Edits in lightroom not showing in original file

jamesa99259763  wrote So an edit is made in lightroom to an image, then by my understanding those changes are written into the metadata of the original file. Then I open the original file at its source expecting to see the original image with the changes made by lightroom.

Changes may or may not get written automatically out to the metadata of the original file, as each new edit happens - this depends on how LR is configured. They are NOT, by initial as-installed default.

Even if that's not happening automatically, you can manually tell LR - on demand - to write latest changes out to the metadata of the original file, for specific image(s).

None of that applies though, if the image in question is a virtual copy. But regardless, the Catalog remembers all this metadata.

The metadata that is written out consists partly of Library module stuff (keywords, copyright, title etc) and partly of Develop module stuff.

By and large the Library module stuff is readable by other non-Adobe programs - but the Develop module stuff is either not understood by non-Adobe programs and therefore ignored - or if used, will not reliably display the same results that it would have done within Adobe software.

When Adobe software opens an image and detects that Develop type metadata had previously been written to that, it will generally speaking then interpret that metadata and display an image which transforms the original image data into your chosen edited appearance, according to those saved instructions.

So that would happen if you opened a Raw file (for example) which had previously been edited in LR, and had the edits saved to file as metadata, into Photoshop via ACR.

Or (if PS is set to do that, which is not necessarily the case) the same thing might happen on opening a JPG into Photoshop which had previously been edited in LR and then had those edits saved to file as metadata. If PS is set not to interpret XMP develop data when opening a JPG, you will just see the original image without the LR edits. A little like, if you sent an image from LR to PS and chose the option "Edit Orginal" rather than "Edit a Copy with LR Adjustments".

But the vast majority of image viewing programs and non-Adobe editors or Raw converters etc, will simply pay no attention to the Develop (image adjustments) aspect, of previously saved metadata from Lightroom.