# What is the main difference processing a cr2(raw) file only in Photoshop and ACR?



## Rose Weir (Oct 5, 2013)

I have a photo associate who has retreated to strictly using CS6 to develop his Canon raw images.
He says he doesn't understand what is going on in Lightroom.
Meanwhile he has many folders of tifs and finding a specific image is not immediate.

I wondered what happens to the original cr2 with his routine. Is it left in its original state and the saved tif is the prime file?

Rose


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## Victoria Bampton (Oct 6, 2013)

I'm not sure I quite understand the question.

Editing a raw file in Photoshop or Lightroom gets exactly the same result, except the settings are stored in different locations (Lightroom - the catalog, Photoshop - either xmp or the Bridge database).  In both cases it's then possible to export a rendered file.

Can you reword the question a little please?


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## Tony Jay (Oct 6, 2013)

Rose, I think without knowing the exact concerns that your associate has, not to mention his exact workflow that anwering this query will really be impossible.

Tony Jay


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## Rose Weir (Oct 6, 2013)

I understand that ACR has the same tools as in Lightroom and it appears my friend is giving up the database management BUT its the 'destructive' non-destructive' factor that I was wondering about. 
He can't get his head around the routine that Lightroom uses and I have difficulty visualizing what is happening to the original cr2 when only using CS6.
If another processing approach is desired on the same image such as changing the crop ratio is the original cr2 retrieved or is it the rendered file? I can visualize the rendered file if it saved with all layers intact (psd) but is this available if its a tif format?


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## clee01l (Oct 6, 2013)

Rose, forgetting about CR2 files for a moment, lets look at JPEG originals.  If you catalog a JPEG in LR, ACR is not needed for post processing. The same is true if you open the JPEG in PS. The difference is that in PS you are allowed to make changes to the JPEG and choose Save. Doing this causes the original JPEG to be overwritten and the changed file replaces it.  It is not possible to do this in LR. In LR you always have to create a new derivative file.

With a CR2 file it is a little different.   The CR2 file is not in RGB order and needs color reconstruction to get to a place where it can even be displayed on the computer monitor or used in a program like LR or PS.  For this Adobe uses ACR just to get the image into a processable state. In PS in theory, you are expected to save this reconstructed image in some derivative file format like TIFF, PSD, or JPEG.  In PS it is possible to force the app to overwrite the original CR2 file with the derivative image data and destroy it. Unless you are very dense, this won't happen.  But be warned that it could. 

Both LR and PS (in equivalent versions) use the same ACR engine to do the color reconstruction and present an image in RGB order. The user interface in both presentations of ACR are slightly different between LR and PS but have the same controls.  Both ACR in LR and as the front end to PS store this color reconstructed RGB data in the same ACR cache. It is this image in cache that is used for all subsequent processing (including crops parameters).  Only if the color reconstructed RGB image data does not exist in cache will the ACR engine generate a ned cache copy.

Perhaps your friend prefers to manage the image assets manually instead of letting LR do all of the work. I can appreciated this, but those that do their own image asset management either do not have very many images or do not understand or appreciate the advantages of image asset management. 
Also from your description, it appears that your friend prefers the ACR interface in the front end  to PS instead of the integrated approach in LR.  Most people seem to fall into the opposite camp and I've heard lots of requests to present ACR with the same user interface in PS as is seen in LR.


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## Rose Weir (Oct 7, 2013)

Thanks clee011
I think I became a little 'ticked off' because I had put time and effort into guiding and supporting this fellow (V1 to V4) when he just 'quit' recently<LOL!>
Your last paragraph regarding 'managing image assets' is the crux of the matter. The routine or effort required to learn and do this management is the stumbling block is my conclusion.
He only has to 'open the file' and proceed if he is using Bridge and then ACR.
There isn't any management in place. Its a browse through folders manually routine i.e. Seek and Find...or not <grin>
Some people prefer to stay in their 'comfort zone' and I've just been presented with that condition in this fellow <LOL!>


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