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kaitlyn2004
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As the title states, which do you use for your external editing and WHY?
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4 August 2026 It's Lightroom update time again. There are some new features, as well as bug fixes, new cameras and lenses.
See What’s New in Lightroom Classic 15.5, Mobile & Desktop (August 2026)?
sizzlingbadger
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TIFF is an open format more widely recognised by other applications. It is also Adobe's recommendation for use with Lightroom. I see no point in using PSD files anymore.
MarkNicholas
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I don't do any external edits because I don't find I need to. I just use LR
pknoot
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I use PS CS4 for the more demanding editing and I'm a big fan of SmartObjects. Storage space is not an issue with me and PSD gives me better results.....
Victoria Bampton
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Peter, how does PSD give you better results?
The PSD format came about because there wasn't a format that could hold everything that PS could do (alpha channels, smart objects, etc.), however the TIFF spec has since been updated to include all of those things, so I can't think of anything that you can do with a PSD that you can't do with a TIFF now, and the compatibility for TIFF is more universal. That's why Adobe are now recommending TIFF, although it's largely a matter of personal taste.
The PSD format came about because there wasn't a format that could hold everything that PS could do (alpha channels, smart objects, etc.), however the TIFF spec has since been updated to include all of those things, so I can't think of anything that you can do with a PSD that you can't do with a TIFF now, and the compatibility for TIFF is more universal. That's why Adobe are now recommending TIFF, although it's largely a matter of personal taste.
Bosse
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I use both.
Since there is no real difference between the two I use psd for my inital editing. All my PSDs are work in progress and are only for my eyes - not my clients. When I am done with the editing and it is time to send it off or show it to the client I save the PSD (in 16-bit with layers - in case I or the client wants some changes later) as my "Master"-file in its native resolution.
Then I flatten, save-as a tiff and rezise, sharpen etc and send it off to the client.
Benefits of this? I can easilly see by looking at the filetype if it is a workingfile or a clientfile. I have a "master"-file which I can always go back to and do whatever tweaks necessary. And if that master-file also is a smart object I can easily go back to the RAW-ile and do changes.
// Bosse
Since there is no real difference between the two I use psd for my inital editing. All my PSDs are work in progress and are only for my eyes - not my clients. When I am done with the editing and it is time to send it off or show it to the client I save the PSD (in 16-bit with layers - in case I or the client wants some changes later) as my "Master"-file in its native resolution.
Then I flatten, save-as a tiff and rezise, sharpen etc and send it off to the client.
Benefits of this? I can easilly see by looking at the filetype if it is a workingfile or a clientfile. I have a "master"-file which I can always go back to and do whatever tweaks necessary. And if that master-file also is a smart object I can easily go back to the RAW-ile and do changes.
// Bosse
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