Can I continue Lightroom edits after editing the photo in Photoshop?
Asked 9/21/2019
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I edited a photo in Lightroom, then made additional changes in Photoshop. Now I want to keep adjusting it in Lightroom. Can the Photoshop-edited version be merged into the original photo’s Lightroom develop history, or do I need to work on it as a separate file? If there’s a recommended workflow for moving between Lightroom and Photoshop without losing flexibility, what is it?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
6y ago
2 Answers
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The closest approach I know of to do what you are asking is to edit the photo in LR then open it as a smart object in PS. Once in PS you can add layers and masks to alter the photo, but you can't change the original. But if you decide that there is something else you want to do in LR, you can go back and do more edits in LR and not lose the layer mods that you did in PS.
But in general, once you use PS to alter the underlying pixels in the file that came out of LR, there is no way to go back to the original LR edit and keep those altered pixels from PS intact. You would have to open the new file that came out of PS.
A lot depends on the type of edits that you are doing in each tool. If you can provide a more detailed workflow, there may be a specific solution to your specific need.
Originally by user44962. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user44962
6y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
No—Lightroom can’t merge a Photoshop-edited file back into the original photo’s Develop history. Once Photoshop changes the underlying pixels, that result becomes a new file/version.
The usual workflow is to send the image from Lightroom to Photoshop using Edit in Photoshop. After you save and close Photoshop, Lightroom will show the edited version (often as a PSD) alongside the original, and you can keep editing that new file in Lightroom.
If you want more flexibility, one answer suggests opening the Lightroom image in Photoshop as a smart object. That can let you return to Lightroom-style/raw adjustments without losing Photoshop layer work, depending on how you structured the edit. But in general, Photoshop pixel edits are not added into Lightroom’s non-destructive history for the original file.
So the practical answer is: treat the Photoshop result as a separate edited version, then continue Lightroom adjustments on that version.
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