Skip to main content
10k Portraits
10k Portraits
Inspiring
October 16, 2023
Question

Changes made to a virtual copy of a PSD are changing the original as well

  • October 16, 2023
  • 1 reply
  • 870 views

Here's what happened:

1. Imported raw images (NEF) into LR Classic, made some minor edits and chose 'Edit in Photoshop', made edits - LR created a PSD document and stacked it with the NEF file. I finished editing the PSD document.

2. Created a virtual copy of the PSD document in LR and chose 'Edit in Photoshop' >> original and made changes

3. Round tripped back to LR to see to my horror that the orignal document is an exact copy of the virtual document - I didn't want that, that's why I created a copy in the first place.

 

What am I missing here? What did I do wrong? How to correct my mistake (if any).

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    1 reply

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 16, 2023

    This is normal and expected.

     

    If you edit the original in Photoshop, your virtual copies in Lightroom are moot! They will all reflect that Photoshop edit. All your virtual LrC copies will be based on that.

     

    The Lightroom catalog is just a reference, a pointer, to the actual file in its current state, sitting in its folder on disk.

     

    This goes to show that round trip editing is a recipe for confusion, unless you're absolutely aware of the differences in how the two applications work, and can take your precautions.

     

    If you want to avoid things like this, keep it a one-way workflow. Do as much as you can to the raw file in Lightroom, then send it to Photoshop for things you can't do in Lightroom. Stop there.

     

    Edits applied in one application will not be accessible in the other! The two applications work on completely different principles. What you see in one of them is a final, flattened, fully rendered version of what you worked on in the other. There's no going back.

     

    10k Portraits
    10k PortraitsAuthor
    Inspiring
    October 16, 2023

    Thanks for your response but you didn't get the issue right. Here's a summary:

     

    Edits made on a virtual copy of a PSD file are duplicated on to the original (or the master of which a virtual copy was created) without any warning. 

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 16, 2023

    Nothing is duplicated. You edited the original. Both your virtual copies in Lightroom reference the same original file, now altered in Photoshop.

     

    What you did is exactly the same as if you opened the PSD directly in Photoshop and made your changes, then closed the file again.

     

    This isn't something that can happen with virtual copies of raw files, because a raw file can never be overwritten. It always stays in its original state. But a PSD can be overwritten, and that's what you did.

    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices