# Open in photoshop fails for raw (dng/nef) - works for tiff/jpg etc



## chrissearle (Sep 8, 2012)

LR 4.1, CS6 and ACR 7.1

I now have two machines that can't open raw files from LR in PS. One is mac osx 10.6 leopard (which has had this issue a long while now) the other 10.8 mountain lion (recently started) - but the same LR/PS/ACR versions.

These are nikon NEF's converted to DNG at import.

Symptom is that if PS isn't running then when you hit command-E it starts - but that's it. No image - nothing.

If PS is running then hitting the command-E (or menu) just does nothing.

I've tried changing between tiff and PSD in the LR external editing preference dialog - no change.

If I manually export to tiff (ProPhoto RGB, 16 bit 240, zip compression - in other words the same options as under the external editing preference), import that tiff to LR then choose edit in photoshop I get the normal "Edit with LR adjustments, copy, original" dialog and things work.

I've just tested with a NEF file directly - same issue.

Now - if I take the same file on disk - right click and choose open in PS I get ACR 7.1 just fine and can open the file in PS via that.

I am really struggling to find out why it's failing via LR - it's really slowing down my workflow and to be honest nags at me simply because it's supposed to work.

If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd be really happy


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## Victoria Bampton (Sep 9, 2012)

Hi Chris, welcome to the forum!  Let me just double check a point - if you have a TIFF, does the Edit with LR Adjustments definitely work?  The reason I ask is that Edit with LR Adjustments should be going through the same path as raw files (original plus settings passed via ACR in the background).

I'm trying to figure out why it would be broken on both computers.  Did you copy preference files across when you started the new computer?

My first port of call would be to go to the Preferences dialog and press the Reset Warning Dialogs checkbox.  It's an odd one but it works in some cases.


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## chrissearle (Sep 9, 2012)

Victoria Bampton said:


> Hi Chris, welcome to the forum!  Let me just double check a point - if you have a TIFF, does the Edit with LR Adjustments definitely work?  The reason I ask is that Edit with LR Adjustments should be going through the same path as raw files (original plus settings passed via ACR in the background).



This was a very good question. I have to admit that since I got the popup dialog on the tiff I thought - oh - it works. But you're right - no it doesn't.

I've tried various things - resetting warnings in LR - removing the photoshop prefs file (found that on the adobe forums), reinstalling photoshop. Nothing helped :(

As to why two machines - no real clue.

This started on my older machine a few months back but because it still worked on the laptop I kind of just gave up since I couldn't find anything online other than one post that it got fixed when the guy moved from trial to payed - well - mine are definitely not trial - all fully licensed - so it wasn't that.

But now it's stopped on the laptop too. Seriously irritating.

The older machine was upgraded from elems to CS5.1 to CS6. The laptop started at CS6. And the older machine started on LR3 upgraded to 4 - the laptop started at 4. Both are now on 4.1

If I remember correctly - then the older machine started having the issue about the same time the ACR update mismatch started - so I kind of put it down to that - but the laptop has always had matching ACR versions between LR and PS as far as I can work out.


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## Victoria Bampton (Sep 9, 2012)

Ok, here's a weird question - what if you try to open a raw file from MiniBridge in Photoshop, rather than from Bridge.  I've heard a few reports recently, and it's looking like a problem with BridgeTalk which LR uses to communicate with ACR.  And these are 'normal' licenses rather than creative cloud ones?


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## chrissearle (Sep 9, 2012)

Full standalone licenses for both LR and PS - not a full CS suite and not cloud.

And again - you're onto something.

Mini-bridge first asks that you start bridge.

Mini-bridge then can browse the images - but it can't open any of them. Same as from LR - just nothing happens.

Alt-tab to full bridge - and open - up pops ACR.

So - yes - whatever BridgeTalk is - it doesn't seem to be happy.


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## Victoria Bampton (Sep 10, 2012)

Hmmmmm, ok, that's really helpful, thanks Chris.  I'm following up with some other people to see if I can get some kind of troubleshooting on that, so I'll come back to you as soon as I get a response.

(And BridgeTalk is a way of Adobe apps communicating with each other.  I'm pretty sure that's what's being used, but I can't find the source of that info, so it could be my imagination!!  Either way, it's a cross-program communication issue so might involve a PS fix rather than a LR one.)


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## chrissearle (Sep 10, 2012)

That's fine - and do let me know if there's anything you want me to test. I appreciate any info you manage to dig up - since I've not managed to get anywhere with this up to now 

I've found a few others with similar symptoms but most posts stop at "PS does nothing when you hit open in LR". I guess that it's an issue that's hovering around the edges of the community - but unusual enough that it's not received much attention.


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## chrissearle (Jul 30, 2013)

Resurrecting an old thread - but new machine - both PS CS6 and CC installed - images that have been loaded into LR5 (DNG converted from NEF), and exported as TIFF - edit as photomerge does nothing from LR. ACR can open the DNGs, but not open them in PS (either version). Bridge can open the images but not open anything in PS. If I open the TIFFs directly - I can see them but if I try photomerge it just says they have to be saved first and yet save is disabled.

So - all this was working on the new machine up until a month ago and now it's re-reared its ugly head again.

So fed up with it.


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## Victoria Bampton (Jul 31, 2013)

Eugh, sounds like a nightmare Chris.  It sounds like Photoshop has some major issues there, rather than Lightroom.  Have you tried trashing Photoshop's preferences?


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## chrissearle (Jul 31, 2013)

Not last night but I have tried it before. Wish I could understand why this happens - I have now seen it on three machines using anything from CS5.1, CS6 or CS CC and LR 3, 4 and 5. I can find some posts via google but they're just people asking how to fix - never found a solution.

I suspect the next step is to uninstall all adobe products then reinstall - but even with the CC updater app my heart just sinks at the thought - that's a lot of work which may not work (didn't work back in the CS5.1 days).

It seems that anything under the automate menu is broken - can't photomerge - can't load as stack. I can open tif images (can't open dng via ACR tho).

Now - I do wonder if having both CS6 and CC installed could be confusing it? The cloud installer app left the CS6 app's when it installed CC - but I'm not sure if uninstalling CS6 will fix it.

If you have any ideas how to actually get at what error PS is seeing and falling over on - might help - haven't found any logs yet.


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## Victoria Bampton (Jul 31, 2013)

I can only suggest asking on Adobe's own Photoshop forum on that one.  They'll be more familiar with the Photoshop issues and fixes than I am.


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## chrissearle (Jul 31, 2013)

Yes - will try there again. Was there I found the original posts about people with similar issues without finding anything much of a solution other than trashing prefs. But I'll try again.


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