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Question

Lightroom-Photoshop Workflow with Layer Adjustments

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
July 10, 2020
7 replies
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I'm hoping someone might have advice for my workflow which seems to be problematic.

- LR: Create an HDR Merge.

- LR: Use "Edit in Photoshop" to open the .DNG file.

- PS: Edit the image with Layer Adjustments

- PS: Save as a .PSD to the desktop with "Layers" checked.

- PS: Save to Lightroom.

- Now if I try to return later to "Edit in Photoshop" the .PSD, the layers are not intact.

- If I open the native-saved .PSD, the layers are intact.

This is problematic, as editing often occurs in different intervals, with adjustments both in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Any ideas?

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Bob Somrak

Legend

After you Edit Original of the PSD you need to reselect the TOP step in History in Lightroom to reapply the Lightroom edits you did to the PSD.

M4 Pro Mac Mini. 48GB

johnrellis

Legend

You need to be more precise about the steps you are taking. I think the steps you are doing are:

1. Select HDR in LR and do Edit In Photoshop.

2. In PS, do Save.

3. In LR, edit the .psd in Develop.

4. In LR, select the .psd and do Edit In Photoshop.

5. In PS, make some changes to the .psd and do Save.

In step 4, are you selecting Edit Original or Edit A Copy With Lightroom Adjustments?

If you select Edit Original, then the .psd will open PS with its layers, but you won't see the Develop settings from step 3. When you save a new version of that .psd in PS, in LR you should see the Develop settings from step 3 applied to that new version of the .psd.

If you select Edit A Copy With Lightroom Adjustments, then you'll get a new file opened in PS, with the .psd layers flattened and the Develop settings from step 3 applied.

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Just Shoot Me

Legend

Are you saving in PS with Max compatibility checked?

I don't understand your third step.

-PS: Save As a .PSD to the Desktop with "Layers" checked. So you are using the Save As option to save a PSD to some other folder than the one the original Merged DNG file is stored? And then you are using Save Com/Ctrl + s to save it back to LrC?

The copy you used Save As and placed it in some other folder is Not in the LrC catalog and does not show in LrC.

And what do you mean the Layers are not Intact.

K

kipinaustinAuthor

Participating Frequently

- When I open the HDR .dmg from LR using the Edit in Photoshop command, I make changes to the image with adjustment layers.

- I "save as" the image to the Desktop as a .PSD just so I can test that one later.

- I then "save" the .psd to LR.

- I close the file in PS.

Then I shift back to LR.

- Now if I look at the .psd and decide I need to make changes to it in LR, and then decide to make more changes in PS), when I select "Edit in Photoshop", the .psd opens in PS. The layers are intact. But the Lightroom changes are gone.

So this essentially means one cannot edit in both Lightroom and PS and have layers remain intact.

Rob_Cullen

Community Expert

- Now if I look at the .psd and decide I need to make changes to it in LR, and then decide to make more changes in PS), when I select "Edit in Photoshop", the .psd opens in PS. The layers are intact. But the Lightroom changes are gone.

This adds more complication to the Lr<>Ps interaction!

1) You edit a .PSD that returns to LrC.

2) You do more LrC development to the .PSD in the LrC Develop module.

3) You go back to Ps with 'Edit-In' - Choosing the [Edit Original] option. (NOT -[Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments] )

Yes, the edits in step 2) do not show in Ps, but- read on-

4) Do more edits in Ps, and [Save] the file (not Save-As)

5) The image should re-appear in the LrC catalog with the LrC Step 2) edits re-applied.

If the LrC edits from Step 2) do not re-appear on the .PSD, then you may only need to zoom the image and the Preview will update.

Earlier versions of Lightroom did not update (automatically) this way, but you could always simply [click] on the very last top edit in the Develop History panel and all the Lr edits would re-apply.

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .

Rob_Cullen

Community Expert

The workflow works for me!

It is important to note that the .PSD you create from the .DNG, with layers, is now the 'ORIGINAL'. (The 'Original' .PSD.!)

You do NOT re-open the HDR DNG with Ps by 'Edit-In' if you want the layered file.

The .PSD will open with layers intact if you always select either [Edit Original] or [Edit a Copy...of the original] in the dialog.

[Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments] is problematic in that it will remove (flatten) all layers in a .PSD that you 're-open' in Ps.

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .

johnrellis

Legend

I followed your steps:

"- LR: Create an HDR Merge.

- LR: Use "Edit in Photoshop" to open the .DNG file.

- PS: Edit the image with Layer Adjustments

- PS: Save as a .PSD to the desktop with "Layers" checked.

- PS: Save to Lightroom.

- Now if I try to return later to "Edit in Photoshop" the .PSD, the layers are not intact."

In the last step, when I right-click the .psd in LR and do Edit In > Edit In Adobe Photoshop 2020, I'm able to select Edit Original, and the .psd re-opens in Photoshop with its layers intact.

See this screen recording: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ta9wsxhlfmkum3a/hdr-photoshop.2020.07.10.mov?dl=0 . Perhaps you can see a difference between that recording and what you're doing or seeing.

If that doens't help, please post a similar screen recording of the same steps -- that should clarify what's going on.

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-record-your-screen

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Bob Somrak

Legend

Davids link to the Scott Kelby article is correct. Edit Original of the PSD will still have the layers if you saved the PSD with layers.

M4 Pro Mac Mini. 48GB

K

kipinaustinAuthor

Participating Frequently

No. My point is that if you create an HDR image in Lightroom, and then open that in Photoshop, and then make adjustments with layers, and then save back into Lightroom. Lightroom will not reopen the image in Photoshop with layers, because the original image was an HDR .dmg.

K

kipinaustinAuthor

Participating Frequently

I should add I tested this extensively with Adobe chat support this morning. I kept getting the same results on my side, and they recreated and got the same results on their side.