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gabi1200
gabi1200
Inspiring
September 29, 2023
Answered

I can't open photoshop from lightroom

I can't open photoshop (v.25) from lightroom (v.12.5) 

I can't open photoshop from lightroom, the option is turned off

 

Thanks

 

    kenuckleheadCorrect answer
    Participating Frequently
    July 14, 2025

    Unfortunately, that's not an issue. Lots of storage on both the drive PS is installed on and the one the files are on. The previous suggestion of going back one update resolved the problem though!


    update. As it turns out, going back one version didn't fully resolve the issue. It seems it had to do with my Lightroom library being located on an encrypted drive. Odd, because it was always on that same drive. Looks like the update caused Lightroom to no longer be able to process from an encrypted drive (I could use Lightroom to open the "original" files (tiffs, jpegs, etc)  no problem but as soon as there were Lightroom edits or raw files or the layering of multiple files, Photoshop froze). The problem was only fully fixed when I transferred everything onto a non-encrypted drive.

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    20 replies

    kenucklehead
    Participating Frequently
    September 10, 2024

    After a lot of fiddling and troubleshooting with a couple of techs, we seem to have identified the issue I was having and hopefully have a solution moving forward. Here's a summary of the issues I had and what troubleshooting was able to identify as the problem:

    1. I could not open any RAW files in my LRC catalog with Photoshop without it freezing
    2. I could not open and file in my LRC catalog that had LR adjustments made with photoshop without it freezing
    3. I COULD open TIF (and I'm assuming JPEGs, etc.) files in my LRC catalog with Photoshop as long as I use the Edit Original option (no LR adjustments).

     

    During troubleshooting, it turned out

    1. I COULD open any file in my LRC catalog with Photoshop, even if there are LR adjustments AS LONG AS THE CATALOG WAS ON MY MACINTOSH HD!
    2. It turned out everything worked normally with a backup catalog that was found on a backup drive. The only difference is the drive I'd been having the problem with is ENCRYPTED whereas the backkup drive wasn't.

     

    It seems the issue I (and likely many others) was having is that I was working off an encrypted external drive. Now, the weird thing is this same drive worked normally previously and the problems started occuring after an update to PS/LRC. There seems to be some sort of mismatch in PS/LRC software with the current encryption protocols on MacOS. I'm decrypting the drive as we speak and will report back once I can confirm that the issue has been resolved.

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    kentdesign
    Community Expert
    kentdesignCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 12, 2024

    Wow - that was a very different reason and solution than most would have thought. Thank you for following up to let us all know !

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      kenucklehead
      Participating Frequently
      September 12, 2024

      Yeah, I hope this might save someone else from the headaches I went through.

       

      And I'm here to confirm that now that the drive is no longer encrypted, everything works fine again.

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        Dodastar77
        Participant
        August 31, 2024

        A workaround is to use the additional external editor in preferences under the external editor. Set it up, and you must choose the Photoshop application on the right. Name and save it. Use that option in the "edit in" menu. In that same menu, there will be two choices for "edit in Photoshop app."  Use the second one. It should work.

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        Community Expert
        AxelMattCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        September 29, 2023

        When the 'link' between Lightroom Classic and Photoshop has issues, the first step is to try this:

        Use the Adobe Creative Cloud Application to uninstall Photoshop. When asked, keep preferences! After this reinstall Photoshop again.

         

        If this doesn't help the nest step is to reinstall both apps Lightroom and Photoshop. Please folloe the steps below:

         

        1. Open the Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Client and uninstall both Photoshop and Lightroom Classic. When asked, keep preferences! 

        2. Install Photoshop first and then Lightroom Classic. The right order is very important here!

         

        If this doesn't help try the reinstallation with removing the preferences also.

         

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        My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 26H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 9 - PureRAW 6 - Topaz Photo AI
          gabi1200
          gabi1200Author
          Inspiring
          September 29, 2023

          That helped me, without removing the preferences 

          Thanks

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