How do get back the Lightroom menu option Open Original in Photoshop?

[Onlooker2]

Lightroom is only opening a copy with Lightroom adjustments in Photoshop and not giving me any options. I need Open Original in Photoshop. It's something I use a lot. How do I fix this?

Thanks.  

[Per Berntsen · Accepted solution]

If you are working with raw files, you don't get any options.

A raw file will first open silently in the Camera Raw plugin, where Lightroom adjustments are applied.

Then a new file, rendered from the raw file opens in Photoshop. This file will have the raw file extension, which can be confusing. It is just a generic RGB file, with no particular file type. When you save it, it will save as a tiff or psd (depending on what you have chosen under External editing in Lightroom's preferences), and return to Lightroom.

You only get the dialog with the options to save as a copy etc. with rendered files – i.e. jpg, tiff and PSD files.

[vonelgg]

I am having the same issue as OP; how then do we get photoshop to not apply the lightroom presets in camera raw when opening? I've shot raw for many years (don't handle anything but raw in lightroom classic typically) and it used to ask me whether I'd like to open original or open with lightroom presets when telling it to open in photoshop. I can't find a setting anywhere to restore that dialog box.

Is the best solution now to make a virtual copy > reset the dev settings > "edit in photoshop" > do work in PS > save > return to LRC > copy and paste the dev settings from previous LR edits?

[dj_paige]

Best solution: tell LrC to not write the edits to the XMP file. Photoshop will then open the unedited RAW.

Although its unclear to me why you want to do edits in LrC and then use the unedited RAW in Photoshop.

[vonelgg]

Thanks for the XMP idea! I may use that.

It's a mixed bag whether I'd edit the original, though, depends on the edits. I try to work non-destructively as much as possible. Sometimes I'll notice there's something PS needs to handle, but I may not have final LR settings yet, and don't want to bake them in the PS file, or want to have flexibility later. I tend to prefer to keep color/minor edits in LRC and heavier photo editing (comps, liquify, etc) on the original (pre-LRC edits).

[john beardsworth]

Your memory may be deceiving you, as this area hasn't changed. You only get asked about the original if you are sending a non-raw/dng file to Photoshop.

Is the best solution now to make a virtual copy > reset the dev settings > "edit in photoshop" > do work in PS > save > return to LRC > copy and paste the dev settings from previous LR edits?

By @vonelgg

 It's not clear what you really want to achieve. It's less work to send the photo to PS with those edits.

[Per Berntsen]

Like I said in 2021, this dialog still only appears when sending non-raw files to Photoshop.

Why do you want to send raw files without edits to Photoshop? The normal procedure is to do as much editing as you can in LrC first, and only edit in Photoshop if you need to do things that LrC cannot do – as a final step.

And pasting edits from a raw file to a rendered file from Photoshop won't work. The same edits will not produce identical results on raw files and rendered files.

[vonelgg]

Thanks for clarifying that! I guess I was mistaken about that dialog, I've used it so many times and never noticed why it was with some files and not others. I should correct myself; I know once the file is saved in PS it's no longer raw—basically sometimes I don't realize I need to go into PS on a particular photo until the grading is past the foundational color correction stage and instead of re-doing it I just retouch the ungraded image, then apply edits again. Have found that to have good results in setting a comp, but maybe I'm doing it ass-backwards! Always open to new flows.