Can I recover Lightroom edit settings from an exported JPEG if I lost the catalog?
Asked 12/9/2015
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2 answers
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I edited a photo in Lightroom, but I no longer have the Lightroom catalog and only have the JPEG version. Is there any way to see or recover the edit steps or settings from the JPEG metadata? If not, what should I save in the future so Lightroom edits can be restored?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
3
It is impossible to extract the information how you edited a raw file from the metadata of an exported jpg file. There is no such information in jpg's metadata.
What you can do for future
activate the option "Automatically write changes into XMP" in Catalog Settings. This will create sidecar files with extension .xmp saved right next to the original RAW files. You can then import those files and settings will be automatically applied to the corresponding raw-files ("corresponding" means here "having the same name").
You can also save XMP-data at any time manually by selecting one or more photos in the Grid view of the Library module and choosing Metadata > Save Metadata To File(s).
If you happen to lose or to delete the original raw file you will still be able to get editing settings from the xmp file. Just open it in any text editor and you will see something like
<contrast>+1.1</contrast>
<brightness>-0.4</brightness>
and so on.
Originally by user44894. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user44894
10y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Usually no. An exported JPEG does not contain your full Lightroom edit history or step-by-step adjustments in its metadata, so you generally cannot recover those settings after losing the catalog.
Lightroom’s edits are normally stored in the catalog, and optionally in XMP metadata/sidecar files if you enable that feature. For future protection, turn on Lightroom’s option to automatically write changes to XMP, or manually use Metadata > Save Metadata to File. Then Lightroom can reapply those saved settings to the matching original raw file later.
If the original file was a JPEG edited inside Lightroom, other programs will only see the unedited original JPEG unless you exported a new JPEG from Lightroom. In that case, comparing files may show the visual result, but it still won’t reveal the actual edit steps.
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