Smart Objects from LR?

[Hoof Pix]

For those of you familiar w/ Scott Kelby's 7-Point System using PS, he often opens RAW files as smart objects from Camera Raw. He says that one can also use LR for the initial adjustments of the RAW files before opening in PS. Is there a way to open a file as a smart object from LR?

Thanks! Pam

 

[DonRicklin]

No, not directly. Long asked for. If you set up an action as a droplet you can export as Original to PSCS this way, AFAIK. Have not done it myself. If you have saved to XMP, LR Settings should go with the image.

I have heard that this is soemthing that may eventually be gotten to. It truly would be a nice addition to LR.

Don

 

[rcannonp]

Another work around would be to write any LR adjustments to xmp(comand-s) then contol-click on the file and select Show in Finder. You can then open the file into ACR and the LR adjustments should be reflected.

Making the background layer into a smart object in Photoshop is a one click process. Just control-click the background layer and choose Convert to Smart Object. You can make an action out of that and assign a key command to execute it if you want.

 

[Hoof Pix]

Thank you both for the work-around suggestions. Scott uses the Open as Smart Object for working w/ two different adjustments of the same image as separate layers, then using the Blend If feature. Since I prefer LR to adjust my RAW images over Camera RAW, I will play around w/ your suggestions, but meanwhile hope that this feature is added (soon).
Pam

 

[rcannonp]

You might try making Snapshots in LR for your different adjustment settings. Send the file to Photoshop with the adjustments that you want for the background layer, then switch the snapshots. In Photoshop use the place command to place the image over itself with the new adjustments refected in the ACR dialog. If you have your LR catalog set to automatically write changes to XMP then it should do so when you switch snapshots.

I've only just discovered snapshots myself. I think that I like them better than virtual copies.

 

[rcannonp]

I was testing this out and found that you'll have to use command-s to write the changes if you are placing the same file into itself more than once. For example, you might open the original file and then place it once with highlight adjustments and then again with shadow adjustments. When you open the file in ACR to place it, LR sees it as having been modified by Photoshop and won't automatically write changes to the xmp file any more.

 

[RipIt]

Thank you both for the work-around suggestions. Scott uses the Open as Smart Object for working w/ two different adjustments of the same image as separate layers, then using the Blend If feature. Since I prefer LR to adjust my RAW images over Camera RAW, I will play around w/ your suggestions, but meanwhile hope that this feature is added (soon).
Pam

Pam,
You can open a raw file in PS as a smart object from lightroom.
In the export dialog box select original and in the post processing box select open in Abode Photoshop CS3.
Then when you see the adobe Camera Raw dialog box simply shift click on the open image button. This will open it as a smart object. Then go back to lightroom and make a second, or third, or fourth... adjustment and do the same export.
In order not to build up a bunch of files select overwrite.
Then in Photoshop simply drag and drop onto the first export.

You can also use the snapshot feature as a means of tracking your adjustments (initial ones) in Lightroom.

Now that you have smart objects in PS you can double click them to make additional color adjustments. At this point though the file has no relation to the files in Lightroom. That is to say, double clicking the thumbnail will not take you back to Lightroom for adjusting. Since ACR and Lr are using the same processing engine that should not be an issue.

If you were happy with your Lr adjustments and wanted to export a psd or tiff or jpg and still have the flexibility of a smart object then thats easy too. A simple action/droplet to convert it upon opening in PS.

 

[sapofeo]

Pam,
You can open a raw file in PS as a smart object from lightroom.
In the export dialog box select original and in the post processing box select open in Abode Photoshop CS3.
Then when you see the adobe Camera Raw dialog box simply shift click on the open image button. This will open it as a smart object. Then go back to lightroom and make a second, or third, or fourth... adjustment and do the same export.

Genius. Thank you from all of us who were wondering how to get this done.

 

[Hoof Pix]

Once again, thank you all for the great suggestions, especially David R. I export images all the time, but never noticed the "Original" setting until you mentioined it. Very helpful!

Happy New Year to All,
Pam

 

[switters]

Hi everyone,

I'm delighted to find this thread because I had the same question as the original poster. I tried the method of exporting original files and opening in PS CS3 as smart objects. That seemed to work fine, except that when I double-clicked on one of the smart objects to make changes in ACR, I got this error message: "could not edit original smart object because no parser or file format could open the file".

I'll be more specific: after exporting both original LR files, and then opening each of them as a smart object in PS, I then had two files open in PS (one lighter version, and one darker). Then I dragged the lightened smart object on top of the darker one holding the shift key, and closed the window for the lightened file. I suspect that this is where the problem lies, because the lightened smart object (now sitting as a new layer in the document for the darkened one) is the one that won't open again in ACR.

Is there a better method for placing the smart objects into a document that would retain the ability to open them in ACR?

Also, the other problem with this method is that all communication with LR is lost. Once I'm finished with the composite I'll have to save to disk, and then re-import to LR.

I think I'll end up preferring the other option, which is to create virtual copies (or make snapshots) in LR with the desired adjustments and then choose "edit in PS" for each of them, then drag one over using the shift key. With this method I lose the ability to go back and change the RAW adjustments on the fly, but I gain the advantage of having the final image stacked with the original in LR.

UPDATE: I figured out what the problem was. When I exported the original file from LR the second time, I chose to overwrite the first file. Duh. Of course it would be impossible to re-open the first smart object made from that file if it was overwritten. I tried again and this time I selected "use unique names", and sure enough, it worked like a charm.

I still prefer the method of creating a digital copy in LR and making RAW adjustments there, then "editing in PS" and converting to smart objects. Seems easier than saving the new file and then re-importing to LR. But it's still nice to have the other option, especially on files where I think I may want to go back and re-adjust the RAW settings once they're open.

 

[rcannonp]

If you're just using one file to make lighter and darker layers in Photoshop, it's easier to just export once and then make copies of the layer in Photoshop. If you right-click on the original layer and choose New Smart Object Via Copy, it will make a copy of the smart object and you can edit its settings independently.

 

[switters]

If you're just using one file to make lighter and darker layers in Photoshop, it's easier to just export once and then make copies of the layer in Photoshop. If you right-click on the original layer and choose New Smart Object Via Copy, it will make a copy of the smart object and you can edit its settings independently.

Thanks for the tip. This definitely is faster. There's still the issue of having to save and re-import into LR, though, so I'll probably end up using the other method more often.