Opening Camera Raw images from Photos

Apple Photos processes RAW photos using system libraries. When you send a photo to Photoshop from Photos, its already been rendered and will not be RAW format.

It looks like Apple Photos first converts it to a non-raw format so that Photoshop can open it directly. I can’t find a command in Apple Photos that will send a raw file to Photoshop as raw.

I did find a workaround, but it requires that you added the raw files to Apple Photos in referenced mode. Usually, Photos copies all imported original photos into a hidden set of folders within its Photos Library. But if you add a photo in referenced mode, it works like Lightroom Classic where the photo will be cataloged in its current folder anywhere on the computer. 

When Apple Photos stores a photo in referenced mode, you can choose File > Show Referenced File in Finder, which reveals it on the Mac desktop. If you do this for a raw file, you can drag and drop the revealed original file on the Photoshop application icon or window, and Camera Raw opens.

To store files in referenced mode, in Apple Photos choose Photos > Preferences, and in the General tab, deselect Copy Items to the Photos Library.

However, changing that setting does not change images that are already cataloged by Photos, and as noted in the picture below, referenced mode prevents an image from being used in iCloud Photos.

By the way this really does look like a limitation of Apple Photos. Because if I select a raw file in Apple Photos and send it to Affinity Photo (a competing product to Photoshop), it doesn’t open as a raw file in there either, even though Affinity Photo has a raw editing module like Camera Raw that normally opens for a raw file.

If that data really is raw, it should and can only open in ACR. It sounds like despite what Photo's App shows, this is a JPEG to TIFF. 

You can open a TIFF, JPEG (and of course raw) directly into ACR (NOT ACR as a filter), is that what you want to do? Check your ACR preferences for JPEG/TIFF support.