# Open Directly Plug-in



## Bryn H (Jan 18, 2012)

Hi Guys,

I'm new here so be gentle with me. This is my first post so I'd like to start by saying a big thankyou to Victoria for her wonderful e-book which has got me up and flying with Lightroom. I wanted to export Raw files into Elements and Victoria has provided a link to "Open Directly" plug-in. Sadly this plug-in comes without install instructions and I have searched this forum for guidance but did not find a relevant post so I did it the hard way and figured it out myself. So in a spirit of sharing I will impart this to the rest of you guys (We aren't all experts).

1. Create a directory within your installed program called "Open_directly.lrplugin" (not sure of the underscore but the supplied plug-ins seem to use it)

2. Unzip the zipped files into this directory

3. Open Lightroom and click File and select Plug-in Manager from the list

4. You should see OpenDirectly on the dialogue box that opens - select this and you will be able to enter your serial number for your purchased plug-in (Sorry this one's not free)

5. Click Done, Dialogue box will close

6. Select your chosen image and click "Export" This opens a new dialogue which allows you to choose the location for the exported file ( You guys probably already know all this stuff) but the important bit is under "File Settings" - Choose "Original" - Under "Post Processing" choose your Raw image processing software (In my case Elements 10) - Click the "Export" button.

Your chosen image editor should launch and your chosen image appear - It worked for me anyway so I hope it helps another newby out there somewhere. I think this method should work for LR V2.3 onwards. Earlier versions may have their plug-in data stored elsewhere (Adobe.com)

Regards,

Bryn H


----------



## johnbeardy (Jan 18, 2012)

Hi Bryn

I'd just like to point out the download page does indeed have installation instructions here .

OpenDirectly is intended to be generic (it was originally for kng Nikon Capture). But there is also Elemental which was specifically for Elements users.

John


----------



## Bryn H (Jan 18, 2012)

Sorry John,

I completely missed that one when I downloaded it. Still I got it up and running by trial and error. I would just like to say thanks for a great add-on. I was having to make a note of the file name, open Elements and then open the image and let ACR launch. This way it is seemless and makes everything so much easier. Sorry for being a dunce in the first place.

Thanks & Regards,

Bryn H


----------



## johnbeardy (Jan 18, 2012)

But I was gentle on you 

Incidentally, all plugins are installed in the way you discovered. 

John


----------



## DawMatt (Jan 19, 2012)

johnbeardy said:


> OpenDirectly is intended to be generic (it was originally for kng Nikon Capture). But there is also Elemental which was specifically for Elements users.


Thanks for the mention John!

Bryn, if you are interested in opening your RAWs directly into layers, or into panoramas, or are interested in specific help around Elements/Lightroom compatibility then Elemental tries to provide deeper integration between the two products. If you are happy to open the files individually in Elements and work through any Camera Raw upgrade/compatibility issues yourself then Open Directly will be fine for this.  Both of these plugins avoid the rendering of a temporary file inherent in using Lightroom's inbuilt Edit In templates so will be quicker and consume less disk space when working with Elements as an external editor.

Matt


----------



## Bryn H (Jan 20, 2012)

DawMatt said:


> Thanks for the mention John!
> 
> Bryn, if you are interested in opening your RAWs directly into layers, or into panoramas, or are interested in specific help around Elements/Lightroom compatibility then Elemental tries to provide deeper integration between the two products. If you are happy to open the files individually in Elements and work through any Camera Raw upgrade/compatibility issues yourself then Open Directly will be fine for this.  Both of these plugins avoid the rendering of a temporary file inherent in using Lightroom's inbuilt Edit In templates so will be quicker and consume less disk space when working with Elements as an external editor.
> 
> Matt




Thanks Matt,

I'll certainly be giving Elemental a try. As an enthusiastic amateur I don't tend to process large volumes of images at a time so individual editing suits me fine at the moment. I am on quite a steep learning curve with lightroom and I am only just discovering just how powerful an editor it is in it's own right. I am particularly impressed with the lens correction and orientation correction capabilities of the s/w. The added bonus of being able to build your own lens correction data is superb. On the downside, my PC & OS are a little below spec. for this s/w so some operations are a little slow. I shall be looking into the possibility of upgrading the H/W soon so then I'll really be flying. Thanks for your support.

Regards,

Bryn


----------



## DawMatt (Jan 20, 2012)

Happy to help Bryn. I moved from PSE 6 to Lightroom 2 and rarely had to go back to PSE for image editing. Lightroom supports the way I work and I'm sure you'll grow to appreciate all of its capabilities as well.

Matt


----------

