# Photoshop's "Save As" Not Saving to Lightroom's Catalogue



## Tinkerbell (Aug 27, 2020)

Hi
I hope that someone will be able to answer this puzzling question for me.  I used to be able to work in Lightroom, then edit in Photoshop and when done working in PS, then would do a Save then a Save As in PS.  The Save would give me a tiff file in LR's catalogue and the Save As would also save to LR's catalogue as a file with the blue PS logo on it.  If I wanted at some other time to return to PS, all I had to do was click on the PS logo file in LR and it would open it up again in PS.  This is no longer happening and I do not understand why not for I have not changed anything.  When I do a Save As the next page that comes up is "save to the cloud or save to this computer".  Under Preferences, File Handling, Save As to Original Folder is still checked.  I don't quite understand what has changed or how to fix it.  This is driving me nuts and hoping that someone will be able to clarify this for me.  Thanking you in advance for any information you might be able to provide.


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## Johan Elzenga (Aug 27, 2020)

You should not use 'Save as'. When a photo is sent from Lightroom to Photoshop, then Lightroom adds the path to the 'derivative to be' to the catalog. When the photo does not come back as expected (because you decide you don't want to keep it, _or because you save it under another name using 'Save as'_), then Lightroom will remove that link from the catalog again. I know that 'Save as' sometimes seems to work despite what I just said, but the fact that it sometimes does work is the glitch, not the fact that it doesn't work. 

The fact that you only saw the Photoshop logo rather than the image is a different matter. It almost certainly means that you created a layered file, but did not check 'Maximize psd and psb compatibility' in the Photoshop preferences.


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## Tinkerbell (Aug 27, 2020)

Thank you so much for your reply.   When I do a Save in Photoshop to bring it back to Lightroom,  my file and image is there in a tiff format but when I do a right click on the picture for editing in PS again it doesn't matter whether I choose "Edit a Copy with LR  Adjustments" or "Edit Original" all of my edits and layers are no longer there.

Before when I did a Save As in PS it would put the file back  in LR with the PS logo and image on it and all that I had to do was click on that logo in LR and it would bring it back up in PS with all of my edits and layers.  So if I do a Save in PS and it brings it into LR as a tiff file how do I bring it back up again in PS  with all of my edits and layers?  Could you please tell me step by step exactly how I am suppose to do this.  Also if my original file is in a tiff format already, because these are scanned images and saved as a tiff and then imported into LR,  how are you suppose to know which file is the PS edit file and which one is the original tiff file imported in LR?  I certinally liked it better the other way.

The 'Maximize psd and psb compatibility' in the Photoshop preferences is check.

Any input would be great appreciated and thanking you again.


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## Johan Elzenga (Aug 27, 2020)

Tinkerbell said:


> Thank you so much for your reply. When I do a Save in Photoshop to bring it back to Lightroom, my file and image is there in a tiff format but when I do a right click on the picture for editing in PS again it doesn't matter whether I choose "Edit a Copy with LR Adjustments" or "Edit Original" all of my edits and layers are no longer there


When you choose ‘Edit Original’ your layers will still be there, but Lightroom edits will not show in Photoshop. They will show again in Lightroom after you save the image from Photoshop, however. When you choose ‘Edit a copy with Lightroom adjustments’ then you do see the effect of the Lightroom adjustments in Photoshop, but now you will lose all your layers because Lightroom does not support layers. So if you want to retain everything, then the way to do it is to use ‘Edit Original’ and ignore the fact that Lightroom edits won’t be visible in Photoshop. When you’re done in Photoshop use ‘Save’, not ‘Save as’, to return the image to Lightroom.


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## Tinkerbell (Aug 27, 2020)

You  indicated, "When you choose ‘Edit Original’ your layers will still be there"  .  .  .  . but  .  .  .  it is not there, it only shows Layer 0 and none of the edits or layers are there.   Sorry, but I guess I am a little confused or don't know how I should go about in my work flow to be able to go back into PS and still see all of my edits and layers because Edit Original is not working.   Any suggestions?  Thank you again for your help.


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## Johan Elzenga (Aug 28, 2020)

Edit original is working. "Layer 0" means that the file has layers... If it doesn't have layers, then the only thing you will see is called 'Background'. I don't know what you did in Photoshop and what the file looked like before, but this proves that Lightroom did not flatten it. If you had more layers, then you did something wrong in Photoshop. Maybe you saved it as PNG rather than PSD or TIFF?


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## Gnits (Aug 28, 2020)

To answer the original post.  It has been my experience that when I use Save As from Photoshop, sometimes the Saved As image  is in Lr and sometimes not.   If it is not, then I have got into the habit of re Synching that particular folder.  If I have been doing a lot on a particular folder I will also resynch that folder to catch any stray orphans.

1. Yes... I would prefer if the behaviour was consistent.
2. There are lots of vg reasons to ‘Save As’ , I am sure is used millions of times , so it would be very useful if Adobe streamlined this process.

In the meantime, this behaviour is etched into my DNA and I just work around it.


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## Tinkerbell (Aug 28, 2020)

Thank all of you for your input and it is greatly appreciated for I am still very new to PS and have a lot to learn.   I will play with this some more and see what happens.  

Because these scanned negatives are saved in a tiff format, do you think if I have in Preferences set to save to PSD instead of tiff that when it goes back to LR the file will say PSD so I will be able to tell which one is the PSD and what was imported into LR as a tiff file?  One more question if you don't mind - how do you resynch and is it done in LR or PS?

Thanking you again for all helpful input during my learning process.


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## clee01l (Aug 28, 2020)

I have not figured our when Photoshop Save As images get cataloged back in LrC and when they do not.  My treatment is like Gnits.   As for your issue about preserving layers.   Both the Save and the Save As dialogs have an option to flatten layers before saving.  Are you sure that checkbox is set properly?


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## Johan Elzenga (Aug 28, 2020)

Yes, you could switch file format if you want to. In the external editor preferences you can also automatically add ’edit’ or something else to the file name (at the bottom). That is another way to distinquish between the original scan and an edited copy.


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## clee01l (Aug 28, 2020)

Tinkerbell said:


> Because these scanned negatives are saved in a tiff format, do you think if I have in Preferences set to save to PSD instead of tiff that when it goes back to LR the file will say PSD so I will be able to tell which one is the PSD and what was imported into LR as a tiff file? One more question if you don't mind - how do you resynch and is it done in LR or PS?


When you invoke the "Edit In" function in Lightroom you determine the file format of the file that will come back from Photoshop when Saved.  This is in LrC preferences. 

If you Save As a PSD then you are creating a new file in Ps. As for cataloging the Save As file no one seems to have an answer as to what happens in LrC. 

In LrC you can right click on the folder in the folder panel and choose "Synchronise Folder..." to pick up any images in the catalog but not in the folder.


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## Tinkerbell (Aug 29, 2020)

So much to learn - - and again thank you for helping me understand this better.  Everyone has been so helpful.

Clee01:  "Both the Save and the Save As dialogs have an option to flatten layers before saving.  Are you sure that checkbox is set properly? "  I'm sorry, but I'm not sure where to find this.  Can you please help me with this?

"When you invoke the "Edit In" function in Lightroom you determine the file format of the file that will come back from Photoshop when Saved. "  Should this be set to PSD then or to Tiff?  (I thought tiff was a better match for LR)

Johan:  " In the external editor preferences you can also automatically add ’edit’ or something else to the file name (at the bottom). "
Ok, the file says "untitled-182 tiff, I have:  custom name -  Original File Number checked, do I click on Edit at bottom of page -  then what do I change?  I still would like to have the original file number associated with the file.  Then will it always show PS next to the saved images instead of untitled?


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## Johan Elzenga (Aug 29, 2020)

Tinkerbell said:


> Johan: " In the external editor preferences you can also automatically add ’edit’ or something else to the file name (at the bottom). "
> Ok, the file says "untitled-182 tiff, I have: custom name - Original File Number checked, do I click on Edit at bottom of page - then what do I change? I still would like to have the original file number associated with the file. Then will it always show PS next to the saved images instead of untitled?


What most people use (and I believe that is the default) is adding ‘edit’ at the end of the file name. That means you need to use a rename preset like this: {Original file name}”-Edit”. But if course you can use anything you like.


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## clee01l (Aug 29, 2020)

Tinkerbell said:


> Clee01: "Both the Save and the Save As dialogs have an option to flatten layers before saving. Are you sure that checkbox is set properly? " I'm sorry, but I'm not sure where to find this. Can you please help me with this?


In Ps Preferences there is an option in "File Handling" labeled "Ask before Saving Layered TIFF Files".   When that checkbox is checked a Dialog pops up on "Save"



The radio button labeled "Discard Layers and Save A copy".  will flatten the image.
In the "Save As" dialog the checkbox labeled "Layers". will cause a flat single layer image to be safe if left unchecked.






> "When you invoke the "Edit In" function in Lightroom you determine the file format of the file that will come back from Photoshop when Saved. " Should this be set to PSD then or to Tiff? (I thought tiff was a better match for LR)


. I prefer TIFFs since they are more universally accepted as an image format by other photo editors.  As far as LrC is concerned it does not really matter.  Both file types support layers.   Lightroom will preserve layers but will not export them.


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## Tinkerbell (Aug 31, 2020)

Thank you again for your help and explanation and especially for sending the screen shots which really helps.

("Ask before Saving Layered TIFF Files" is checked in the PS preferences.  When that checkbox is checked a Dialog pops up on "Save" )
When I click on File  -  "Save",  -   the file goes directly to LR and a screen does not come up at all.  

With the "Save As" option, I do not get the second screen that you have posted and have not been able to find it.  These are the two screens that do come up upon Save As.  The first screen shot is when I click on Save As and then I click on "Save on Your Computer",  then the second screen shot comes up.   I am working on a laptop with Windows 10 and I am wondering if you are using a Mac.  Could this cause a difference in what screens come up upon Save As?  I have "Layers" and "ICC Profile: ProPhoto RGB" checked in the second screen shot.   It would be nice if you could get rid of the first screen shot and the file just went directly in LR catalogue like it used to with Save As function.    So with Layers checked on my second screen I am taking it, even though the screens are different, it is doing the same thing.  

Thanking you again for all of your help.


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