Image Editing Feature in InDesign

And you might not need as many adjustments as in my example. If I wanted somewhere between -70 and -60 I could add back some saturation by turning on one of the + layers.

Both images at -70 Saturation

The bottom image with +30 added back in:

Besides deciding where to draw the line on what "Lite" image editing means, there would also be the question of whether the linked image file can be modified by InDesign. If you make a correction is InDesign going to save the image? When would the image save happen? Is there a separate save dialog for the linked image, or does it get saved when the ID document is saved? What if it is open in Photoshop—is the Save prevented, or does the image change in PS?

You might decide linked images can’t be saved by InDesign, and the correction acts like an adjustment layer in Photoshop. In that case InDesign’s Object Layer Options could let you do something similar. It would be possible to create and save libraries of adjustment layers that could be turned on or off. For example a Saturation group put over the image in Photoshop and manipulated inside of InDesign:

No adjustment:

-90% Saturation:

+40% Saturation

The image and group in Photoshop. The HS group could be dragged on to any image:

Another reason I wouldn't be a supporter of this - in its current suggestion state - would be that InDesign image preview is pretty limited - you don't see the actual image, just a proxy for layout purposes, yes you can see an high quality version - but it's not the actual image - I believe.

Affinity have done it quite well with Personas. 

I'd support a similar feature in InDesign - where you can switch In-App to Illustrator/Photoshop features, make the edits and return to the design phase. 

I disagree that this would be a useful feature. Years ago QuarkXPress had a built in curves feature. Nobody used it because of several reasons: few people knew it was there; most QuarkXPress users were not interested or even experienced in photo editing, and hte feature was extremely limited since all it overed was levels/curves adjustments. It didn’t help that it had a poor interface. The feature already exists in the form of Photoshop. Less than half a feature is not worth adding to a program as feature packed as InDesign.

Do you know you can "round-trip" between InDesign and Photoshop.

You can make the feature request but no way I'd support it. Use Photoshop and Illustrator to edit your graphics. That's what they're for.

This has come up before and you can file a feature request, but I doubt it will happen. There’s no way to save linked or embedded assets out of ID, and it would be difficult to draw the line between "lite" and expected image editing features.

There is the Option click with the Direct Selection tool method, which opens the linked image and when you save the link is automatically updated.

This is a better place to ask for new features:

https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601021-adobe-indesign-feature-requests