Help: Edits applied to CR2 raw file :(

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Alann

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I must have hit the wrong button. I just edited a photo in Develop and then exported it to save as JPG. For the first time since using this program the raw CR2 file is showing the changes. Can someone tell me where I went wrong?

Alan
 
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Hi Alan! Welcome to the forums! When you have a minute please fill in your signature by using the USER CP link above.

Is the image in the catalog showing the changes? If so that's normal. The preview will show the current state of your edits but the underlying RAW file remains untouched.

Or did you somehow export it as a JPEG but save is as a CR2 file? (Not sure how you can do that though). If that is the case then what you have is actually a JPEG and you've overwritten your RAW file.

Not enough info to really answer the question. Sorry.
 
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What I did was select the cr2 file in Library; clicked on Develop and changed the exposure, then used brush for clarity on the subject. Then went to export; Files on disk, checked add to this catalog, stack with original, jpg, sRGB, quality 1'', and sharpen for screen. Then hit export. The pic in CR2 in Lightroom shows the changes but, if I go to "show in windows explorer it shows the good old "blown out" CR2 raw file. So this is normal? If I edit the pic in Photoshop CS4 or use a plugin such as OnOne it saves it as a PSD and then I export to save as JPG. When I go back to Library it shows the CR2 untouched, the PSD and the JPG. I gather that if I go from CR2 to jpeg it shows the changes in the CR2 as well but if going from PSD it does not. Man, I hope I did not confuse you as much as I confused myself. LOL
 
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That's normal. Lightroom doesn't touch the original file; it just maintains a list of changes you'd like to make in the catalog, then applies those changes when you export. The original file always remains untouched.
 
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It can be confusing! LOL

Everything you do in LR will show on your preview. The edits are non-destructive so the underlying RAW file is not changed. That's why you see the original untouched RAW image when you view from another program.

Now, when you go out to an external editor such as PS then everything you do there is done OUTSIDE of LR. So those changes are not reflected in the preview for the RAW file back in LR. When you save and the resulting PSD or TIFF is brought back into LR the preview on that file will reflect the changes you made in the external editor.

Exporting to JPEG with a reimport option is not editing the file. It's "baking in" all those changes you've made to that point and creating a new file. But, since no changes where made during the export process the preview for the JPEG and the RAW match.

Have I sufficiently confused you yet?
 
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