questions about using LR and photoshop together

lilmomma · August 5, 2011

i've been using lightroom since I started shooting, and purchased elements 9 about 6 months ago. i figured out how to use the "edit with photoshop" feature but when i'm finished with it can i bring it back to my lightroom catalog? i almost dislike even using photoshop because i have to save each photo individually in a new folder plus resize and save again in the folder so I can upload to facebook. it is very time consuming and i end up disorganized with my folders. theres got to be an easier way, unless im just too spoiled on the easiness of lightroom.

Also, when I select the edit in photoshop it creates a second copy of the photo as a .tiff file..and dang those are large files! i'm constantly having to go back and delete all my tiffs. what is the point of that anyway?

So then if I bypass lightroom and pull in the file from the computer, I have to search for the one I want by file number since I don't have large previews and thats a pain in the rear as well.

i'm considering purchasing cs5 but i'm afraid I won't use it because of these issues. I know theres an easier way to integrate the two, there has to be.

basflt · August 5, 2011

i think you missed the point
in PS you dont have to save as a different file just save [ if you sent them from LR ]

when just save [ not save as ]
PS will sent the edited image back to LR as TIFFs , the ones you are deleting all the time
export them from LR

Peano · August 5, 2011

lilmomma wrote: »

So then if I bypass lightroom and pull in the file from the computer, I have to search for the one I want by file number since I don't have large previews and thats a pain in the rear as well.

Have you tried Bridge? You can view thumbnails (as shown below), or a filmstrip with a large review panel. You can also tag images with keywords or other markers for ease of finding them again.

pathfinder · August 5, 2011

When I edit a Lightroom image in PS, and then save the edited image, it shows up in my Lightroom panel immediately. Sometimes I have to return to my whole catalog, not just recent imports for the files to show up.

lilmomma · August 5, 2011

Hmmm ok, so I can just save and it will automatically go back to LR? welllllllllllll. that makes my life a lot more easier.

Peano- No i haven't tried bridge, because I figured LR was supposed to help serve that purpose.

i figured there was an easier way just wasn't sure how to get there.

Now, question- when uploading to, say, facebook...I use a facebook exporter in LR which resizes the image. should I still do a resize in photoshop or can i just save the one file and do the export from the original size. does that even make sense to anyone?

colourbox · August 5, 2011

lilmomma wrote: »

Also, when I select the edit in photoshop it creates a second copy of the photo as a .tiff file..and dang those are large files! i'm constantly having to go back and delete all my tiffs. what is the point of that anyway?

It's a matter of perspective. A lot of people started with Photoshop, they see Lightroom as a huge step forward. You started with Lightroom, so you see the traditional Photoshop way as a step backward. The Photoshop way is the way the rest of the computer world works: You open individual documents one at a time, you edit a document, you close a document and store it in a folder somewhere. The database-oriented way that Lightroom (and before it Aperture and iPhoto) bulk-process photos is quite new, historically speaking.

The other perspective issue is file size. Traditionally, again, the big file sizes of Photoshop are the norm. It is what you get if you scan print/film photos and edit the TIFFs with layers (i.e. how it was done before digital SLRs). The revolution there was raw files from digital cameras, which are very compact, and also metadata editing in Lightroom-type apps, which also uses much less space than Photoshop layers. Again, what you are seeing is how much more efficient the new way is. When you open in Photoshop, the raw file be expanded to 3 RGB channels plus any layers you added, just doing that makes the file bigger.

The point of going into Photoshop is that there are times when you have to get at the pixels and Lightroom-type apps can't do that (yet). You have to leave the cool new workflow and deal with the traditional way.

It took me a while to notice, too, but if you Edit in Photoshop, after you save and switch back to Lightroom the Photoshop file automatically shows up. There is no extra work to add it back to Lightroom. If you want to know where it is on the disk, just right-click to get the Show in Finder/Explorer command.

Forget Bridge. I use it a lot, but it will just accentuate what you don't like about the workflow now.

lilmomma wrote: »

Now, question- when uploading to, say, facebook...I use a facebook exporter in LR which resizes the image. should I still do a resize in photoshop or can i just save the one file and do the export from the original size. does that even make sense to anyone?

You should study the Facebook publisher dialog closely, and the same goes for the LR Export dialog. It can do a lot that will save you steps, including resizing. You can start with the original (the raw in LR or the Photoshop file in LR), hit Export, and do your resizing etc on the fly because you can type in your export size there. I like it because then I don't have to make a second copy to resize.

lilmomma · August 5, 2011

colourbox wrote: »

It's a matter of perspective. A lot of people started with Photoshop, they see Lightroom as a huge step forward. You started with Lightroom, so you see the traditional Photoshop way as a step backward. The Photoshop way is the way the rest of the computer world works: You open individual documents one at a time, you edit a document, you close a document and store it in a folder somewhere. The database-oriented way that Lightroom (and before it Aperture and iPhoto) bulk-process photos is quite new, historically speaking.

The other perspective issue is file size. Traditionally, again, the big file sizes of Photoshop are the norm. It is what you get if you scan print/film photos and edit the TIFFs with layers (i.e. how it was done before digital SLRs). The revolution there was raw files from digital cameras, which are very compact, and also metadata editing in Lightroom-type apps, which also uses much less space than Photoshop layers. Again, what you are seeing is how much more efficient the new way is. When you open in Photoshop, the raw file be expanded to 3 RGB channels plus any layers you added, just doing that makes the file bigger.

The point of going into Photoshop is that there are times when you have to get at the pixels and Lightroom-type apps can't do that (yet). You have to leave the cool new workflow and deal with the traditional way.

It took me a while to notice, too, but if you Edit in Photoshop, after you save and switch back to Lightroom the Photoshop file automatically shows up. There is no extra work to add it back to Lightroom. If you want to know where it is on the disk, just right-click to get the Show in Finder/Explorer command.

Forget Bridge. I use it a lot, but it will just accentuate what you don't like about the workflow now.

You should study the Facebook publisher dialog closely, and the same goes for the LR Export dialog. It can do a lot that will save you steps, including resizing. You can start with the original (the raw in LR or the Photoshop file in LR), hit Export, and do your resizing etc on the fly because you can type in your export size there. I like it because then I don't have to make a second copy to resize.

You are just one gigantic ball of knowledge.

always so helpful. thanks so much!

and of course thanks to the rest of you!! I may actually start using photoshop a little more now!

dbveto · August 5, 2011

lilmomma wrote: »

Hmmm ok, so I can just save and it will automatically go back to LR? welllllllllllll. that makes my life a lot more easier.

Peano- No i haven't tried bridge, because I figured LR was supposed to help serve that purpose.

i figured there was an easier way just wasn't sure how to get there.

Now, question- when uploading to, say, facebook...I use a facebook exporter in LR which resizes the image. should I still do a resize in photoshop or can i just save the one file and do the export from the original size. does that even make sense to anyone?

I have not used the Facebook exporter from LR but I have used others and there is a section where you can re-size you images on export, I usually just re-size the long edge this keeps the aspect ratio.

lilmomma · August 5, 2011

i must not be doing something right. I'm hitting the save button, and it prompts me with the same options as save as. everything i've tried still doesn't bring the edited copy into lightroom. what am I doing wrong?

dunno

questions about using LR and photoshop together

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