Retaining MetaData in my workflow?

[nutsnbolts]

Ok, here is my current workflow.

1. Shoot
2. Import into Lightroom
3. Export from Lightroom (jpg)
4. "Open As" raw in Photoshop CS3 for images I want to further edit (if I skipped it in Lightroom).
5. Save the file back as jpg (not using save for web).

Where am I losing the exif/metadata information? Step 3?

I know that I'm exporting it as jpg and editing jpg in photoshop. I would usually use raw but I'm getting lazy.

Should I be exporting it as TIFF?

[Victoria Bampton]

Which metadata are you losing? All of it? At a guess, you've got the 'minimize metadata' box checked in the Export dialog.

[nutsnbolts]

metadata and exif.

[Victoria Bampton]

Definitely check that checkbox first.

Then when you open the file into PS, go to File > File Info and see if it's still there too.

[nutsnbolts]

Definitely check that checkbox first.

Then when you open the file into PS, go to File > File Info and see if it's still there too.

Just don't do a "save for web" right?

[nutsnbolts]

Which metadata are you losing? All of it? At a guess, you've got the 'minimize metadata' box checked in the Export dialog.

Not checked.

[tim]

Don't save to JPG from lightroom, just have it open the images in PS, or if you have to save go via psd. You lose a lot of information going via JPG, and because of some weird step in your workflow you're losing the other information too. Alternately do what you're doing now, but for images you need to tweak in PS just open in PS direct from RAW/Lightroom.

I suspect this will fix your other issue too.

[nutsnbolts]

Don't save to JPG from lightroom, just have it open the images in PS, or if you have to save go via psd. You lose a lot of information going via JPG, and because of some weird step in your workflow you're losing the other information too. Alternately do what you're doing now, but for images you need to tweak in PS just open in PS direct from RAW/Lightroom.

I suspect this will fix your other issue too.

The reason for this workflow, which is actually a deviation from my normal workflow is partly due to the fact that I have over 2000 images to go through. I divided it into days and as I go through day by day, I'm dividing that to what I'm going to be posting on a blog versus what I'm going to put in a gallery. The gallery isn't going to consist of the best images, just a gallery for everyone to see. So...

I tweak all the images for the gallery very lightly, white balance, color correction, the basics in lightroom. I then export those images as final into jpg (to save steps in workflow) and upload those in the gallery.

Regarding the ones for the blog, I essentially don't need to do much to it as well but with regards to those, I do export those as jpg as well (usually raw or psd or tiff) with the right dimensions and import into PS to make it pop (usually editing about 5 to 15 images). I am not going through lightroom although I should just do that it's just opening through lightroom sometimes takes quite awhile.

[tim]

A better workflow might be to open the RAWs that need work to photoshop, save a PSD with the changes, then move the RAW to a "processed" folder. Run the image processor over the folder and i'll change both RAW and PSD to JPG for you to upload. That's how I deal with large batches with few images needing processing, and it works well for me.

[nutsnbolts]

A better workflow might be to open the RAWs that need work to photoshop, save a PSD with the changes, then move the RAW to a "processed" folder. Run the image processor over the folder and i'll change both RAW and PSD to JPG for you to upload. That's how I deal with large batches with few images needing processing, and it works well for me.

Ok so you're saying within Lightroom, export the images I would be editing as a PSD, then open PS to edit the PSD files? I'm sort of lost.

One of things that I have tried doing as well was opening photoshop within Lightroom but working with images that are 10+ megs can sometimes slow things down where I rather just export the images at 500-700px to deal with.

Could you elaborate your workflow a bit more detail?

Thanks in advance.

[tim]

See my workflow thread (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=294717). I just updated it to clarify this part of my workflow for you.

I don't know how it works with LR, but with Bridge I open images directly to PS without saving as a PSD - it goes directly. I save as PSD after i've done my work. Either way will work though.

Editing low res JPGs is a waste of time, you'll just have to edit them again if you make prints. For me opening a RAW takes 3s or so, which is a lot slower than opening a JPG, but I open so few interactively it doesn't matter. Once the RAW's opened the speed's the same as working with a small JPG on my machine.

[nutsnbolts]

The thing with LR is that when I open it in Photoshop through LR, the size is usually 40+ megs. I make my edits and the size can get pretty large and when I save it in Photoshop, it goes back into LR with those file sizes. I can't keep doing this.

This is the main reason I work with the jpg files instead. 400k isn't too bad to work with at ~600px. They are not going for print although I should start considering my edits with them.

[tim]

Why can't you deal with 40MB files? Storage is cheap, especially if you only edit a few files it will make little difference. Your time to redo edits for prints is way more valuable.

[nutsnbolts]

Why can't you deal with 40MB files? Storage is cheap, especially if you only edit a few files it will make little difference. Your time to redo edits for prints is way more valuable.

Storage is definitely cheap. I have a drobo, multiple external HD's but the point is to be efficient and although your proposed workflow is efficient in terms of foreseeable future that I will be printing the pictures (which may be true), I prefer to edit the pictures more for web use.

In the event that I do want to print, I don't mind editing the images again (even creating the 40+ mb file).

Considering that I won't be printing any time soon nor would I need to print anything now regarding the pictures I'm editing, there is no need for me to make large files.

On the other hand, if it were wedding images where I know that at some point, prints will be made, then yes, there is no question to edit it from the start and what not.