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GotMe Problem – Lightroom Not Applying Lens Profile (Sometimes-ish)

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Simon J.A. Simpson

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Jan 22, 2021
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Lightroom Version Number
Lightroom Classic 9.4
Operating System
  1. macOS 10.13 High Sierra
This is the most bizarre problem, but I think I may have been inadvertently responsible for creating it.

I have two Macs (iMac and MacBook Pro) both have the same OS and versions of Lightroom and Photoshop (latest versions for this OS). Everything works fine on the MacBook but not on the iMac.

What's the problem ?
So, one particular lens profile (Canon 70-200 ƒ4 IS II) is applied correctly in Lightroom but using the 'Edit in…' function to open the image in Photoshop the profile is not applied. But using the 'Export…' function (to JPG and PSD files) the profile is correctly applied. It appears from my testing that this is related somehow to the profile. I have tested this with different RAW files, some of the correct lens and some not, and tried applying the profile 'manually', but the profile is still not applied when using 'Edit in…'. Other profiles and lenses all work fine. So, this only occurs when using 'Edit in…' to open in Photoshop.

Everything works as it should on the MacBook Pro (to repeat – same OS and versions of LR and PS).

Why do I think I may have been responsible for creating this ?
Initially, on the iMac, I experienced some problems getting LR to recognise the lens and apply the profile automatically. I fiddled with the 'Setup' in the 'Lens Corrections > Profile' panel so I may have screwed-up something here.

What I like to achieve ?
I would like to get be able to use 'Edit in…' and have the image open in PS with the profile applied for this lens.

How can I achieve this ? Is there something I can 'reset' ? I would be grateful for any help.
 
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When Lightroom sends a raw file to Photshop, the file is processed not by Lightroom but by Camera Raw (with the Lightroom edits) before you see it appear in Photoshop. This happens ‘under the hood’, without showing the Camera Raw dialog. So perhaps that is where something goes wrong. What you could try is use the ‘Open in Photoshop as smart object’ menu. You can then double click the smart object in Photoshop to check if the profile is correctly applied, and if not apply it after all. If needed for the kind of edits, you can then flatten the image to get a normal background rather than a smart object.
 
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Thank you Johan.

Images are not opening as 'smart objects' in Photoshop but as simple flat files (I selected the option from the drop-down and contextual menus).

This suggests that there is something broken in the link between Lightroom and Photoshop.

Do you have any ideas how I might remedy this ?
 
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Please read my answer again. I’m not saying that your images should open as smart object right now. I am suggesting that you use this menu instead of the ‘Edit in Photoshop’ menu, so you can activate the profile if that hasn’t happen automatically.
 
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Perhaps I have misunderstood. Here's what I am doing.

1. Select image in Lightroom.
2. From the 'Photo>Edit in' menu select 'Open as Smart Object in Photoshop…'.
3. Image appears in Photoshop.
4. The image file in Photoshop, the 'object', is neither 'smart' nor has it had a lens profile applied to it.
5. However, in Lightroom the lens profile is applied and the image appears correctly.
6. I can export the image using the export command and the profile is correctly applied to the exported JPG or PSD file.
 
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Simon.Simpson-fixinglight said:
4. The image file in Photoshop, the 'object', is neither 'smart' nor has it had a lens profile applied to it.
Click to expand...
What do you mean with that? A smart object is a smart object. Double click on the layer icon in the layer panel. What do you see?
 
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Johan. Thank you once agin for your help.

My apologies, I had failed to notice the modified icon which indicated that the layer was a smart object.

I have now followed your instructions which have worked as you describe.

However, it would be nice to get to the bottom of the problem and have the handover from Lightroom to Photoshop work as it is intended, and as it works on my MacBook Pro.

In the interim I have tried trashing the preference files of both Photoshop and Lightroom, as per Adobe's suggestion, but this has made no difference. I continue to seek a solution.

All good wishes.

Simon
 
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I've just tried another test which is to open the same file in a legacy version of Photoshop (14.2.1). The file opens with the lens profile applied.

This would seem to suggest that the problem is with Photoshop (21.2.5), or the installation on my iMac, and not Lightroom.
 
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Simon.Simpson-fixinglight said:
I've just tried another test which is to open the same file in a legacy version of Photoshop (14.2.1). The file opens with the lens profile applied.

This would seem to suggest that the problem is with Photoshop (21.2.5), or the installation on my iMac, and not Lightroom.
Click to expand...
Start by updating Photoshop. This could be a bug that is already resolved. The current version of Photoshop is 22.2.0 if I’m not mistaken.
 
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I do not believe this is bug related to the version of Photoshop I have installed.

You will, no doubt, recall from my original post that I have the same version of Photoshop and Lightroom, and the same OS, installed on my MacBook Pro which does in fact work correctly.

In addition, I am unable to install version 22.x of Photoshop as it is not compatible with my OS and High Sierra is the latest and last OS compatible with my iMac.

However, a reinstallation of Photoshop 21.2.5 might be worth a shot ?

I will continue to try and get to the bottom of this.
 
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If you can’t update Photoshop because of the version of MacOS, then check the Camera Raw version. What version is that? The latest version of Camera Raw is also not compatible with MacOS High Sierra, but there is (was) a bug in the CC app that would let you update it anyway. No idea what kind of problems that would cause, but as Camera Raw is used under the hood when you send an image from Lightroom to Photoshop, this may well be one of them.
 
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SOLVED: Opening an image in Photoshop from Lightroom using the ‘Edit in’ command does not always apply the lens profile

The Problem
This is a bizarre problem with obscure origins. When opening an image in Photoshop from Lightroom using the ‘Edit in’ command does not always apply the lens profile. Some lens profiles work and others do not.

Investigation
The lens profiles that do not work are newer profiles available after upgrading Lightroom, and possibly also Photoshop. Older profiles work satisfactorily. However, using the ‘Export’ function does create image files (e.g. PSDs and JPEGs) with the newer lens profiles correctly applied.
Opening an image in Photoshop from Lightroom as a ‘Smart Object’ and then opening in Adobe Camera Raw the ACR Optics panel will display the message ‘Unable to load lens profile’.

Clarification
Lightroom accesses its own folder of lens profiles. ACR has a separate, but nominally identical, folder of lens profiles. Copies of lens profiles folders from previous installations can remain on the hard disk, but which will not contain the newer lens profiles.
When an image is opened in Photoshop from Lightroom it uses Camera Raw to apply the edits made in Lightroom to create an editable file, including applying the lens profile.

Analysis & Diagnosis
It appears that Camera Raw was unable to access the newer lens profiles. If ACR cannot access the same lens profile as used in Lightroom then the errors described above will occur.

Speculation
In my case I believe that I inadvertently opened an older copy of Lightroom which may have caused ACR to become confused about which folder/profiles to access. It is not altogether clear where this error occurred as deleting preference files for Lightroom, Photoshop, and ACR made no difference.

Solution
An hour and ten minutes on the phone to a very patient Adobe Technical Support technician produced a solution. This involved manually deleting the ‘CameraRaw’ folders from the Mac’s Libraries (root and user) and deleting the Camera Raw plugin. ACR was then reinstalled using a link to a download provided by the technician.

Happiness!
 
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