Virtual copies will not open as layers in PS 27.11 from Lightroom Classic

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I sometimes make a virtual copy of an image in Lightroom Classic so I can adjust the virtual copy in LR differently than the original image. I then open both the original and virtual copy as layers in Photoshop, using the context menu in LR, and blend the two images in PS. I’ve been doing this without problems for years. However, I recently have found that this no longer works. When I try to do this, Photoshop hangs and I have to force it to close and restart. Rebooting the computer makes no difference, and I can reproduce the error every time I try.

However, if I open the original image and virtual copy separately in PS from LR, I can then add the virtual copy to the original as a new layer using a Duplicate Layer step and blend the layers as necessary. This is much less efficient but allows me to get the editing done until this bug is fixed.

This bug is relatively recent; I’ve always been able to open “real” and virtual images as layers in PS. I’m not sure when it appeared, because it has been a couple months since I did any photo editing.

I’m using fully-updated PS 27.11 and LR Classic 15.6, running on Windows 11 24H2, on a machine with 128 GB RAM.

D Fosse

Community Expert

Open as layers hasnt’t worked with several functions lately, e.g. Denoise. A straight open as layers works, and the individual functions also work - but the combination doesn’t. Not had any problems myself, but we’ve seen a number of reports here.

Another workaround is to open as smart object, then split out a new independent smart object layer with “new smart object via copy” in Photoshop. The advantage is that this retains the full raw data in both layers.

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adpremxxxAuthor

Participating Frequently

Just to be clear, I’m doing a straight open as layers in all cases from LR to PS. The only difference is that if one of the “images” I’m opening to layers from LR is a virtual copy, PS hangs. If all the images I’m opening to layers are “real”, open as layers works just fine, no matter how many images I select in LR.

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D Fosse

Community Expert

Yes, that’s what I’m saying :-)

Apparently there is an underlying problem here, but it’s difficult to say exactly what. I see 28.0 is out now, so you can see if it works there (I’m holding off the update for a while).

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