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FeedbackCommunityMember
Inspiring
April 7, 2011
Open for Voting

P: Prevent loss of Edit Histories when Reimporting Photos

  • April 7, 2011
  • 66 replies
  • 2513 views

When importing DNGs with stored edits (included XMP data) then the history of the photo just shows "Imported..." instead of the list of edits.

I have a corrupt catalogue. (I did nothing to cause the correction :()
The catalogue contains photos which are not associated to folders in the library module. When I choose "Got to folder in Library module" from the context menu for such photos, nothing happens. I imported them just like any other photos, but somehow the corresponding library folder wasn't created or lost.

I tried synchroning the parent folder but the missing subfolders are not created again.

That's why I decided the only way forward is to create a new catalogue. However, the new catalogue doesn't have any of the edit history. The rendering is OK and I can reset it to see the original version of the photos but I cannot see the edit history anymore.

Why is the edit history not recreated? The essence of it must be available because otherwise the correct final rendering could not be created.

I believe edit histories should be available for JPGs, RAW and DNG files. When I decided to use DNG files vs RAW files with sidecar (XMP) files, I didn't know that I'd lose the history with a fresh import of a DNG file. I suppose that if I had XMP files, I could copy these and still had my edit histories.

    66 replies

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    M
    Mark Sirota
    Known Participant
    April 11, 2011
    FWIW, I've first logged that "collapse history" function as a feature request in the 1.x days. So count me in! I don't think it needs to be anything fancy UI-wise, a menu item would do the trick. Needs to work on all selected photos.
    D
    dtull
    Participating Frequently
    April 11, 2011
    Ian, "h.ll to pay" (earlier comment) "you've got a lot to learn"? You're making a valid point here, but there's no need to take that condescending tone when making it.

    If you're sending XMP + raw content to a third party you're implying a substantial level of trust. Sending full history is admittedly tipping your hand a bit further, but if you really don't trust the third party not to be reverse engineering your technique, you should be sending baked in rendered formats with most metadata stripped anyway.

    What's clear from the thread is that careful thought will have to go into the defaults and options, but there are multiple equally valid choices here depending on the customer.
    D
    dtull
    Participating Frequently
    April 11, 2011
    Ian, "h.ll to pay" (earlier comment) "you've got a lot to learn"? You're making a valid point here, but there's no need to take that condescending tone when making it.

    If you're sending XMP + raw content to a third party you're implying a substantial level of trust. Sending full history is admittedly tipping your hand a bit further, but if you really don't trust the third party not to be reverse engineering your technique, you should be sending baked in rendered formats with most metadata stripped anyway.

    What's clear from the thread is that careful thought will have to go into the defaults and options, but there are multiple equally valid choices here depending on the needs.
    Ian Lyons
    Community Expert
    Ian LyonsCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 11, 2011
    Victoria,

    This is a fundamental change in behaviour - folk have been using Lr since 2006 and haven't had history in their files. Adobe make it the default and everything from then on has history. User unaware of the change sends image to third party who now knows exactly what was done. If you think that won't cause a riot then you've a lot to learn.
    Victoria Bampton LR Queen
    Community Expert
    Victoria Bampton LR QueenCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 11, 2011
    Ian, considering most people assume that all of the data IS stored in XMP and are shocked to find their history etc. missing, I would have said that the default should be ON in this situation. More knowledgeable users who know they don't want it could then turn it off.
    Victoria - The Lightroom Queen
    D
    dtull
    Participating Frequently
    April 11, 2011
    I'd have to look at the specific trade-offs involved in the Photoshop design. Lightroom and PS are different products that may justify different choices.
    D
    dtull
    Participating Frequently
    April 11, 2011
    I'd have to look at the specific trade-offs involved in the Photoshop design. Lightroom and PS are different products that may justify different choices.
    areohbee
    areohbee
    Legend
    April 10, 2011
    The default only matters if you don't know you have options, or where to go to change. Consider a warning dialog - first time save: warn about the fact that not everything is in, or it includes the kitchen sink..., then the user knows what to expect, can decide to do it differently, knows where to find the setting to change mind in future...
    Ian Lyons
    Community Expert
    Ian LyonsCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 10, 2011
    Dan,

    The default should be Off, just as it is with Photoshop, which has had the ability to save history to XMP and/or a text file for years. Actually, take a look at how it done in Photoshop.

    Also, be warned, set default to On and there will be h.ll to play!
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    April 10, 2011
    I think I waited a bit too long to create a new thread. There are so many contributions in here that it would be suboptimal to start afresh. However, maybe my first post could be edited to feature the rewritten feature request I posted here as a comment.
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