White balance does not match original in Lightroom after editing in Photoshop

Question

Hi. I wanted to remove objects in a raw image from lightroom Classic desktop. I had already done some editing in LR but wanted to remove objects on the unedited photo so I could continue to do small edits later and have the full history. So I created a virtual copy of the unedited image in LR and took the virtual copy to Photoshop. Removed objects in PS and then saved back to LR. That new Tiff file is now in LR without unwanted objcts. I then did a copy and paste of the edits from original photo to new tiff file. The two photos are quite different. The Tiff image is much more orangy and less vibrant. Puzzled I look at all the parameters, and they all show exactly the same adjustements, exactly. Except for the white balance. Which in the original had a temperature of -5650 and tint of +6. The Tiff file shows no WB adjustments. But when I tried to ajust the WB on the Tiff file to match the parameters here are completedly different as it only goes to +/- 100, no such thing as 5650....?

What happened ? Before transfering file to PS I did make sure that the external editing parameters were similar to those I use in PS i.e. ProphotoRGB. Am I missing something ? If I do the same exercise not with the virtual copy but with the original Raw file with all the LR edits, remove objects in PS then save back to LR as Tiff the WB is correct i.e. no difference with the original one.

Thanks all,

F

Per Berntsen · Accepted Answer

Raw files are fundamentally different from regular image files and identical adjustments will not create identical results.

Raw files are greyscale files, and the colors are added in the rendering process in Lightroom.

They are also assigned a white balance in Lightroom, while a tiff will have the white balance baked in.

I suggest that instead of using a virtual copy, do all the work you can in Lightroom before sending the image to Photoshop.

See also this thread: https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic/lightroom-to-photoshop-and-back-colour-preset-performs-differently-when-re-applied/m-p/11346213?page=1

D Fosse · Answer

Just a little addition to the excellent and 100% correct replies above.

"I did make sure that the external editing parameters were similar to those I use in PS i.e. ProphotoRGB."

There is no need to do that and it doesn't matter. Any color space will be correctly treated by Photoshop whatever it is. Any embedded profile out of Lightroom will override the working space in Photoshop. There is no reason for them to match.

Also, there is no particular reason to use ProPhoto. The internal working space in Lightroom is not the same as ProPhoto RGB. The Lightroom internal color space has ProPhoto primaries, but a linear tone response curve. But that's just for internal use. Anything that goes to Photoshop will be encoded into one of the standard RGB spaces, sRGB, Adobe RGB or ProPhoto RGB.

In fact, I always advise people to not use ProPhoto unless they're fully aware of the implications. ProPhoto can very easily do more harm than good in the wrong hands, and actually increase the risk of damaging or losing data.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded