After initial set-up and configuration, the off-site backup can be configured to automatically stay in sync with the Mylio Photo System on your primary system.
  4. Configure your laptop to access the full Library of photos at Preview resolution. You can edit and enhance these files, and the changes are applied to the full-resolution versions as well across your Account.
  5. To best use the limited storage on your Tablet, in the Sync pane configure the device to hold only, say, you 5-star photos, and perhaps as well photos you wish to show to current clients that you can keyword with the client name or an overarching term such as showcase.
  6. New photos can be imported into your Mylio account whenever you attach the camera or its storage card to your primary computer, or to your laptop when traveling.

This is similar to how I have my workstation configured except I use two Drobo units; a 5D for my working files and a 5N as my backup with Crash Plan as my offsite storage. I use SmugMug to show my clients their images.

Mylio offers three subscription plans:

Basic Plan: $50/year for JPEG only, three devices, up to 50,000 images

Standard Plan: $100/year JPEG and Raw, image editing options, five devices and up to 100,000 images

Advanced Plan: $250/year for multiple locations, 10 devices and up to 500,000 images

Requirements: Mac computers running OSX 10.8 or later are supported, as are PCs with Windows 7 and 8. An app for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch is available for those devices running iOS 7 or later. Theres currently no Android app but thats expected to change in 2015.

Will Mylio make it into my workflow?

It’s too soon to say. I like the fact I can view my images from Facebook, Fllickr and Lightroom on different devices. Plus edited images are instantly updated. Mylio will add value when showing clients their final images.

So, what’s holding me back? Two things. First is price. $250 dollars a year in my opinion is a lot for a service I see as an extra benefit to my workflow. Mylio doesn’t replace anything and I can still show clients their portfolio using SmugMug or other online portfolios. The second is time. Time? Yup time. It will take a few days, maybe a week to sort through and organize my images. This is something I’ve been meaning to do for years but haven’t prioritize it.

For now, I’m on the fence waiting and seeing if Mylio is right for me.