Lightroom / PS / Workflow Questions Concerns

I have been reading the stickies and jack kelby books on LR and PS workflow and management but still have some issues. As much as I like using LR I am having issues with processing and then revert to DPP. So I have come up with some questions that are hindering me.

Why does he flatten his images in PS after each adjustment? Isn’t it better to keep all the layers in case you want to go back and make adjustments? I can see flattening a file for print but isn't it also good to keep one with all the layers intact for later manipulation?


When moving from LR to PS then back to LR in a tiff file, does LR still keep track of that file as the original or does it get its own thumbnail and space in the database? This part confuses me. (library mode).


Also if I have a batch of photos from a shoot and PP one then batch PP the rest with the same settings is it easy to revert say one of those back to the original untouched raw again?

When I make an image in PS from several RAW/ TIFF files can I still have this imported into LR to be managed and organized in the same set as the original files? Meaning: If I take wedding pics and make a collage of them will this new file if imported also be part of that catalog even though it only a TIFF and not a RAW?

Answers are in bold.

slimninj4 wrote in post #5701900
I have been reading the stickies and jack kelby books on LR and PS workflow and management but still have some issues. As much as I like using LR I am having issues with processing and then revert to DPP. So I have come up with some questions that are hindering me.

His name is Scott Kelby.

Why does he flatten his images in PS after each adjustment? Isn’t it better to keep all the layers in case you want to go back and make adjustments? I can see flattening a file for print but isn't it also good to keep one with all the layers intact for later manipulation?

This I am unsure of.

When moving from LR to PS then back to LR in a tiff file, does LR still keep track of that file as the original or does it get its own thumbnail and space in the database? This part confuses me. (library mode).

When you right click and send the file to PS LR will prompt you and ask if you want to keep track of the file in LR. If you say yes LR will place it next to the original in the same folder. As you edit in PS and save the file as the same name LR will update the thumbnail to coincide with the actual TIFF file. If you chose to Save As LR knows nothing of the new file unless you import it.

Also if I have a batch of photos from a shoot and PP one then batch PP the rest with the same settings is it easy to revert say one of those back to the original untouched raw again?

Yes it is simply one click. In the Develop module the left hand panel has a History tab. You can simply click on a previous state at any time and revert to that state. You can also delete the last step or several last steps, but not one step in the middle of the history. You can also create a Virtual Copy and start over without affecting the PPed version.

When I make an image in PS from several RAW/ TIFF files can I still have this imported into LR to be managed and organized in the same set as the original files? Meaning: If I take wedding pics and make a collage of them will this new file if imported also be part of that catalog even though it only a TIFF and not a RAW?

Yes. You can import any image file (RAW, TIFF, PSD, JPEG, etc.). You just have to make sure that it has a different name than a file already in the catalog.