Using LR Develop Settings on PSD files - Pros and Cons ?

[swteven]

I have a LR catalog of native PSD files originally shot on film. Most of these are large files ranging from 25-100mb. The catalog also contains Raw files shot digitally. I want use LR as my organizational center for managing both these file types.

Most of my PSD files are "Master files" so major edits have already been accomplished in Photoshop. However I want to make a few changes in LR like saturation and contrast for added pop to these files when they are finally output as JPEG files for a website.

I am wondering about the implications of Using LR Develop Settings on PSD files. Lightroom (and Adobe Camera Raw) seem to be tools designed primarily for developing Raw files. Will Using LR Develop Settings on many PSD files in a LR catalog create a memory processing overload in LR ? I am considering the long term consequences of doing this as part of my workflow.

Thanks, Scott

 

[Conrad Chavez]

While Lightroom and Camera Raw were primarily designed for raw files, they work very well on non-raw files too. And I think they're great tools for processing film scans, especially in bulk. In terms of image quality, I don't think there's any concern about applying Lightroom edits to Photoshop files.

But for sanity, it's a good idea in most cases to keep edits in either Lightroom or Photoshop and not both. If you have to make edits in both Lightroom and Photoshop, keep them consistently structured and orderly. For Photoshop master files containing lots of layered adjustments, I try not to apply more image edits in Lightroom. This helps avoid situations where a future Photoshop edit clashes with an existing Lightroom edit to that file, or where a Photoshop file doesn't come out as expected when output directly from Photoshop because an important color tweak was applied in Lightroom. In your example I would take the time and trouble to open that image in Photoshop and edit or add an adjustment layer to achieve that last saturation or contrast edit.

There are some exceptions, though. One of them is cropping. I try to avoid cropping in Photoshop and do it instead in Lightroom, since it's nondestructive and easy to change compared to Photoshop. Another exception is post-crop vignetting, since a manual vignette applied to a Photoshop file might interact badly with further editing or cropping in Lightroom. Of course, that approach makes sense only if you primarily output from Lightroom, and wouldn't make sense if you primarily output from Photoshop. So you have to keep your overall workflow in mind when thinking this through.

 

[johnbeardy]

Will Using LR Develop Settings on many PSD files in a LR catalog create a memory processing overload in LR ? I am considering the long term consequences of doing this as part of my workflow.

I don't think you need to have these concerns. Lr can handle this situation perfectly well.

However, this is a case of just because you can do something, it doesn't mean you should. And here I work in the same way as Conrad outlines. So for example, imagine I overlooked a dust spot and only noticed it when reviewing the PSD in LR, or imagine I want the image in B&W. I could certainly do those edits in LR, but then imagine that days/years later I open the file directly into PS or open it in InDesign or some other app that can read PSD files. Those edits aren't there, so I then have to go back to LR, output a new file with LR's edits. I end up with a second PSD, and have wasted a few minutes of my life. There are plenty of other scenarios.

So I just avoid any confusion by trying to adjust PSD/TIF only in PS. If you use layers properly, your PS work is effectively non-destructive - eg I'd always add dust spot corrections on a new layer, or use a B&W adjustment layer rather than adjusting the original image layer. I try not to make exceptions.

John

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Good points. And by the way: cropping in Photoshop can be done non-destructively too. Just uncheck the 'Delete Cropped Pixels' option in the crop tool.

 

[swteven]

I want my original PSD files to remain unchanged. So I am understanding that a LR edit applied to a PSD file would be non-destructive to the original PSD file. In other words, when I open the PSD file later in Photoshop (or another app that reads PSD files) the original PSD file not have no record of the LR edits ?

My primary goal is to make a few simple enhancements to my PSD files before they are output from Lightroom as JPEG files to appear on my website. These final edits may include resizing, sharpening, saturation, contrast and cropping.

Thanks for your helpful comments!

 

[Johan Elzenga]

I want my original PSD files to remain unchanged. So I am understanding that a LR edit applied to a PSD file would be non-destructive to the original PSD file. In other words, when I open the PSD file later in Photoshop (or another app that reads PSD files) the original PSD file not have no record of the LR edits ?

Correct.