Can I round-trip a RAW file from Lightroom to Photoshop/Nik and keep it as RAW?
Asked 3/4/2013
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If I start with a RAW file in Lightroom, send it to Photoshop, apply Nik plugin effects, and then return to Lightroom, can the file remain a RAW file throughout the process? Or does using Photoshop/Nik require creating another file format such as TIFF?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
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No, you cannot.
The Nik Lightroom plugins will require you export your files to TIFF. Really anything you leave Lightroom to do in Photoshop will require moving out of RAW and into a TIFF.
You will then end up with two files: a raw file with all the non-destructive edits done before you used the Nik plugin, and a TIFF containing the the cumulative edits done in raw, and then by the plugin. But you can't go back into LR and see any of the plugin alterations in the raw file, you'd have to work with the TIFF from then on.
The Nikon Capture NX2 software (also written by Nik) had better integration with Nik plugins - I remember certain things could be done with raw, but even there I think most filters required generating a TIFF file.
Originally by user4191. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4191
13y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
No. In a Lightroom → Photoshop/Nik workflow, the RAW file does not stay RAW once you leave Lightroom for plugin-based editing.
Lightroom’s RAW edits are non-destructive metadata adjustments to the original file. But when you send the image to Photoshop or use Nik effects that need pixel editing, Lightroom must render the image into another format, typically TIFF (sometimes PSD, depending on settings).
That means you usually end up with:
- the original RAW file, with any Lightroom edits up to that point
- a new TIFF/PSD file containing the rendered image plus the Photoshop/Nik changes
When the edited file returns to Lightroom, the Nik/plugin changes are in that TIFF/PSD, not in the original RAW. You can continue working with the new rendered file in Lightroom, but you cannot have those Photoshop/Nik edits embedded back into the RAW itself.
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