P: Send Stacks to Photoshop as Layers

[shanebettsphotog]

So, when you stack images in LR (for instance, bracketed groups), then select individual stacks, choosing "Edit in Photoshop as Layers" performs as expected, sending the images in the stack to Photoshop as layers.

However, if you select two or more stacks and then choose "Edit in Photoshop as Layers", instead of opening a photoshop file for each stack, with each image in any given stack opened as layers, LR opens a single PS file, wth the top image from each stack as a layer. For the life of me I can't understand why anyone would want this.

Wouldn't it make more sense to open a Photoshop file for each stack, with each image in the stack as a layer?

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

The logic at the moment is really simple. It doesn't see "stack", it simply sees a number of selected photos and does exactly what you've asked - it loads the selected photos in Photoshop as a document with layers. I think it could make a good feature request though, so I'll convert the post.

[Mark-Hazeldine]

I have the same request. There are tons of real estate and architectural photographers that use the "open as layers" workflow to composite images together manually where flash lighting is to be mixed with ambient lighting (often called the "flambient" technique). Having a batch/bulk way to send LR stacks to PS as multiple layered files would save literally hours of time per week.

[Mark-Hazeldine]

I'd also like to add that currently, if you click on a stack to open as layers and then save and close the file in Photoshop, the resulting file does not seem to get added to the LR stack that the sources images came from after LR imports it back in from PS. It ends up next to the stack. To me it would seem logical to group it in with the same stack and put it at the top of the stack automatically, to reduce manual organisation work. That said, maybe there could be one or two preferences added for this behaviour, as some people may want a different workflow.

[JohanElzenga]

I wonder if that is true. Yes, it would be a bit quicker than sending one stack as layers to Photoshop and then the next (I assume you do know that shift-click on the stack number will expand the stack and select all members, so you can quickly do that). But do you really want Photoshop to open many stacks at the same time? You'd still have to work on the composites one by one, and having many open files with many layers will no doubt slow down Photoshop. So the time you gain opening all the stacks at once, you might lose again (or more than that) while working on the composites. For that reason I would probably do it one by one, even if the requested option did exist.

[Mark-Hazeldine]

In my experience simply opening a layered tiff/psd file in PS is much quicker than waiting for PS to open each raw file and then stack them. It probably doesn't sound like much when you're doing it once. But if you're doing it 30-40 times a day, the amount of clicking and waiting really adds up. Also, being human, I don't just sit there and wait, I go and read an email or flip to Facebook for a few seconds and then come back 5 minutes later, so the whole process takes even longer and my brain is task switching all the time, which is bad for productivity and efficiency. So, my suggestion is that it could open as layers, then automatically save the tiff/psd and then close it and re-import the layered file into LR, to the top of the same stack. That way, when you come back to your PC after 20-30 minutes, you just have to open the file. Alternatively, you could just do it in batches of 5 or 10 images, wouldn't be too bad if you had enough RAM.

[JohanElzenga]

OK, that makes sense, but as Lightroom can't instruct Photoshop to do things like saving a file, it's something that should probably be done from within Photoshop with a script.

[Mark-Hazeldine]

Hmm, I didn't think about that limitation, however, that only exists because Adobe have designed that way. They are in full control of the code and update both apps so that LR could give PS instructions. Is there a way for PS to automatically save and close a file after it has been stacked as layers by LR?

[JohanElzenga]

Not that I know. Like I said, the way to do this is probably by scripting Photoshop, but I’m no expert in that so I won’t be able to help you with that.

[Antoine HLMN]

I back this request. Having the option to open the stacks as layer groups would be a huge timesaver. For example for stacking foreground images with sky images, both stacks need to be processed in a separate group.

[mcjczapiewski]

Another vote from me. Looking for that option right now.

[mcjczapiewski]

For those who came here for answers and work on mac system.
It is not a solution I would want to have, but it is working as a workaround for now.

We can use Apple Script and pair it with Automator. 

Open an Automator and create a new Quick Task. From the search bar, look for Run AppleScript. Replace the whole default content with this code, and then you can use it from Lightroom Classic. You need to have images in stacks, collapse the stacks and select ONLY first stack top image. Be sure to have only stacks visible in the grid, without single images. The script goes from one stack to the other by simulating right arrow click. It invokes the action "Open as Layers in Photoshop" on each stack top image. If you changed the default keyboard shortcut for this action, then change the keys in the code. Everything is documented well, I think.

After you save the Automator task you should be able to run it from Lightroom Classic -> Services menu.

on run {input, parameters}
	
	-- Ask the user for the number of stacks to open
	set userInput to display dialog "How many stacks do you want to open in Photoshop?" default answer "3"
	set loopCount to text returned of userInput as integer
	
	tell application "System Events"
		tell application process "Adobe Lightroom Classic"
			set frontmost to true
		end tell
	end tell
	
	delay 1
	
	-- Loop N times – each time Lightroom must have the correct stack selected
	-- Adjust the repeat count to match the number of stacks selected
	repeat with i from 1 to loopCount
		
		-- Press Command + Option + Shift + E (Open as Layers in Photoshop)
		tell application "System Events"
			keystroke "e" using {command down, option down, shift down}
		end tell
		
		delay 2 -- Wait for Photoshop to open and process the stack
		
		tell application "System Events"
			tell application process "Adobe Lightroom Classic"
				set frontmost to true
			end tell
		end tell
		
		-- Move to next photo (right arrow)
		tell application "System Events"
			key code 124 -- right arrow key
		end tell
		
		delay 0.5
	end repeat
	
	display dialog "Done opening stacks in Photoshop!" buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"
	
	
	return input
end run