# DAM in LR, editing in Photoshop



## Physioz (Sep 25, 2014)

Basically a beginner in LR (5.6) but am comfortable with the basic workflow  for my needs (amateur photographer).  I currently have a trial version of PS6 from Adobe CC and will purchase a licence if below is viable for me.

WRT to editing, what is the most efficient and/or recommended way to export raw files from LR to Photoshop, edit them further and then send them back to LR for managing?  Say for example, I perform a basic  edit of a raw (well converted to .dng) image in LR such as change the global exposure and then wish to send this image to PS for say detailed local sharpening after which I want to  manage this image in LR.

Thanks, in anticipation.


----------



## Jim Wilde (Sep 25, 2014)

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Lightroom has a pretty seamless working relationship with PS, via the "Edit In..." process. Basically, after you've finished your edits in LR, you would use the "Edit In Photoshop" command which will open PS, then under the covers passes the Raw/DNG to ACR which renders the file, applying your edits, and opens it in PS. When done in PS you press Save and the file is saved as a Tiff or PSD (depending on the preferences you set in Lightroom) in the same folder as the original file, and it appears back in LR alongside (and stacked with) the original. If desired, you can continue to pass that Tiff/PSD back and forwards to PS. Any layers you create in PS will be preserved by LR, but it can't show them. This process is slightly different if the LR and PS programs are out of sync with respect to ACR, if the PS/ACR version is older than the LR/ACR version, but the end result is still the same.

Although this isn't always the case, I would think that most users will do the majority of their editing solely within LR (local detailed sharpening can be applied using the Adjustment Brush tool), not needing to use PS very much at all. I'm certainly in that category (being an amateur also), I rarely find the need or the time to move into PS.


----------



## erro (Sep 25, 2014)

In LR you just right-click and select "Edit in Photoshop". Do your thing in Photoshop and exit. Back in LR you have the photo with PS edits.

I think the workflow for many people are:
- Import into LR
- Do as much editing here as possible. In many cases, LR's editiing tools are all you need.
- If LR is not enough, "Edit in Photoshop"
- Return to LR


----------



## clee01l (Sep 25, 2014)

If you are shooting RAW and the PS Camera RAW version is the same as the LR version, you do all of your camera RAW work inside LR and when you invoke the Edit-In function to call LR, LR will pass the RAW image and the ACR adjustments into PS for further processing. There is no need to use ACR in PS.

A Point of clarification "a trial version of PS6 from Adobe CC"  The PS version now shipping with Adobe CC is PS2014.  PS6 was released in 2000 and preceded the Creative Suite series by several years CS6 is the last version of Creative Suite and it contained PS13.  Creative Cloud (CC) is available only as a subscription and there have now been two versions of PS released as a part of CC. Those versions were/are PS14 and currently PS2014.   The least cost subscription for CC is the Photographers bundle at  ~$120/yr.   It includes LR, PS2014, Bridge and a couple of other minor apps.  The full creative suite with all of the Adobe Creative apps is ~$600/yr


----------



## Physioz (Sep 26, 2014)

Thanks Jim.  You say



Jim Wilde said:


> .. Any layers you create in PS will be preserved by LR, but it can't show them..".



I presume from this you mean that back in LR after any PS editing, I will be able to see the effect of the editing (i.e.what the image looks like post-PS) but not the actual details i.e. the layers?


----------



## Physioz (Sep 26, 2014)

Cletus - thanks.  I was a bit loose with my description of PS.  The trial version I've got is the CC version from the Photographers bundle.


----------



## Jim Wilde (Sep 26, 2014)

Physioz said:


> Thanks Jim.  You say
> 
> 
> 
> I presume from this you mean that back in LR after any PS editing, I will be able to see the effect of the editing (i.e.what the image looks like post-PS) but not the actual details i.e. the layers?



You'll see in Lightroom what you see in PS at the point of the Save, i.e. if you have the top layer deactivated in PS, thus you are seeing the layer(s) below, that will be the same image you see back in Lightroom. The hidden layer is still preserved, but you'd have to go back into PS to see/activate it. Note that to do that you'd have to use the option "Edit Original" which will lose any subsequent edits you may have applied in Lightroom. This can be quite a complicated area, which you'll need to get an understanding of if you think you'd be regularly editing in PS and creating layers. Simply put, try to finish all your LR editing before you pass the file to PS if you expect to be creating layers, and when the layered Tiff or PSD is back in Lightroom don't make any further develop adjustments if you think you'll be sending the file back to PS for more work.


----------



## Physioz (Sep 26, 2014)

Ok - thanks, I think Ive got it.  No chance of passing it backwards and forwards between LR and PS several times.  I hope to do as you suggested i.e. as much editing as possible in LR, any further editing (occasionally) in PS and then that's it.


----------



## Jim Wilde (Sep 26, 2014)

You can actually pass a file backwards and forwards several times, but there are implications in doing that. One of them is that if you have a layered file, in order to preserve those layers if you want to go back into PS you'd have to use the "Edit Original" option, which would lose any LR edits you may have applied after the layered file was created (though of course those edits would only be applied to the visible layer). To preserve any LR adjustments you'd have to use the "Edit a Copy with LR Adjustments" option, implications are that you'd get another PSD/Tiff to deal with, and that would also flatten the layers if the file was layered. Many things are possible, but as I said there are implications depending on what you are actually doing in PS. There may even be other ways of working with PS from Lightroom, such as Smart Objects, but that would need someone with more knowledge than me in that area....I am certainly not an expert where PS is concerned!


----------



## tanalee (Nov 22, 2014)

Instead of going back into LR, you could use the Camera RAW filter in PS CC. In fact, it has some updates not available in LR, such as being able to erase parts of gradients made with its Gradient tool.


----------

