LR4-->CS6: Most Efficient Method For This?

Greetings,

I have snooped around but can't find any information to answer my question. I just started using Lightroom after being a long-term Camera RAW user. Absolutely loving LR so far--took me a couple of weeks to get used to the fact that everything is virtual; quite an amazing system.

So.... I did an event this past weekend. I have a few hundred photos that I need to work on, so I made a couple of collection sets (one for the daytime/outside session and one for the evening party inside). Images are all RAW fyi. Within each collection set are collections containing virtual copies; for the sake of simplicity let's say that the structure is as follows:

[Collection Set] - Outside Shoot
{Collection} - Color (the shots from outside, in color, with basic adjustments)
{Collection} - Black & White (virtual copies of above color photos, with b&w
conversion and contrast adjustment applied)

[Collection Set] - Evening Party
{Collection} - Color (the shots from the party, in color, with basic
adjustments)
{Collection} - Black & White (virtual copies of above color photos, with b&w
conversion and contrast adjustment applied)

Now what I would like to do is what I used to do with the "Image Processor" from ACR, where with one click I could shoot them into Photoshop, run a series of actions on them, and basically finish them off there; there are quite a few things that I just really rely on Photoshop for.

The only thing I have thought of thus far is to output all of the photos and virtual copies to psd files, put them into old fashioned folders, and access those folders from either within Bridge or Photoshop to run the Image Processor. Seems like quite a project, though. How can I do this the smart way?

Thanks,
Randy

You need to take a look at what are called Post Process Actions in Lightroom...(look at the Post-Processing section at the bottom of the Export dialog box). You can instruct Lightroom to open images in Photoshop or any other application after exporting. However, the most efficient use is to create a Photoshop Droplet and place it in the Export Actions folder. The droplet can then be invoked by clicking it in the drop-down list of the Post-Processing section of the Export dialog box.

It really depends on what those actions accomplish. If it is simply a matter of resizing the image, applying output sharpening and/or applying a watermark then I would not use PS to do this but use the tools integral to LR to do the same thing. LR is very good at generating output files in batches, it is one of the core functions of the product after all. Very many find that thanks to the versatility of LR they no longer have to routinely send images to PS for finishing in the way that was really necessary when using the (Bridge)/ACR/PS workflow.

Alan

You can export your images to automatically open them with Photoshop. Is that what you mean? That's what I do anyway. I have to be careful though as it can't handle a ton of images being open at the same time. I have to do them in smaller batches.

After I do my basic editing in LR I then separate into batches of 6 or so and then right click and choose 'edit in photoshop'. Opens up all the images as separate files in Photoshop, plus renames the working layer to the filename which is great for me because then when I use an action to save the file it automatically saves as IMG_XXXX.TIFF.

Its always interesting to see the Rube Goldberg-like workflows people come up with. The problem with running actions is that you will encounter modal dialog boxes like Save and Quality that will require manual intervention. A Photoshop Droplet (which is essentially an action or actions rolled up in an executable file) eliminates manual intervention and works similar to Photoshop's Image Processor.

See here: Can I run a Photoshop action from Lightroom?

Another option is to use a Lightroom plug-in like LR/Mogrify 2 to finish your images. The problem with LR/Mogrify 2 is that it only has Unsharp Masking which is a less than optimal sharpening solution: http://www.photographe​rs-toolbox.com/products/l​rmogrify2.php

I'm curious to know how you invoke the Image Processor from within ACR.

PixelMagic wrote in post #16066341
You need to take a look at what are called Post Process Actions in Lightroom...(look at the Post-Processing section at the bottom of the Export dialog box). You can instruct Lightroom to open images in Photoshop or any other application after exporting. However, the most efficient use is to create a Photoshop Droplet and place it in the Export Actions folder. The droplet can then be invoked by clicking it in the drop-down list of the Post-Processing section of the Export dialog box.

Where are droplets created? Is this within Adobe or some sort of plug-in?

BigAl007 wrote in post #16066369
It really depends on what those actions accomplish. If it is simply a matter of resizing the image, applying output sharpening and/or applying a watermark then I would not use PS to do this but use the tools integral to LR to do the same thing. LR is very good at generating output files in batches, it is one of the core functions of the product after all. Very many find that thanks to the versatility of LR they no longer have to routinely send images to PS for finishing in the way that was really necessary when using the (Bridge)/ACR/PS workflow.

Alan

I know, but there are certain things that I prefer to do in Photoshop so I have total control--for example edge mask sharpening, blend modes, and my beloved "blend if" functionality.

cdifoto wrote in post #16066370
You can export your images to automatically open them with Photoshop. Is that what you mean? That's what I do anyway. I have to be careful though as it can't handle a ton of images being open at the same time. I have to do them in smaller batches.

No, that's not what I mean. I am referring to taking a folder and running a series of automations on everything inside of it. When Photoshop runs a batch process or the image processor, it opens each photo one-by-one and applies the action before moving onto the next. Opening hundreds of images at once in Photoshop is no good.

PixelMagic wrote in post #16066443
Its always interesting to see the Rube Goldberg-like workflows people come up with. The problem with running actions is that you will encounter modal dialog boxes like Save and Quality that will require manual intervention. A Photoshop Droplet (which is essentially an action or actions rolled up in an executable file) eliminates manual intervention and works similar to Photoshop's Image Processor.

See here: Can I run a Photoshop action from Lightroom?

An excellent FAQ, Thanks

RandMan wrote in post #16066457
Where are droplets created? Is this within Adobe or some sort of plug-in?

Open Photoshop and go to File > Automate > Create Droplet.

The cool thing is that it is saved as an executable file, so you don't even need to open Photoshop; you can simply select a group of files and drop them on the droplet icon and it will then run Photoshop and process the images.

RandMan wrote in post #16066457
No, that's not what I mean. I am referring to taking a folder and running a series of automations on everything inside of it. When Photoshop runs a batch process or the image processor, it opens each photo one-by-one and applies the action before moving onto the next. Opening hundreds of images at once in Photoshop is no good.

Is it the same action? I don't always run the same action, so I do smaller batches. If you're running the exact same action on everything you can simply export to a folder then in Photoshop select File > Automate, choose the action you want to run and then the folder as source. If you want to run several different actions, create one "big" action that calls up all the actions you want run and use that as your File > Automate selection.

Once you do that you can walk away. There are check boxes to override Save commands and other prompts.

RandMan wrote in post #16066457
I know, but there are certain things that I prefer to do in Photoshop so I have total control--for example edge mask sharpening, blend modes, and my beloved "blend if" functionality.

You can't have your cake and eat it too. You either batch or you work on individual files.

PixelMagic wrote in post #16066443
Its always interesting to see the Rube Goldberg-like workflows people come up with. The problem with running actions is that you will encounter modal dialog boxes like Save and Quality that will require manual intervention.

That's not exactly correct. Your action will determine whether you have dialog boxes. I have a few actions that save at predetermined qualities in predetermined folders and there are no dialog boxes in the way.

cdifoto wrote in post #16066508
That's not exactly correct. Your action will determine whether you have dialog boxes. I have a few actions that save at predetermined qualities in predetermined folders and there are no dialog boxes in the way.

The operative phrase in your comment is "predetermined qualities in predetermined folders"...if you want flexibility in your actions (or are simply a basic user) you will at some stage have to deal with modal dialogs.

PixelMagic wrote in post #16066539
The operative phrase in your comment is "predetermined qualities in predetermined folders"...if you want flexibility in your actions (or are simply a basic user) you will at some stage have to deal with modal dialogs.

I don't see how you're going to get flexibility in your actions with a droplet...

You're sitting there advocating Droplets to eliminate user intervention and saying actions alone will force you to into user interaction, and I'm simply saying you don't need a droplet to eliminate user interaction. You just need the right action process, and to not give a damn about intervening. If you're going to intervene, a droplet isn't going to help you either because the whole point is automation.

In other words, you either automate or you don't. If you want the ultimate in speed and automation you have to give up flexibility. If you still want to fiddle with images, you have to give up on batching as quickly as possible and make do with playing around with a file then running your action once you're done. You simply cannot give individual attention to files in a batch operation without stopping.

PixelMagic wrote in post #16066443
I'm curious to know how you invoke the Image Processor from within ACR.

Tools-->Photoshop-->Image Processor