How can I review RAW+JPEG pairs in Lightroom and see the JPEG version?

Question

I shoot RAW+JPEG and import both into Lightroom. By default, Lightroom treats the JPEG next to the RAW as part of the RAW file, which makes culling easier, but I also want to be able to view the out-of-camera JPEG itself rather than only Lightroom’s rendering of the RAW.

Is there a way in Lightroom to switch between the RAW and its accompanying JPEG while keeping them linked for review, rating, or deletion? If not, what is the practical Lightroom workflow for managing RAW+JPEG pairs?

user13905 · Accepted Answer

Ok, after some research my conclusion is:

you can't see side-car files in Lightroom

and also that

Lightroom does not really support a RAW+JPEG workflow

By RAW+JPEG workflow I meant being able to:

(at the user's discretion) Review both files together, while being able to tag both files at once (say, mark both files as Rejected with a single command).
(at the user's discretion) review either file on its own and tag only one of them.

After browsing a lot of pages with non-sensical advice, my conclusion is that most people talking about using Lightroom for RAW+JPEG management never really tried to practice any of their advice.

For instance Laura Shoe on RAW+JPEG, her (mis)advice is to either manage both files separately or use auto-stacking. The trouble with Lightroom's auto-stacking is it does not allow you to tag all files in the stack with a single command. So you can't just go through a stack of 1 RAW + 1 JPEG and just hit X to mark both as excluded.

There is a user feedback thread at Photoshop.com asking for this feature.

In the mean time, people that need/want this are using Breezebrowser or Photomechanic to do this. Here is a user review of using Photomechanic for RAW+JPEG.

How can I review RAW+JPEG pairs in Lightroom and see the JPEG version?

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