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kevinf36521315
kevinf36521315
Participant
October 21, 2025
Question

edits from Photoshop not saving to Lightroom

  • October 21, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 111 views

After performing intial edits in Lightroom I hit 'edit in Photoshop' and carry out the heavier editing there. When finished, either hit save or exit and save. Normally the edits carried out in Photoshop would then appear on the image in Lightroom. However this is not happening. The file has been saved as I can reopen it in Photoshop complete with all edits, however to get this back to lightroom I have to save as a separate file and then import it into Lightroom from the folder location.

I am working on a Mac Mini M4 Pro on Sequoia 15.6.1

I uninstalled both Photoshop and Lightroom and then reinstalled them (Photoshop then Lightroom) to make sure that I have the latest versions but this made no difference.

1 reply

D Fosse
Community Expert
D FosseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 21, 2025

Just to establish the baseline in this workflow:

  • Lightroom doesn't support layers and can't read adjustment layers from Photoshop. It can only read flat images.
  • When you turn on "maximize compatibility" in Photoshop, it inserts a flat composite in the file, and this Lightroom can read. This flat composite is updated every time you save the file from Photoshop. 
  • Lightroom adjustments are parametric (text instructions), stored in the Lightroom catalog, not in the file. It is not baked into the file until you Export or Edit in.
  • Those Lightroom adjustments are sent to Photoshop as a flat file, any previous layers are ignored.

 

The point is, a round-trip workflow requires that you keep a straight head. A file isn't immediately compatible both ways. My advice is usually to go one way from Lightroom to Photoshop, but not the other way, unless you're absolutely certain that you understand the implications.

 

Another thing is that Photoshop doesn't save "to" Lightroom, it just saves to disk. It is added to the Lightroom catalog by a background script that tracks the file as long as both applications are open.

 

So. Please describe exactly what you're doing, and what adjustments have been done where and how.

    kevinf36521315
    kevinf36521315Author
    Participant
    October 21, 2025

    Thank you for the clarifications, I understand the process so I guess my description of the problem was poorly worded.

    After saving the file in Photoshop, the file is obviously saved correctly as I can reopen it in Photoshop. However, the edits carried out in Photoshop have not been written back to the Lightroom catalogue as they do not appear on the preview in Lightroom. This was working perfectly smoothly a couple of weeks ago but since I returned from a trip, it is now not working.

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