Guide

How to Install the Lightroom Plugin and Connect It to AI Album Studio

This guide covers installing the Adobe Lightroom Classic plugin, checking that it's connected to the app on your computer, and — for the curious — how the two talk to each other behind the scenes.

Requirements

Adobe Lightroom Classic (not the cloud-based "Lightroom"): the plugin requires SDK 6.0 or later, so any version from Lightroom Classic 6 / CC 2015 onward works.
AI Album Studio installed on the same computer running Lightroom, and running while you use the plugin.

1. Download and prepare the plugin

From your account area, download the Lightroom plugin file (the same file works for both Windows and Mac).
Unzip it: you'll get a folder named AIAlbumStudio.lrplugin. Keep it in a stable location on disk (not inside a temporary or Downloads folder) — if you move it after adding it, Lightroom will flag it as "missing".

2. Add the plugin to Lightroom

Open Lightroom Classic and go to File → Plug-in Manager.
Click Add and select the AIAlbumStudio.lrplugin folder you extracted above.
The plugin will appear in the list on the left: selecting it lets you check the server address it connects to (the local app's address by default) and run a connection test.

Note: AI Album Studio needs to be running on your computer for the connection test and photo sending to work — the plugin connects to the app, not to a remote server.

3. Send photos from Lightroom

In the Library module, select the wedding photos you want to send to AI Album Studio.
Library → Plug-in Extras → "AI Album Studio: send selected photos".
Choose the collection/project name (create a new one or reuse an existing one) and confirm.
The plugin exports the selected photos and transfers them to AI Album Studio; photos already sent before and unchanged since then aren't sent again, so you never duplicate work.

To check the connection at any time: File → Plug-in Extras → "AI Album Studio: check server connection".

How the plugin and the app talk to each other

The whole exchange happens locally, on your own computer: the plugin doesn't send your photos to an external server, it talks directly to AI Album Studio installed on your machine.

When you send a selection, the plugin exports preview-quality copies (not the original files) and hands them to the app.
The app keeps track of which Lightroom catalog photo each preview came from, so it can later request a full-resolution export of the same photo — for example when preparing a print — without you having to redo the selection.
An automatic background check, every few seconds, keeps the two programs in sync — there's no "refresh" button to press anywhere.