Suggested Workflow when correcting Perspective in external Editor

[b_gossweiler]

Hi,

I am using PTLens as an external editor to correct perspective distortion on wide angle shots. I'm writing a TIFF for PTLens and stacking it with the original RAW upon return to LR.

What would the recommended workflow be for doing that?

• 
  [li]Do basic development first on RAW, then edit in PTLens, then crop?[/li]
  [li]Do edit in PTLens first, then go on with basic development on the TIFF?[/li]

I see the following issues:

• 
  [li]After "burning" the TIFF for PTLens, I lose the ability to alter the corrections made on the RAW (e.g. local adjustments)[/li]
  [li]I need to do at least a crop in LR after correcting perspective in PTLens[/li]

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Gene McCullagh]

Hi Beat!

I would suggest you first handle the adjustments that use the RAW data (exposure, etc.). Once you have a baseline image then export to PTLens. Once the resulting TIFF returns continue with any further adjustments on the TIFF.

 

[tgutgu]

Well, it is a shame that almost no raw converter except DxO supports perspective correction. Perspective correction is a frequent edit, so I hope that Lightroom 3 will support it.

Unfortunately the Lightroom plugin interface is still so limited that apparently only external editing-plugins are supported, so that TIFF generation is almost always mandatory. It is time for Adobe to open up the platform and development kits for true third party plugins, so that others can step in where Adobe is not able or willing to do something. Being that kind of open platform, would certainly give a lot of new opportunities and would be a good selling point for Lightroom. The current "plugins" are just small additions, which often do not fit very well into the whole concept of Lightroom, propagating a non-descructive workflow.


Kind regards

Thomas