PS Adding LrC Link to Menu Panel

[westdr1dw]

Photoshop Team first I do not want to sound unappreciative of your work in PS.

However, just realized the panel in PS where Files (image attached) are located. How difficult would it be to add LrC link. This would definetly enhance the interoperabilty between the apps.

[creative explorer]

@westdr1dw That's a fantastic idea! It really shows how often people switch between Lightroom Classic (LrC) and Photoshop. Adding a direct link to your LrC photos and catalog right in that Photoshop Files menu makes perfect sense—it would save a lot of clicking and make your workflow so much faster and smoother. Even though I don't know how hard it is for the Photoshop team to build, a simple link there would be a huge quality-of-life upgrade for photographers and would make the two programs work together even better.

[Sameer K]

Hey, @westdr1dw and @creative explorer. This is interesting, I understand and agree with the thought; however, speaking individually, it's definitely not simple, and it may not come to fruition. 

Lightroom desktop has a single 'catalog' linked to a user's account that can be pulled by just accessing Lightroom Web (https://adobe.ly/4gXx3kt) at the PS homepage; on the other hand, Lightroom Classic can have as many catalogs as you want. How much of the catalog to pull? Which catalog to pull? Where is it located? Preview generation? Collection picker? Smart Collections? Filter and sort? Total resources used by PS?

A lot of other questions and variables arise just from this one aspect of looking at it. 

Sameer K
(Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)

[westdr1dw]

Appreciate the response Sameer.

Just a thought may be have a method to allow the user to connect to the catalog. The catalog does not change that often, so once the link is established they can continue on. I seldom change my catalog. 

Just a thought, thanks

[Conrad_C]

…I understand and agree with the thought; however, speaking individually, it's definitely not simple, and it may not come to fruition. 

Lightroom desktop has a single 'catalog'…; on the other hand, Lightroom Classic can have as many catalogs as you want. How much of the catalog to pull? Which catalog to pull? Where is it located?…
…A lot of other questions and variables arise just from this one aspect of looking at it. 

By @Sameer K

I started out thinking the same way…Lightroom Classic has so many variables as to where the image would come from and whether the volume it’s on is currently mounted. And I was going to write a reply along those lines.

However…

…it turns out that Adobe has already chosen to resolve many of those issues in Photoshop, very very recently. Having done that, Adobe has made it plausible to add Lightroom Classic to the Home screen. I am running Photoshop 26.11, which is not a public beta, it’s the normal release. When Adobe enhanced the Share menu in a recent version, they restored and upgraded many of the options on it, such as responding to the very popular feature request to restore AirDrop.

But look what else Adobe added: Lightroom Classic! 

So what happens if you click Lightroom Classic on that new Share menu?

1. Photoshop starts Lightroom Classic. 

2. At this point, Lightroom Classic behaves as it is set in its Preferences: If it’s set to open a specific catalog on startup, that opens; I have it set to ask me which catalog to open so I select one and continue. 

3. Lightroom Classic accepts the image sent from Photoshop, but of course it must open the Import dialog box, where it now works the same as if an image was dropped onto Lightroom Classic for import. 

That all makes sense, and very importantly, it means Adobe has already connected Lightroom Classic to the save/export side of Photoshop. How should it work the other way, for opening a file, if there was a Lightroom Classic button in the Photoshop Home screen? Yes, it could be challenging to provide good enough navigation (for example, should the entire volumes/folders tree be shoehorned into the Photoshop Home screen? Collections? Filters? Search?). Maybe that button should just be a shortcut to Lightroom Classic where the user can then open the correct catalog and send the image back to Photoshop using Photo > Edit In…. as usual.

But also, it isn’t unknown to cram full volume navigation, with filters and search, into a window in an Adobe app. As a precedent and reference, see the Media Browser panel in Adobe Premiere Pro where Adobe has already solved all of that. So the same thing could be done in the Photoshop Home screen to browse a selected Lightroom Classic catalog.

[westdr1dw]

Appreciate the information. I was unaware of the change. Not sure why if the image is already in a LrC catalog, has to be imported back again? IOW you are working in LrC and you want to edit the image in PS. Simply Right Mouse click Edit In/PS(?). Once PS edits are made, the image has to be re-imported into LrC. Ideally it should go back to the same place settings in LrC. Just more steps in achieving the end state.

How often does the user change the  catalog? I use to have to change fairly often in the early days of Lr due to corruption. I really do not recall the last time I have had to create a new catalog. I like the freedom of being able to interact between the apps on the fly. 

Appreciative of the work they do in always providing more enhancements or improving on others.

[westdr1dw]

Slipped my mind when editing a image you have moved from LrC to PS and back again it creates a copy of the image next to the image you exported to PS. Should be an easy endeavor to repeat the process using the share menu in PS.

[Conrad_C]

Appreciate the information. I was unaware of the change. Not sure why if the image is already in a LrC catalog, has to be imported back again? IOW you are working in LrC and you want to edit the image in PS. Simply Right Mouse click Edit In/PS(?). Once PS edits are made, the image has to be re-imported into LrC. Ideally it should go back to the same place settings in LrC. Just more steps in achieving the end state.

By @westdr1dw

No, that isn't how it works. If you’re in Lightroom Classic and choose the command Photo > Edit In > Adobe Photoshop, the image does not have to be re-imported, because that happens automatically the first time you choose File > Save in Photoshop for that document. After that first save, you’ll see that automatic copy appear back in the Lightroom Classic catalog. There are no “extra steps.”

How often does the user change the  catalog? I use to have to change fairly often in the early days of Lr due to corruption. I really do not recall the last time I have had to create a new catalog. I like the freedom of being able to interact between the apps on the fly. 

By @westdr1dw

I am like you, I mostly use just one large catalog. However, some users have different needs where it works better to have, for example, separate catalogs per client. Being able to handle multiple catalogs may not be necessary for you or me, but it is necessary for them. 

Slipped my mind when editing a image you have moved from LrC to PS and back again it creates a copy of the image next to the image you exported to PS. Should be an easy endeavor to repeat the process using the share menu in PS.

By @westdr1dw

If you sent an image from Lightroom Classic to Photoshop, you don’t need to “repeat the process using the share menu in PS” because of what we discussed above: When saved, it’s added to the catalog already.

Adobe added Lightroom Classic to the Share menu in Photoshop for one specific reason only: It’s for when you’ve created a document in Photoshop and it isn’t already cataloged in Lightroom Classic, but you’d like to add it to a catalog.

[westdr1dw]

Simple clarification is needed;

1) Image is already in a LrC catalog. 

2) Send the Image to PS for editing

3) Using "Share" option in PS to send back to LrC it wants to re-import the image.

Just save the image and a copy is saved back to LrC

All is good though.