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K
Kurkurak
Participant
September 17, 2023
Answered

Recover lost Develop Settings used to export JPG to corresponding, unedited photo in RAW

  • September 17, 2023
  • 1 reply
  • 1321 views

Hi,

Recently I was formatting my computer, and unfortunately lost all of my Develop Settings in Lightroom used in photos. However, I have all the RAWs and edited, exported JPGs saved. I would like to recover the Develop Settings used to edit the photos, and have them back in Lightroom, so I can tweak them or export with different crop ratio.

 

In other words, let's say I have two files: photo.jpg - edited and exported with Lightroom Classic, and photo.CR2 - the original RAW file, but without any Develop Settings, and would like to apply them again in Lightroom.

 

Is there any way to do this? I know that Lightroom somehow writes the Settings to metadata. In Photoshop's File > File Info > Raw Data I can see something that actually looks like Settings and values that I have used, so maybe there is a way to read this and apply on my original RAW file in Lightroom?

 

I know that resetting my computer without backing everything up wasn't a good idea in the first place, but right now it's already too late.

 

Huge thanks for any help!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Kurkurak

When you export the photos to a JPG, the edits should be present in the file, unless you selected certain export options. However, I am not aware of any way to en masse read the edits from these exported JPGs and then apply them en masse to the original RAWs.

 

Having no backups is never a good situation. From now on, catalog backups must be made (it is not optional) on a regular and automated basis. These catalog backups MUST be (it is not optional) on a different physical disk than the original.


Yes! That's right. I have finally figured it out, with a huge help of this thread:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/import-develop-settings-from-jpeg-and-apply-them-to-a-raw/m-p/10479400 

Where a similar case is discussed. Basically, I used the ExifTool to read the edits included in file's metadata, and copying them to a new .xmp file (and changing AlreadyApplied value to False). Then I put the .xmp to the folder where the RAW was stored, and Read Metada From file in Lightroom > Metadata. All the settings where restored!

 

Thank you very much for your help, from now on I surely will be more careful when backing up and deleting anything 😉

1 reply

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
September 17, 2023

The way to do this is to restore a recent backup of your catalog file.

K
KurkurakAuthor
Participant
September 17, 2023

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

The thing is, I have no backups from before the formatting of my PC, that's why I mentioned the "Raw Data" in metadata as something that maybe can help. Maybe I can make a use of it with some help from any third-party apps?

thanks

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
September 17, 2023

When you export the photos to a JPG, the edits should be present in the file, unless you selected certain export options. However, I am not aware of any way to en masse read the edits from these exported JPGs and then apply them en masse to the original RAWs.

 

Having no backups is never a good situation. From now on, catalog backups must be made (it is not optional) on a regular and automated basis. These catalog backups MUST be (it is not optional) on a different physical disk than the original.

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