Workflow Help: Photoshop to Lightroom

[maryj66991138]

Hello! Was hoping someone could help me out with this workflow set up... I'm shooting portraiture and I want to offer my clients both B&W and color versions of each photo. Because of that, I want to do my retouching in Photoshop first, then move back into lightroom, create a virtual copy of each retouched image, and adjust one for color and one for B&W, then export as JPEGS from there. I started doing this by flattening the retouched image in photoshop, saving as a TIFF, and then it would immediatly show back up as a second version in lightroom. I then realized I should not be editing a TIFF. Is there a way I can get my images from photoshop back in to lightroom so that they are still as easy to manipulate as a RAW file? Should I be saving as a PSD in photoshop? Thank you in advance.

[GoldingD]

1. What edits in PS are you accomplishing that cannot be accomplished in LrC?

2. Why do you not want to work with a TIFF in LrC?

3. What is your workflow for changing to B&W? Via profile in LrC, via external editor (SilverEfex Pro for example)

as JimHess and DdeGannes are stating below, my workflow would be as much as possible in LrC, and then PS if PS at all. And I would select TIFF.

[JP Hess]

In my opinion, a better workflow would be to start in LrC and do as much as you can using it. Then do any finish work using Photoshop. Then I would create the virtual copy of that finished product and create a black-and-white. If that didn't work I would turn to the master prior to resorting to Photoshop and create a virtual copy and convert that VC to black and white. But, everyone has their own workflow approach.

[DdeGannes]

If you are editing a RAW file in photoshop from LrC, PS will boot and use Adobe Camera Raw plugin and render the RAW file with LrC adjustments if any and the file will open in PS when you have finished editing in PS you save the file and a new rendered file will be created and saved to LrC alongside the RAW file does not matter if it's tiff or PSD it is a new rendered file.

Better to do what you need to do with the RAW file in LrC prior to sending to PS for further editing.

LrC is an alternative to Bridge / Adobe Camera Raw plugin in PS they provide the same editing functions for RAW files.