LR to PS workflow - export (and re-import) as RAW?

Hi 'errybody,

I got a question I've been meaning to ask for a long time. Normally I edit my photo's in rarely do I use photoshop, but when I do I'm always really annoyed by the fact LR exports the photo's to PS as TIF's, thus losing RAW 'ability'. Right?

What happens now when I press Cmd+E is that LR exports the photo to PS and makes a copy (TIF file) that I edit, but that's not what I want really.

Is there any way to edit my already PP'ed pictures in Photoshop without losing RAW features and then re-import the photo's to LR?

What workflow do you guys use (the ones that only use LR+PS) when it comes to editing and maintaining the RAW extension?

Regards,

The Photoshop editor does not process Raw files -- the images need to be "rendered" into "RGB images".

So, the two approaches are either to open the pic as a tiff or psd, or as a "Smart Object", although the specifics of that will depend on the compatibility between Lightroom and your version of Photoshop/Camera Raw.

Smart Objects can open in the editor, then if double-clicked can open in Camera Raw in the Raw format if the compatibility is there with Lightroom edits.

But you still have to realize that the "standard" process is to create a tiff or psd -- if you're doing your Raw processing in Lightroom, you want to maximise your work there before opening in Photoshop.

If you really want the Smart Object capability in the Photoshop editor but don't have compatibility with Lightroom, you would need to open the file(s) in Camera Raw and then set your Camera Raw conversion options to open files as Smart Objects (using the link below the preview image).

What is it that you are trying to do that would necessitate opening a Raw file in Photoshop?

Your posts are pretty much the most helpful on here, thanks a lot!
It's not so much that I want to edit the RAW files in PS, but when I've done some correcting in Photoshop and want to take the pic back to LR to do the last things, that's where I need/want the RAW. Would that be possible? When I use PS it's for some small-scale clone stamping or removing sun flares and that stuff and occasionally.
Oh, and also, come to think of it, when making a panorama, what I want is stitch them together first so that I get to take a look at the final picture before grading. I've never really managed to stitch them together first and do the colors later.

Those smart objects you're talking about sound really helpful. I've never really worked with camera RAW but I'll look into it and the smart objects (Google and YT are your friends, right?)

TijmenDal wrote in post #14249051
Your posts are pretty much the most helpful on here, thanks a lot!
It's not so much that I want to edit the RAW files in PS, but when I've done some correcting in Photoshop and want to take the pic back to LR to do the last things, that's where I need/want the RAW. Would that be possible? When I use PS it's for some small-scale clone stamping or removing sun flares and that stuff and occasionally.
Oh, and also, come to think of it, when making a panorama, what I want is stitch them together first so that I get to take a look at the final picture before grading. I've never really managed to stitch them together first and do the colors later.

You just have to realize that once you edit an image in Photoshop, you are done with the Raw processing. You can make adjustments to the resulting tiff, just don't open an image in the editor until you are done with the Raw part.

This is not unique to Lightroom, it's just the way things are. The Photoshop editor is not a Raw processor, it's a "pixel editor"/image editor that operates on the rendered image. The result is a rendered image, not Raw.

Smart Objects can be useful. For example, you can open several Raw pics in Photoshop as layers, apply some adjustment layers and such, and then you can open one of the layers in Camera Raw and "tweak" it. If your Lightroom and Camera Raw versions are compatible, then you can read those tweaks into Lightroom. My versions aren't compatible, so I can't work that way, but it is something I can do with Photoshop just going through Bridge/Camera Raw. But, the end result of Photoshop editing is still an image file -- a tiff, psd, or as an end result a jpeg. It won't be a Raw.

Ok thanks alot! Once again a super useful answer.

How would do you do panorama's though? Do you do the RAW processing first and then stitch it? Because I find it really hard to get a good feeling what the image will look like if I see all the pics next to each other. When I tried editing one of the pics in the panorama and then syncing them all so they have had the same RAW processing I didn't really get results I was happy with.

RAW file format is camera manufacturer proprietary, there is no way for Lightroom or Photoshop to output a file that is in the proprietary format.
My workflow is to do my primary editing in Lightroom, then import it to Photoshop as a smart object or just open using Lightroom edits.
Once I have done whatever I want in Photoshop I save the file as a PSD file. That places it in the Lightroom catalog next to the original. Now I can use Lightroom for printing, additional cropping or whatever. Even create virtual copies of the PSD file for different crops. Anything I do in Lightroom to the PSD file is parametric so the PSD file (in layers if that's how I saved it) can be reopened in Photoshop with or without the additional Lightroom edits.

If I choose to open it with the edits and then do more work in Photo Shop can again save it, Lightroom adds an extension number to differentiate from the first PSD file and it again appears in Lightroom along with the others.

BTW, this approach also saves the PSD file into the same file folder as the raw files so everything is together on the hard drive as well.

Ok thanks David.

How do you handle panorama's though? For a more elaborate explanation, see my post above

TijmenDal wrote in post #14249317
Ok thanks alot! Once again a super useful answer.

How would do you do panorama's though? Do you do the RAW processing first and then stitch it? Because I find it really hard to get a good feeling what the image will look like if I see all the pics next to each other. When I tried editing one of the pics in the panorama and then syncing them all so they have had the same RAW processing I didn't really get results I was happy with.

Well, presumably you took the panorama shots using the same exposure and White Balance, correct? So probably the most you want to do in Raw is global adjustments that you would Sync together, maybe some touchup on an image. But whatever you do, the stitched panorama will never be a Raw file no matter what software you use. So you can stitch and save it as a tiff and then you can still do adjustments in Lightroom if you wish. A tiff has more latitude for adjustments than a jpeg.

tonylong wrote in post #14250648
Well, presumably you took the panorama shots using the same exposure and White Balance, correct? So probably the most you want to do in Raw is global adjustments that you would Sync together, maybe some touchup on an image. But whatever you do, the stitched panorama will never be a Raw file no matter what software you use. So you can stitch and save it as a tiff and then you can still do adjustments in Lightroom if you wish. A tiff has more latitude for adjustments than a jpeg.

Ok thanks. Too bad there isn't like some karma system on here or I would flood you with it Thanks so much again! I guess this thread can be closed.

TijmenDal wrote in post #14249729
Ok thanks David.

How do you handle panorama's though? For a more elaborate explanation, see my post above

Photoshop puts each image used in a pano on a separate layer. If you need to process them separately after they are stitched in photoshop save each layer as a separate image it will appear as such in lightroom catalog. Then you can do the processing you want and then reimport into Photoshop to final combining into pano.

Personally, I would be inclined to do the correcting and balancing in LR before I import into Photoshop for pano.