P: Opening photos in Photoshop from LrC using Edit In does not work correctly for some operations

Report · Sep 20, 2016

Using Lightroom CC2015.7 and Photoshop CC2015.5.1

1 )If Photoshop is CLOSED and then I "Open as Layers ....." the computer will just sit there doing nothing. If I click Photoshop to open it then the operation will complete and the photos will be layered. I THINK THIS IS BUGGY BEHAVIOR

As a side note, this BUG affects the Panorama and HDR the same way. Photoshop has to be opened manually. The "Open as Smart Object works correctly.

2) If Photoshop is OPEN and then I "Open as Layers ...." the photos will open as layers in Photoshop

3 )If Photoshop is CLOSED and I "Edit in Adobe Photoshop ..." Photoshop will open and the two photos are loaded as separate objects. This is the expected behavior.

I think this is a change in behavior in Lightroom CC2015.7

Report · Sep 20, 2016

Seeing the same behavior. Needs to be fixed.

Report · Sep 21, 2016

What happens if you uninstall and reinstall Photoshop?

Report · Sep 21, 2016

Simon,

Thanks for the reply. Have you tried to recreate the problem at Adobe? If you have tried and can not recreate the problem I will try the reinstall. Reinstalls rarely fix things. I use a Mac and Just Shoot Me uses Windows so it should be easy to recreate. Open as Layers, Pano and HDR doesn't open Photoshop if it is closed but Edit in Photoshop and Open as a Smart Object does open Photoshop if it is closed. The strange thing is the operation is pending because if you manually open Photoshop the pre-existing command completes for the three that don't work.

Report · Sep 21, 2016

I am able to recreate this behavior. A bug is logged.

Rikk Flohr: Adobe Photography Org

Report · Sep 21, 2016

Thanks for checking this Rikk and confirming. It's a bug with an easy workaround if you know about it.

Report · Sep 21, 2016

An Adobe tech spent time with me this morning and tried the following on Win 10 64b PC with no avail;

Killed LR prefs
Killed PS prefs
Uninstalled LR and PS and reinstalled
Uninstalled ALL Adobe software and reinstalled
Tried Safe mode
Created a new user account
Switched to open LR and PS as Admin

Also did update on a separate PC with LR only update (ie not PS/ACR or BRidge) and got the same issue after the LR update

Report · Sep 21, 2016

I also uninstalled and reinstalled PS and no change. LR Edit in... Open in PS in layers works if PS already open, otherwise does nothing until you open PS some other way.

Report · Sep 21, 2016

Rikk Flohr from Adobe has filed a bug report so just open photoshop first till it is fixed. EASY workaround.

Report · Sep 23, 2016

A strange bug after upgrading to MacOS Sierra. When I want to open several tiff images (that are already in the lightroom library) as layers in photoshop from lightroom i am unable to do so, nothing happens.

But when i select a single tiff image, the popup window comes up to ask me if i want to edit the original photo or the copy with lightroom adjustments.

Then photoshop is loading the single image, as well as the other images as layers, which I wanted to open as layers in the first place.

So when I select multiple images, the popup window doesn't come up and nothing happens.

Any solutions to this issue?
Thanks in advance!

Report · Sep 25, 2016

Yes as stated in this thread. Photoshop has to be open already to have images load as Layers.

Report · Sep 28, 2016

I have windows 10, have uninstalled and installed both LR 2015 and PS CC 2015.5, In lightroom EDIT IN and then open as smart objects...PS opens but nothing happens and then I get the same Message in Lightroom,, even though PS has opened. Have also tried it with PS open, same thing

Report · Oct 02, 2016

This is kind of a complicated issue because it seems that there are many
possible outcomes depending on the order of tasks and backup drive
configuration.

The fact is that I cannot accomplish a normal "Edit In" to get an image
from Lightroom to Photoshop. Attempts to do this result in opening a
version of Photoshop on a backup drive (if it's connected) or
mysteriously failing to open the image file in Photoshop while creating
(importing?) a new tiff in the Lightroom library of the image I was
attempting to edit in Photoshop.

The only way I can get an image from Lightroom to Photoshop is to drag
the image thumbnail from the Library Module Grid View to the Photoshop
icon in the Dock. Photoshop will then open and the image file opens in
Adobe Camera Raw. I then have to click on the "Open Image" button to
open the image file in Photoshop.

Once I complete editing and saving the image in Photoshop I have to then manually re-import it to Lightroom.

This weird process is happening on both my MacBook Pro laptop and Mac Pro desktop. I'm still running El Capitan (OS X 10.11.6).

Is there a bug in Lightroom that Adobe is working on? Or am I stuck with
this crazy process to complete the round trip from Lightroom to
Photoshop and back?

Report · Oct 04, 2016

I am running on Windows 10 so maybe it is not the operating system. However, it does work on my desktop also running Windows 10 (latest). I can EDIT IN, open as smart object in PS CC2015 and it opens up as a linked object, so any Raw Changes I do in PS show up in LR and vice Versa... Any changes I do with layers of course need to be saved and saved back into LR. there is a way to backward link a photo, but I have not tried that yet...Now I just have to find out what is different between the laptop and desktop as all the software is the latest on both. On the Laptop, it spins for a while and then says :"photoshop cannot be launched..." even if I have PS 2015 already opened or not.

Report · Oct 04, 2016

Try the following workaround to see if it helps,

1. Open Lightroom.
2. Invoke Lightroom > Preferences... menu command
3. When the Preferences dialog appears, select the Presets tab.
4. Click on the button labeled “Show Lightroom Presets Folder...”
5. Lightroom will reveal the root preset folder in the Finder/Explorer.
6. Now goto http://adobe.ly/2dYIP1b and download the config.lua file and copy it into the root preset folder at step 5.
The config.lua file has an entry like the following that tells Lightroom where to look for Photoshop.

EditExternally.OverridePhotoshopPath = "/Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC 2015/Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.app"

If your version of Photoshop is installed at a different location, you can change the entry to the actual full path to Photoshop. Save your changes and relaunch Lr.

If you no longer need the override, just delete or rename the config.lua file.

Report · Oct 04, 2016

Thanks for your reply Simon. I get all the steps except No 5. Exactly which folder is the "root preset folder?" I'm including a screenshot of the Finder after I click on "Show Lightroom Presets Folder..." called out in Step 4.

Report · Oct 05, 2016

Yes, copy it into the "Lightroom" that is currently selected in your screenshot. That is the root of all Lightroom preset folders.

Report · Oct 06, 2016

Hello Simon. I moved the config.lua to the Lightroom root preset folder as requested. I closed and restarted Lightroom.

In the Develop Module I selected a photo and tried to open that image in Photoshop. It was obvious from the Dock and from the activity light on my external hard drive that the copy of Photoshop on my bootable SuperDuper external backup drive was the copy that had opened. So I closed the copy of Photoshop that was running and ejected and turned off the external backup drive. I closed and restarted Lightroom. This time the image was opened from Lightroom in the normal copy of Photoshop and reimported correctly to Lightroom when I closed and saved it.

As a matter of curiosity I repeated the process with the normal copy of Photoshop already running. (The external SuperDuper backup drive was restarted and mounted). Again I opened Lightroom and from the Develop Module and selected an image to edit. The image opened fine in Photoshop and reimported to Lightroom correctly when I closed and saved it.

So apparently with the override file in place the incorrect copy of Photoshop is still opening when I try a Photo>Edit In from Lightroom with my external backup drive running.

Would the override command need to be worded differently if the file path to the correct Photoshop application is "Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.5/Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.5.app" reflecting the most recent version of Photoshop that I do have installed?

Report · Oct 06, 2016

>Would the override command need to be worded differently if the file path to the correct Photoshop application is "Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.5/Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.5.app" reflecting the most recent version of Photoshop that I do have installed?

Yes. It needs the absolute path. In your case, it needs to be "/Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.5/Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.5.app". Notice the "/" at the beginning.

If the override path points to a location that does not exists (like you dismounted the external drive/volume), then Lightroom would ask the operating system for the fallback (the normal case). In the normal case, you can make sure the intended version of Photoshop is launched by defining the default "Open With..." application (ie. Photoshop) associated with the *.psd file format.

On Mac, you can select a PSD file in the Finder and then follow http://www.imore.com/how-change-default-apps-os-x to setup the default application to open the psd file. On Windows, the similar technique should work, see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/18539/windows-7-change-default-programs.

Report · Oct 08, 2016

Hello Simon,

I used the TextEdit application to edit the config.lua file to read as follows:

EditExternally.OverridePhotoshopPath = "/Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.5/Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.5.app"

This time Lightroom opened the image file from the correct copy of Photoshop when I invoked Photo>Edit In> Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.5. The backup external hard drive was powered up and mounted.

Am I correct that a future update to Lightroom will resolve this issue and that I'll be able to delete the override file?

Thanks very much for your assistance.

Stan

Report · Oct 10, 2016

We'll discuss this internally on the best way forward. As I stated, in the normal case, Lightroom asks the operating system this question: "What are the list of photo editors that are associated with the *.psd file format?". The operating system might return one, or many. In the case of many, Lightroom uses some heuristics to choose the best one. It might wind up picking the wrong one. You could follow the tip above to each the OS how to "Open With..." for a PSD. I don't know at what point OS might change its mind after some operation. The EditExternally.OverridePhotoshopPath override is a sure way to tell Lightroom what you want. I am thinking the Lightroom External Editing user preference UI should allow one to choose the Photoshop path, just like how you can choose the application path for the secondary editor.

Report · Oct 10, 2016

I've had this problem for some time and just found this thread. I'm under Windows 10, and trying to open a stack of layers in Photoshop from Lightroom, but my files are nefs. They open just fine when there's only a single file, and they open just fine in layers when Photoshop is already open.
As a programmer, I don't understand why Lightroom apparently uses a different procedure for deciding what to open when more than one image is selected. That seems to be the basic underlying problem. I don't see why you need a big internal discussion - just copy the file opening code that's used when there's only one image selected into the code(s) for the cases where multiple files happen to be selected.

Report · Oct 10, 2016

I think there are TWO different problems being discussed on this thread which should be split into two different threads. One is Photoshop not opening up ever and the other is your problem and the original topic of the thread. The original topic, the opening of layers worked previous to 6.7 so it is just a new bug as acknowledged. The other problem of Photoshop not ever opening is a longer standing problem for some people and is apparently what Simon is referring to above. Hopefully Simon is working on the original problem also.

Report · Oct 10, 2016

With 10.11.6 I've tried editing the config.lua file, making PS the default editor for psd files in the OS and have also specified the direct path to PS for the additional editor in LR preferences. When I try to "edit in" I get photoshop as both options, but everything is still greyed out. Opening PS first and then opening LR does not seem to work for me either. I've also tried killing the com.adobe.Photoshop.plist file and uninstalling and reinstalling PS. Nothing seems to work.

Report · Oct 10, 2016

@tim When the menu items are greyed out, that means Lightroom could not locate Photoshop. If you setup the config.lua file correctly, Lightroom's system info should show an entry like the following

Config.lua flags:
EditExternally.OverridePhotoshopPath = /Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC 2015/Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.app

where on your system, EditExternally.OverridePhotoshopPath should point to the actual installed path for your copy of Photoshop. What does your Lightroom system info say?

Report · Oct 10, 2016

@robert Thanks for the clarification. Rikk has logged a bug on the original "Open as Layers ...." issue, which is under investigation.