# Processing raw files in Lightroom



## Brizzol (Sep 4, 2017)

Hi

I use Lightroom 6 to process my RAW files, now once I have processed them I generally dont come back to the RAW files but I always keep them.

My last batch of photos I processed upon looking over them I have decided that quite a few of them seem a bit too dark.

Now my thinking was that I could just open the raw file and my previous settings for each image would be saved so all i would need to do was tweak the exposure tab until I was happy with it.

But when I open the raw file all the changes I made previously are gone and the sliders are all back in the middle so I would have to start each one from scratch again!



Is there a way of retrieving my previous settings for each file? Or is it a setting when im exporting them that i need to change?



Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can offer me...


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## Jimmsp (Sep 4, 2017)

Brizzol said:


> ........
> 
> But when I open the raw file all the changes I made previously are gone and the sliders are all back in the middle so I would have to start each one from scratch again!
> 
> ...



It sounds like you are using a new catalog. Once you import a raw file into a catalog, the catalog records and keeps all the edits you make to a photo. If you import them again into a new catalog, LR is not aware of the work saved in the first catalog.
Did you import them again?


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 4, 2017)

The whole idea about working with raw files in Lightroom is that you keep the raw files and the settings. When you need an image for something, you export it specifically for that purpose and after you've used it you delete it again (because you can export a new version whenever you need it).

It sounds like you removed the raw files from Lightroom after you exported a tiff or jpeg, and now because you want to change something after all, you imported them again. That is not how Lightroom works, I'm afraid. When you remove the raw file from Lightroom, you also remove the edit settings.


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## Brizzol (Sep 4, 2017)

Thanks for the replies.
I don't use Lightroom catolog to store my photos, I import the raw files, process and export them, then remove them from the catolog.
By working like this are you saying Lightroom cannot keep any of my edit settings?


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## Linwood Ferguson (Sep 4, 2017)

What you are doing is very contrary to the philosophy of Lightroom.  I even suggest if you really want to use it that way you probably should consider other tools.

That said, if you really want to do this, set the option to automatically write metadata (under preferences), and this will create a .xmp file with each raw file.  Save both together, and if you want to reuse them later, import them (with no develop presets) with the XMP and raw in the same folder.  It will read the XMP and apply the original development presets.

But that's a workaround, the real answer is the catalog should be a permanent repository.  If you want the files themselves offline, put them on external hard disks but let Lightroom track them and remember.


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## Brizzol (Sep 4, 2017)

Ferguson said:


> What you are doing is very contrary to the philosophy of Lightroom.  I even suggest if you really want to use it that way you probably should consider other tools.
> 
> That said, if you really want to do this, set the option to automatically write metadata (under preferences), and this will create a .xmp file with each raw file.  Save both together, and if you want to reuse them later, import them (with no develop presets) with the XMP and raw in the same folder.  It will read the XMP and apply the original development presets.
> 
> But that's a workaround, the real answer is the catalog should be a permanent repository.  If you want the files themselves offline, put them on external hard disks but let Lightroom track them and remember.



Yes I realise most people would prob read this and wonder why i'm doing it that way!
I have all my photos extensively organised in windows explorer which makes it easy for me to keep track and back up all my files.
I really don't want Lightroom to have any hand in organising or cataloging my photos but what you have suggested above sounds like a perfect workaround and I will definitely implement that. 
Thanks for your help, much appreciated.


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 4, 2017)

I would strongly advise you to learn something about the Lightroom catalog. It is so much better than Window Explorer...


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## Jimmsp (Sep 4, 2017)

Brizzol said:


> Thanks for the replies.
> I don't use Lightroom catolog to store my photos, I import the raw files, process and export them, then remove them from the catolog.
> By working like this are you saying Lightroom cannot keep any of my edit settings?



*Lightroom does not store your photos.*
In the Library module, it is a database that (among other things) keeps track of where the photos are on your hard drive and what you have done to them in the Develop module. If you remove a raw file from the data base, you also remove the edits that are associated with it.
Keeping a raw file in the Library does not duplicate the storage of a raw file on your hard drive, nor does it "back up" the file.


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## Linwood Ferguson (Sep 4, 2017)

Jimmsp said:


> *Lightroom does not store your photos.*



Absolutely correct, though to be fair in "normal" use (if there is such a thing) Lightroom does pick the storage location and even name, and if used properly when rearranging files it does the rearranging.  It's not hard to see why people get confused when you say a photo is "in" lightroom but is not stored in lightroom.


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## PhilBurton (Sep 5, 2017)

More precisely, "in the Lightroom catalog."

Phil


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## Brizzol (Sep 5, 2017)

Jimmsp said:


> *Lightroom does not store your photos.*
> In the Library module, it is a database that (among other things) keeps track of where the photos are on your hard drive and what you have done to them in the Develop module. If you remove a raw file from the data base, you also remove the edits that are associated with it.
> Keeping a raw file in the Library does not duplicate the storage of a raw file on your hard drive, nor does it "back up" the file.



Thanks for that explanation I didn't have a clue about how the whole library thing worked but that's cleared it up a bit and I understand why I'm having the problem that I have. 
Thanks very much, very helpful forum


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## Gnits (Sep 5, 2017)

Here is a tutorial by The Lightroom Queen.  
What is a Lightroom catalog? | The Lightroom Queen

And a video tutorial by Adobe ...
How Lightroom catalogs work


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## Brizzol (Sep 5, 2017)

Gnits said:


> Here is a tutorial by The Lightroom Queen.
> What is a Lightroom catalog? | The Lightroom Queen
> 
> And a video tutorial by Adobe ...
> How Lightroom catalogs work



Awesome thanks for that! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Gnits (Sep 5, 2017)

Yes ....
Step 1 in regard to Lightroom is understand the concept behind the Catalog. Then a lot of things fall into place.
Step 2.  You need to have very very strong arguments to consider more than one Catalog.


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## Hoggy (Sep 9, 2017)

Yes, the catalog is leaps and bounds better than just the file system - by so many orders of magnitude.  One uses the file system strictly to _store_ the photos, typically having LR import via auto sort and naming to date-based folders for easy backup purposes.  Then one uses keywords and collections for the _organizing_.

When using keywords and then 'writing metadata to files', keywords can transcend whichever program you might end up using or are wanting to switch to - as all programs can read the keywords.  Just keep in mind that keywords and ratings, and sometimes color labels can transfer to different programs -- but collections and flags don't.  These days, all my collections are smart-collections, based off various metadata in the files/catalog.

Also keep in mind that LR's backup only backs up the catalog database.  You need to find another way to backup the photos themselves.


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