How should I save a Photoshop focus stack so Lightroom can read it?
Asked 9/13/2012
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I shoot multiple focus-bracketed product photos, then combine them in Photoshop CS6 using Auto-Align and Auto-Blend for focus stacking. After that, I want to continue organizing and working with the result in Lightroom 4.
Photoshop does not offer Save As DNG, and saving as .raw creates a Photoshop Raw file that Lightroom cannot open. What file format and workflow should I use to move a finished Photoshop focus stack into Lightroom smoothly?
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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The Photoshop Raw format is not a camera raw format like .NEF or .CR2. It is a special byte stream format containing only RGB pixel data. It cannot contain layer information, metadata, etc. It should not be used in place of .DNG (an actual camera RAW format based on TIFF), nor should .RAW files be used to load images into Lightroom.
For more information, see Adobe's documentation on Photoshop Raw.
Originally by user124. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user124
13y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Use PSD or TIFF, not Photoshop Raw (.raw).
Photoshop’s .raw format is not a camera RAW file like NEF, CR2, or DNG. It’s just a low-level pixel data format and is not intended for Lightroom workflow. It also does not replace DNG.
For a smooth workflow, save the focus-stacked result from Photoshop as either:
- PSD
- TIFF
Lightroom can read both formats. PSD is often the most convenient if you may reopen the file in Photoshop later.
A common workflow is:
- Import the original captures into Lightroom.
- Do any basic adjustments there if needed.
- Send the selected images to Photoshop using “Edit in Photoshop.”
- In Photoshop, auto-align and auto-blend the images.
- Save the result as PSD or TIFF.
- Lightroom will then see/import that saved file alongside the originals.
So the key answer is: don’t try to save the stacked result as DNG or Photoshop .raw; save it as PSD or TIFF for Lightroom compatibility.
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