Saving a photo processed in Photoshop back to Lightroom

[stephenc84364103]

I’m very new to Photoshop so just trying to become familiar with everything. I do minimal processing in Lr and then open the Raw photo to edit further in Photoshop. When the dialogue box opens, I click ‘Edit Original’ and trust this will allow me to edit the raw file and save as a PSD or TIFF. I find the ‘Edit a copy with Lightroom Adjustments’ and ‘Edit a Copy’ options quite confusing. Am I on the right track with this??  

By doing this, the PSD or Tiff is saved back to the relevant folder and appears alongside my RAW file in Lightroom. 

I need some some direction with this as so many tutorials say so many different things! 

Also, with regard to opening a JPG from a folder, within Photoshop, is there any way I can save the changes to the jpg as a tiff back into Lightroom? To date, I’ve only been able to save to the folder and then import back to Lightroom. 

Im trying to be very clear and precise in order to get an accurate response. I have posted these questions in other forums but only get knee jerk responses with one line answers. I guess that’s the nature of social media. As I said I’m only learning so would really appreciate a considered response. Thank you! 

[davescm · Accepted solution]

Hi and welcome to Photoshop.

Let's look at the simplest example first - you want to open a raw file carry out some basic adjustments in Lightroom then open it and carry out some further edits in Photoshop.

To do that set your Preferences in Lightroom to Open in Photoshop as PSD or TIFF (your choice neither is better). Then after carrying out your Lightroom Edits just use Ctrl+E and the image will open in Photoshop. You can now add layers and carry out further edits etc. You can either use Save (to save to the original folder) or Save As to save it to a new location. Either way it will automatically be added to the LR catalogue. No need to import, although you may need to change the filters in the library module in order to see it , if you saved to a folder not in the original library filtering.

A variation on the above is Lightroom's Edit in Open as Smart Object in Photoshop. That opens the image as a smart object layer in Photoshop. Double clicking on that smart object allows you to open the content with camera raw and make further raw adjustments. When done just Save from camera raw and you are back in Photoshop when all adjustments are complete use Save or Save As as mentioned above.

You asked about Lightroom's Edit Original/Edit a Copy and Edit a Copy with Lightroom adjustments. You should only see these on non raw files. As an example, lets say you have a TIFF in the catalogue. Lightroom can make adjustments to that TIFF. If you then choose Edit in Photoshop it will ask

a. Do you want to open the original - i.e. open the TIFF in Photoshop without those Lightroom adjustments. This will open the TIFF in Photoshop without the Lightroom adjustments which you can edit. If you click Save in Photoshop, the Photoshop edits will appear in Lightroom on that original file, and the LR edits will be reapplied. Those LR adjustments can be readjusted if required.

b. Do you want to Edit a copy. This will open a copy in Photoshop without any LR adjustments. When you make your edits in Photoshop and Save then close, the Lightroom catalogue will have a copy of the file with the Photoshop adjustments and the LR edits will be re-applied. Those LR adjustments can be readjust if required. Because this is a copy, the original will also be in the catalogue.

c. Edit a copy with LR adjustments. In this case the LR adjustments are baked into a copy of the image which is then opened in Photoshop. After making your Photoshop adjustments click Save and close. In Lightroom you will have the extra copy in the catalogue with LR and Photoshop adjustments, but this time those LR adjustments cannot be removed or readjusted as they were baked into the copy that was sent to Photoshop. However, because this is a copy, the original TIFF also remains in your catalogue.

The best practice is to open within Lightroom as if you work independently in Photoshop then you would need to import the resulting files.

Dave

[stephenc84364103]

Thank you Dave for providing clarification. Much appreciated! 

[davescm]

You're welcome 🙂

Dave

[Daniel_PJ]

Hi Dave. I found this reply and it seems to be the exact thing i'm running into. So when i close it out of PS, it updates into LR. But only if i do a couple layers. When i start to edit for a while and save, I wont get the same result and it will not update the photo stack in LR. Please help.

[Julie23255903izx6]

Hi Dave,

Im having somewhat of a similar problem. You have answered my question however I still dont see my photo pop up in lightroom. When I go from lightroom to photoshop, Im simply going to photoshop to remove color cast. After using layers, Im done and I try to go back to lightroom. I attempt to save the photo in photoshop but when Im asked to save it, it takes me to a pop up box that asks if I want it to be a zip file or not compressed at all or some other type of file. I choose zip (as it is ususally already selected) but then nothing happens in my lightroom. Ive chosen non compressed and nothing happens in my lightroom. I have edited a picture nearly 7 times and still not in my lightroom. I have uninstalled and installed both photoshop and lightroom and still nothing pops up in my lightroom. I have exited/completely closed photoshop and still nothing pops up in my lightroom. I am not sure what Im doing incorrectly. Or if maybe the way im saving it is wrong. No one else seems to have this extensive pop up box when they save in photoshop and go back to lightroom. I am in Adobe LR 5.2 and Photoshop 23.2 version. Im working on an apple mac air 2020 M1 chip. Please help!

[Pee Wee]

 I have found no problem with a photo being returned to Lightroom after editing in photoshop as long as I "SAVE" it.  If I select "Save As" and save it in a different format or to a different folder, PS does not return a copy back to Lightroom.  

For example, I import a folder into Lightroom and perform edits on a single photo.  Then I open it in Photoshop and complete final edits.  I save the edits and a tif file is returned to Lightroom.  I then select Save As to save to a folder on  my NASS.  When I do this, the photo in Lightroom disappears.  Help!!!