P: Lightroom Classic: "Open as layers in Photoshop" function broken after update

Report · Jun 17, 2020

I edit about 30 images per day by selecting the below command, within Lightroom Classic (recently updated):

PHOTO > EDIT IN > OPEN AS LAYERS IN PHOTOSHOP (also recently updated)

But after the most recent update of PS and LrC I have reliability lost this ability. If I select 5 images in LrC and try to do the above, only about 1-2 images appear in my layered PS file as a layer, then a blank "LOAD LAYERS" layer appears (see attached) and one more image will open in a separate PS file and not a part of the layered file - then the import quits.

After I am done editing the layered file and when I save it - it will automatically save and load the modified layered file in LrC - which it does not do anymore. I was able to get it to work properly couple times, but it always ends up giving me this problem about 80% of the time.

Obviously the only work around is for me to copy and past each layer individually and then manually save the file and import into my LrC catalog - which makes the process of editing images very inefficient when doing dozens of these edits per day.

I'm on a Macbook Pro, latest install of LrC and PS / most recent Catalina & have uninstalled/re-installed PS - again, I have edited hundreds of images like this prior to the recent updates and never had an issue so obviously it have something to do with the update, at least for me.

andrew

Report · Oct 13, 2020

It's a known bug, on ”the list” to be fixed.

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"

Report · Oct 20, 2020

This is happening to me too!! 😞

Report · Oct 22, 2020

Update on my previous post from a month ago. Since upgrading to PS 22.0.0 and LR 10.0 two days ago, I have run 48 tests of opening multiple images from LR as layers in PS. The number of images ranged from 19 to 91. Of those 48 tests, four failed to fully load all layers (i.e., PS stopped midway as before). Do I chalk this up to gremlins/stuff happens, or does the bug still persist? For me, since the frequency of failure (~10%) is sufficiently low (relative to 33-50% previously??), this makes using Open as Layers in PS a viable option rather than the workaround I had been using. (I am using an iMac with MacOS 10.15.7.)

Report · Oct 22, 2020

Just in case you haven't done this, make sure that all the images in the failed set exist and are not corrupt.

Select a set of images in the Library module that fails.
Switch to the Develop module.
Select the first one.
If it is missing or corrupt, an error box will appear.
Tab through the images to ensure that they are there and not corrupt.

I'm not sure whether the following are PS restrictions but the answer to these would, at a minimum, help isolate the problem.

Are they all the same format: all raw, all JPEGs, etc?
Are they all the same resolution?
Are they all from the same camera?

An interesting and perhaps helpful test:

Take a set that fails, a small set will do.
Export them as DNG at a fixed resolution that is slightly lower than their current resolution into an empty folder.
Import them into Lightroom.
Now send the set to PS as layers.
If this works then the problem is probably isolated to something in one of the images.

Another test if you have a small set that fails:

Remove one image at a time
Send to PS
If this eventually works then you've found the problem image and you can see if there's anything different about it. Of course more than one image in the set could be an issue.

Note that this is problem isolation and not necessarily problem determination. But if you determine that the problem is not with one of your images, you can report it to PS Support and they will have a better starting point for researching the problem.

Report · Oct 22, 2020

This is an ongoing issue, and happens regardless of images chosen. I can select 4 copies of an identical blank-black image, and it will still fail.

Report · Oct 22, 2020

"This is an ongoing issue"

And the issue has already been acknowledged by Adobe and assigned an internal bug report.

Report · Oct 31, 2020

I'm having this issue as well. Super frustrating.

Report · Oct 31, 2020

Jacob, please do Help > System Info -- which version of LR and which OS?

Report · Nov 09, 2020

Same problem here! This issue is debilitating for my work. I edit 100+ images per day with multiple layers for each image. I've had this problem in previous versions of PS, but usually only about 10% of the time. Now it is 100%. After every image I have to close PS and reopen, and even then sometimes it won't load as layers from LR.

macOS Catalina 10.15.6

Photoshop 22.0.0

Lightroom Classic 10.0

When is this going to be fixed?

Report · Nov 10, 2020

One more. Doing this command around 40 times a day for my living. With the new PS 21 it became really bad. Using the newest LRC and PS21, newest Mac OS, 64GB RAM, 3.8ghz, PS has assigned 52GB Ram or so. Still doing.

Tried with TIFF and PSD, issue remains.

Report · Dec 15, 2020

I don't understand how this issue is not fixed yet. It's been ongoing for MONTHS. an update created the problem, an update needs to fix it ASAP. Beyond annoying. Photoshop & Lightroom become consistently slower and buggier, but yet more expensive than ever.

Report · Dec 15, 2020

Also, does ADOBE reply and interact here or does it rely on it's customers to fix other customers issues? I'm new to exploring this page

Report · Dec 15, 2020

@PhilJAZ

Updating to 22.0.1. fixed the issue for me. I also updated to Big Sur (before updating PS & LR).

22.1 is available now, and needless to say, I'm not messing with anything for a while.

Report · Dec 15, 2020

Yes, Adobe employees post and respond here, all the time.

LR Classic Tips: NEVER use Auto-update, turn that feature off in Creative Cloud. Wait until you get the "all clear" from Jeff Harmon (Photo Taco Podcast) or Victoria Bampton (lightroomqueen.com) that it's OK to upgrade. Same with your MacOS, listen to "The Mac Geek Gab" podcast. I'm still on Catalina, I NEVER upgrade until the ".2" version, giving Apple time to squash the usual bugs. -25 year Mac IT Pro.

BTW, PS and LR (& Classic) have been the same price for years now, $9.99/month, which includes the killer feature, the cloud.

Report · Dec 17, 2020

Hi *jljordan ,

Did you try updating your PS and LR versions?

1) Also, how many images were you trying to open as Layers in PS (invoked from Lr). What are the nature of those images(like file types)? Were there any video present in the selection?

2) Were you seeing this problem even on the older PS2020 version?

3)What is the behavior when trying the same workflow using a new classic catalog

These information would help us to investigate more.

Thanks,

Arjun

Report · Dec 17, 2020

Hi Phil,

Could you please mention the PS and LR versions that you are using along with the system info ? Does updating to new PS solve?

Thanks,
Arjun

Report · Mar 04, 2021

Hi there!

I got a batch (679 to be exact) of photos I need to combine in Photoshop. Every time I try to do this via the "open as layers in Photoshop"-command in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop loads an x number of layers (usually 100-200) before just stopping the process and sending me back to Photoshop's starting page without any error messages. I've tried trashing the preferences on both applications, didn't work. I've also tried several (but not all of them) older versions, didn't work either. Needless to say, this is incredibly frustrating because I have other things to do than try to process the same batch of astro shots over and over again.

System info:

Windows 10 Pro 1909

i7-6850k 6 core 3,60GHz

64 Gigs of RAM

Photos are on a 7200RPM hard drive

Both applications are up to date

Report · Mar 04, 2021

Have you tried with less images.. ? Maybe 200.

Report · Mar 04, 2021

@TangCanada I did, actually! Same result...

Report · Mar 04, 2021

Open as Layers from Lightroom has been an issue for years. Sometimes even opening 20 images only 17 might open. Did you try doing this using Bridge to see if it works.

Report · Mar 04, 2021

@robert_somrak Doesn't work via Bridge either, does the same exact thing - loads up a bunch images, then just quits right back to the start screen after a while. I also tried loading the pictures into a stack with just Photoshop, same exact thing happens. Would it seem like the issue is with Photoshop?

Report · Mar 04, 2021

Why conversations get merged:

https://feedback.photoshop.com/conversations/lightroom-classic/lightroom-auto-import-to-folders-orga...

Report · Mar 15, 2021

Updates to Lightroom Classic and the Lightroom Ecosystem products for Desktop, Mobile and Web were released today and contain a fix for this issue.

Please refresh your Creative Cloud application and install your update when it becomes available. Thank you for your patience.

Rikk Flohr: Adobe Photography Org

Report · Apr 10, 2021

@Rikk Greetings.

I am running LR Classic 10.2 ( Build [202103041821-226a1211) and Photoshop 22.3.0 on Windows 10-64 bits and whatever number of layers I choose in LR and Open as Layers in PS, only two layers and one empty layers are opened. If I just Edit In Photoshow, all images are aopened (but of course not as layers!!!) When will annoying (not to say debilitating) bug will be fixed ??? Thanks and regards - Andre

Report · Apr 10, 2021

I am running LR Classic 10.2 ( Build [202103041821-226a1211) and Photoshop 22.3.0 on Windows 10-64 bits and whatever number of layers I choose in LR and Open as Layers in PS, only two layers and one empty layers are opened. If I just Edit In Photoshop, all images are opened (but of course not as layers!!!). When will annoying (not to say debilitating) bug will be fixed ??? Thanks and regards - Andre