Should I edit a RAW photo in Lightroom before Photoshop?
Asked 2/28/2012
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I use Lightroom and also have Photoshop installed. When I plan to do some edits in Photoshop, should I make my RAW adjustments in Lightroom first and then finish in Photoshop, or edit in Photoshop first and return to Lightroom afterward?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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You would normally do the raw development work first in Lightroom or Camera Raw and then do the remainder of the work in Photoshop. Lightroom and ACR represent kind of the darkroom initial development stage of the image (white balance, exposure correction, etc) and Photoshop represents the cleanup or manipulation stage (depending on your needs) after the development. Your edits in Photoshop will probably result in either TIFF, PSD, or JPG files and not edits to the original raw file or sidecar file as Lightroom would do.
Originally by user472. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user472
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
In most workflows, do your RAW development first in Lightroom (or Adobe Camera Raw), then send the image to Photoshop for the remaining edits.
Lightroom/ACR is best for the initial “development” stage: white balance, exposure, contrast, and other RAW-based corrections. Photoshop is typically used afterward for cleanup, retouching, compositing, or more complex pixel-level edits.
A key difference is that Lightroom edits are usually non-destructive adjustments to the RAW file or its sidecar data, while Photoshop edits typically create a new rendered file such as a TIFF, PSD, or JPG rather than changing the original RAW file.
So the usual order is:
- Make your core RAW adjustments in Lightroom.
- Open the image in Photoshop for detailed edits.
- Save and return the edited file to Lightroom for cataloging or any final output tweaks.
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