RAW different in Lightroom and Photoshop

turnpike

turnpike

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Carl
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I've been processing images in Lightroom and then sometimes opening the raw again in photoshop. I've noticed that the images look very different and not as good in photoshop. Both the most recent versions and I've updated photoshops camera raw.

According to adobe.com...


"Will my raw images look the same in Camera Raw 6 and Lightroom 3?

Yes. Photoshop CS5 can be updated to use Camera Raw 6 that will utilize the same processing technology available in Lightroom 3. This means that not only will raw images look the same in either application, but also that changes you make in Lightroom can appear in Camera Raw and vice versa. To complete this interactivity, changes in both Camera Raw and Lightroom need to be written to XMP metadata. This is so that each software application can recognize the other's edits. This functionality is set in the preferences in each product."

Can anyone tell me how you set this functionality?

I've realised now that I could use the Lightroom option "edit in photoshop" which will probably be better. I've also started exporting the lightroom raw as a PSD and then opening photoshop (which works).

I don't understand why the lightroom edited raw looks different in ps5 though.

Thanks!
Turnpike
 
When you "Export to Photoshop" for editing, Photoshop automatically reads the Lightroom metadata and then does the rendering. But this only happens if you "Export to Photoshop"

Lightroom makes no changes to the RAW file, so if you open the RAW file in Photoshop it won't have the changes embedded in it, hence the need to write the changes Lightroom made to an xmp sidecar file.

Here's some more info from Adobe on how to do it

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Lightroom/3.0/Using/WS638E3AC9-A04C-4445-A0D3-F7D8BA5CDE37.html
 
Thanks John. I'll try using the edit in photoshop option instead of opening it myself manually. However, I realise Lightroom makes an xmp. I assume photoshop camera raw reads it though?

Update: Reading that link you gave me, it sounds like perhaps the xml file isn't updated immediately unless you tell it to be. I was thinking that anything I do in lightroom is immediately written to the xmp, but maybe that's my mistake.

I'll double check this evening if "edit in photoshop" solves the problem.
 
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I don't think LR writes an XML by default. It just writes to it's database. Export to ps is the best to go.
 
In LR edit your catalog settings and tick the box that says "Automatically write changes to XMP"

If you are using RAW, LR will add a XMP sidecar file. This file would need to follow your RAW image file. Alternatively you could convert the RAW into DNG then the data is stored in the DNG file. No additional sidecar files are created.
 
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Ah ok. I'm pretty sure there's always an XMP alongside my RAW file after I've worked on it in Lightroom. I've never checked if it's writing it out with every change though. Thanks for the suggestions. Will test it asap.
 
Thanks again for your help. You're right, there is an option in Lightroom which is not ticked by default, which makes it write the xmp file. I don't know why it didn't do that anyway when I exported the RAW before opening in photoshop. Now I've ticked that box, LR and PS look the same. I can also use the edit in photoshop option if I like, which would have avoided the problem.

I'm surprised I had to make LR save the xmp, i'd have thought it would make sense to do so at all times. I didn't realise I would need my LR catalog to see the post processing I'd applied to images and then exported as RAW (although they were already RAW, I thought exporting them would automatically create an updated XMP).
 
One of the benefits of LR is that it doesn't write XML by default. So you don't have these files to lose. Everything is in the database which is a bettr way to handle the data - making it possible to search on different criteria for example.
 
I see what you mean, but I also want my raw files and what I've done to them, to not need lightroom. Easy sorted with the above option though.
 
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