P: Exporting DNG (from Merge) as a new DNG w/ Compatibility set to 14.0 creates a damaged file

[johnrellis]

Exporting a photo-merged DNG as a DNG with compatibility Camera Raw 14.0 And Later creates a DNG that can't be opened in either Photoshop Camera Raw or in LR Develop.

Tested with LR 13.2 and Camera Raw 16.2 on Mac OS 14.2.1.

1. Open this small catalog:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dzg9nvdz727wgam/merge-export-dng-bug.2024.03.25.zip?dl=0 

2. Select both photos and do Photo > Photo Merge > HDR with these settings:

3. Select the merged DNG and Export with these settings:

4. Open the exported DNG in Photoshop and observe the error "The file appears to be damaged":

5. Import the exported DNG into LR, go to Develop, and observe the error, "The image appears to be damaged":

6. Repeat step 3 with Compatibility: Camera Raw 15.3 And Later, and observe the exported DNG opens without error in both Photoshop and LR Develop.

[johnrellis]

"I have tried setting Compatibility: Camera RAW 15.3 or later Lightroom develop still fails however PS works without error - the same if I export choosing "Original""

I'm not able to reproduce that using test test catalog and images I published above, merging and exporting the 15 raws you published above, or exporting the four merged DNGs you published.  In call cases, using Compatibility: Camera Raw 15.3 Or Later produces exported DNGs that can be successfully re-imported in my LR 13.2.

Perhaps you could upload one of the merged DNGs that fails to export correctly in your LR 13.2, and I can see if that happens in my LR.

[Adil36199917kev4]

Hi Rikk

Are you refering to Lightroom Classic (LrC) or Lightroom (Lr) when using "LR" terminology? Its the cloud version of Lightroom (Lr) (version 7.2) that has this problem when importing the exported DNG file - see below

Exporting a photo-merged DNG as a DNG with compatibility Camera Raw 14.0 And Later creates a DNG that can't be opened in either Photoshop Camera Raw or in LR Develop.

Tested with LR 13.2 and Camera Raw 16.2 on Mac OS 14.2.1.

1. Open this small catalog:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dzg9nvdz727wgam/merge-export-dng-bug.2024.03.25.zip?dl=0 

2. Select both photos and do Photo > Photo Merge > HDR with these settings:

3. Select the merged DNG and Export with these settings:

4. Open the exported DNG in Photoshop and observe the error "The file appears to be damaged":

5. Import the exported DNG into LR, go to Develop, and observe the error, "The image appears to be damaged":

6. Repeat step 3 with Compatibility: Camera Raw 15.3 And Later, and observe the exported DNG opens without error in both Photoshop and LR Develop.

By @johnrellis

[Lumigraphics]

This is the Lightroom Classic forum, you are having problems reading files in Lightroom CC/Desktop?

[johnrellis]

"Are you refering to Lightroom Classic (LrC) or Lightroom (Lr) when using "LR" terminology?"

As mentioned by @Lumigraphics, this is the Lightroom Classic forum, and unless otherwise specified "Lightroom" and "LR" refer to LR Classic.

"I have tried setting Compatibility: Camera RAW 15.3 or later Lightroom develop still fails however PS works without error - the same if I export choosing "Original" ... It's the cloud version of Lightroom (Lr) (version 7.2) that has this problem when importing the exported DNG file"

Thanks for the clarification.  

Using the LR Classic catalog and test images I posted above, I tested the ability of LR Desktop 7.2 to import a merged photo created by LR Classic 13.2, and I only see an error when exporting as DNG with Compatibility: Camera Raw 14.0 And Later:

Merged photo: no error

Merged photo exported as Original DNG: no error

Merged photo exported as DNG 15.3 And Later: no error

Merged photo exported as DNG 14.0 And Later: error

This is expected, since LR Classic 13.2, LR Desktop 7.2, and Camera Raw 16.2 all have the same version of the Camera Raw engine inside, and thus we'd expect them all to behave similarly. But if you have a sample merged photo that doesn't, please share it.

[Adil36199917kev4]

The export of DNG file was using LrC which is causing the issue of importing the same file back into Lr - so the issue belongs here as it appears LrC export process is the issue