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steverap1
Participating Frequently
March 28, 2023
Question

Lightroom - Photoshop Workflow

  • March 28, 2023
  • 1 reply
  • 683 views

I use both Lightroom Classic and Photoshop in my workflow, but I am unable to move back and forth between the two applications without losing either Lightroom edits or Photoshop layers. I have tried various combinations - for example, editing copies or originals from Lightroom, trying different means of saving images from Photoshop - but at some point I lose either Lightroom edits or Photoshop layers. Can anyone suggest a workflow that would resolve this problem? Thanks!

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1 reply

D Fosse
Community Expert
D FosseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 28, 2023

Lightroom does not support layers.

 

For this reason, roundtripping is normally a ticket to confusion and chaos. Don't do it, unless you're well aware of this and are ready to accept the implications.

 

Photoshop inserts a flattened composite in the file when saving, and this flattened composite is all Lightroom knows about. That flattened composite, with Lightroom adjustments, is what you get out of Lightroom.

 

The standard workflow is to adjust raw files as far as you can in Lightroom; then move to Photoshop for pixel edits you can't do in a raw processor.

 

If you want to use the Lightroom tonal controls on the RGB file, do it with the ACR filter in Photoshop. The result is exactly the same, but you get to keep your layers.

S
steverap1Author
Participating Frequently
March 29, 2023

Thanks. Yes, using Camera Raw as as smart filter in Photoshop to access Lightroom tonal controls (and the new masking features) is the workaround I've been using. I wish Adobe would make it possible to go back and forth between Lightroom and Photoshop. 

D Fosse
Community Expert
D FosseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 29, 2023

In an ideal world perhaps - but the two applications work in a fundamentally different way, so I'm not sure that's realistic or even desirable. Lightroom is a parametric editor where all adjustments are stored as text instructions, no pixels are ever changed until rendered for export. Photoshop, however, is a direct pixel editor (although with some parametric functions).

 

And don't forget - Lightroom is at heart a raw processor. It's not primarily intended for RGB data, that's more or less a secondary function.

 

It's not a big problem as long as you're aware of this and take it into consideration when working.

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