r/Lightroom • u/iarecookies • Aug 26 '26
Workflow What is your workflow when you want to use photoshop too?
I want to remove distractions in photoshop first and then apply style changes in Lightroom, but realized I lose the raw file and its dynamic capabilities afterwards. I don’t want to use photoshop for style changes. Any tips for a non destructive workflow?
ETA: another question, how destructive is it if I edit in photoshop first then in Lightroom?
1
u/ShotPorter Aug 27 '26
Lightroom (RAW corrections) is not destructive. Photoshop (pixels corrections) is destructive.
Do whatever you can in LightRoom. Export to PDF or tif 16 but in AdobeRGB color space. Start Photoshop from there.
In Photoshoot, use correction layers and smart filters when possible instead of direct corrections, clipping mask/layer mask instead of direct layers erasing - they are non-destructive and not inflate files weight. Use groups and think ahead - avoid layers merging; you will pay by huge file size but it will keep your edits as flexible as possible.
1
u/No_Parfait_2104 Aug 27 '26
I always start with the raw files in Lightroom. I cull then depending on what my project is I may upload to Imagen for the initial edit then back to Lightroom for any changes or creative edits. Only at this point if there's something I absolutely need Photoshop to do I'll use the Lightroom option to "edit in Photoshop". I like a non destructive workflow but at this point it doesn't matter that the image gets rasterized since my edit is mostly done. This will create new file which I'll also keep the original of in the catalog in the event that I ever need to refer back to it.
1
u/danielrob_this Aug 27 '26
I’m curious - do you manually cull within Lightroom? Have you tried dedicated culling software?
1
u/No_Parfait_2104 Aug 28 '26
I do both, it depends on what I'm working on. I have tried culling with Imagen and Narrative; Imagen ended up being a better fit for workflow so I'll cull with it if I decide to automate that part of it. I also looked into Aftershoot too but didn't end up testing it. Is there one that you're partial to?
2
u/danielrob_this Aug 28 '26
I used to work at Narrative, and am now working on Cullibrate (.com). I want it to be like an “open Adobe Bridge” of photo selection, with support for Photo Mechanic like workflows, Narrative like assisted culling, and Aftershoot style on-device auto culling. Also want it to be for Photographers of all levels.
It’s a big project - and I’m only one guy, but I’ve made very significant progress so far - trying to maximise the modern age of agentic engineering while maintaining the “engineering” part fully :).
Overall I’m just trying to understand what serves people the most and build that :).
1
u/No_Parfait_2104 Sep 01 '26
Thats a very cool project! I'm not familiar with Cullibrate but I'll take a look.
1
u/ShotPorter Aug 27 '26
I checked it out. Calling software is cool when your editing is standard (100500 pictures of wedding's guests it Amazon listing, when you should simply follow strict criterias - subject in focus, eye opened... but for creative shoots they are virtually useless
1
u/danielrob_this Aug 27 '26
Fair. I just built one 🤣. Personally I like to shoot wilderness shots, will often go out with iPhone and camera. I love coming back, ingesting from both simultaneously in one app, having a dedicated workspace to flick through with bursts grouped, then seamless handoff to LRC. It’s just a nicer experience than what LRC offers IMO.
1
u/Goodinuf Aug 27 '26
I sometimes do multiple RAW edits then combine them into separate layers in one Photoshop document. Using layer masks I choose which part of each layer to show or hide.
1
u/ChannelCommercial984 Aug 27 '26
Edit in LR for all the basics stuff, masking, Denoise etc. Then open in PS with adjustments applied. I don't bother doing any of the smart object stuff as it's just not necessary anymore. Everything transfers over neatly and you'll always have the RAW with LR edits to fall back on.
1
u/linnea_elaine Aug 26 '26
Bring the image from Lightroom into Photoshop as a smart object. This will embed your edit metadata into a new file.
1
u/211logos Aug 26 '26
I do editing in LrC for general adjustments, then to Ps with Open as Smart Object. That allows some raw work in ACR if I want to change something. Some stuff in Ps won't work to keep the smart object option open though, although frankly lost track of which ones but usually some of the things I need to do in Ps. Eg I was watching something about the new Trim thing in ACR and wondering if that worked to solve my problem, since I think it works nondestructively.
2
u/BarrieSpence Aug 26 '26
As soon as you drop the file into PS, you've baked in the raw adjustments. Assuming you don't do something daft like not save that file back to LrC, you can then make non-destructive LrC adjustments on top of the TIF/PSD just like any other file in LrC.
You can also go back to that TIF/PSD at any point and make changes to it that will then show in LrC. That's really handy if you later spot something you missed and fix it (and that propagates into virtual copies too).
Sure, you're loosing all the flexibility of the raw once it is rendered as the base layer in the TIF/PSD, but that's probably not a massive issue for most of us with relatively modest adjustments to the raw (especially with 16-bit Adobe or ProPhoto RGB files in the middle).
Someone might suggest dropping the raw file in to PS as a smart object, and while that will retain the full raw file and the ability to adjust it, anything you add on other layers is almost certainly going to be weird if you make raw adjustments under them.
1
u/Cero_Kurn Aug 26 '26
You can edit raws on PSD, but the adjustments don't translate. Ur stuck doing what we all do. Edit all you can in lr before transforming into tiff or psd. I recommend saving the psd cuz if you have to adjust something afterwards in lr that you forgot, maybe you can import the new raw edited to the psd and make the most of the psd edits. But yea, not a good way around it Sorry
1
u/d-eversley-b Aug 26 '26
Yeah it’s a bit clunky, as RAWs are just fundamentally different to raster images.
The best way I’ve found is to use LR to do my initial large-scale colour and exposure edits along with any denoising etc, then exporting a 16 bit TIFF to Photoshop to make composition changes or expand the image, and the re-importing the PSD/PSB/TIFF back into Lightroom again to do my the finicky changes and masking.
You end up with two instances of the same image this way, but it’s the most flexible workflow for me.
15
u/CarpetReady8739 Lightroom Classic (desktop) Aug 26 '26
Lightroom Classic user (20 years) since Βeta 1, 2006 (Shadowland eval product).
I do all of my tonal adjustments, spot removal, Kelvin W/B in Lightroom first. I do not crop it. Then if I have to do things like move pixels, swap heads, things like that, I will label the image RED which is the #6 key on the keyboard.
Then I'll send the image into Photoshop (Edit in...) where, as noted in other comments here, it gets converted from a DNG/RAW file to a PSD. I make my pixel edits & adjustments, and then when I'm finished in Photoshop I send it back to Lightroom, label the new resulting PSD green (#8 key) and then I do the final crop and then export.
The reason I label them two different colors is because the red one is the originating DNG/RAW file needing PS fixes and the GREEN one is the final edited and repaired PSD file. That way I quickly know which one of the two to export.
I hope this subset workflow is helpful to you.
3
u/Competitive_Mix_587 Aug 26 '26
I’m finding I need PS less and less as LrC capabilities increase. I wait until the very end to send it to PS, and that’s only if I need it.
2
u/LeftyRodriguez Lightroom Classic (desktop) Aug 26 '26
There might be a better way to do this, but I open as smart object in PS then do any of my raw editing that I'd do in LR in the Camera Raw filter in PS, then anything else, such as removals. Since it's a smart object, you can edit in CR as much as you want in PS and it will update all the layers. Then save back to LrC as a PSD and I can export there or re-edit in PS as needed.
2
u/PhotoBrewery Aug 27 '26
Do as much as you can in Lightroom first, including removing as many distractions as you can.
Then send the file to Photoshop - use Edit in Photoshop As a Smart Object. This creates your Photoshop file, with the raw data in a "smart object" layer. Any Photoshop distraction removals will now be on their own layers, separate from the smart object. You can apply filters to the smart object, and they become "smart filters" which you can always re-edit by double clicking. Double clicking the smart object itself launches Adobe Camera Raw and you have access to the raw data.
You can make further Lightroom adjustments to the TIF file, but things become confusing if some adjustments are in PS + ACR on the smart object, and others are to the TIF/PSD in Lightroom. So in general, once it has become a TIF/PSD, make further adjustments in PS as adjustment layers.
In other words, to get as much non-destructiveness as possible, you need to switch round the order in which you're working.