Where does Lightroom store edits for TIFF files if there’s no XMP sidecar?

Asked 9/5/2015

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My workflow is:

  1. Import CR2 files into Lightroom
  2. Make basic edits, with Lightroom writing metadata to XMP sidecars
  3. Send JPEGs to the client for selection
  4. Flag selected images in Lightroom
  5. Open selected files in Photoshop and save as TIFF
  6. Reopen the TIFFs in Lightroom for final adjustments like exposure and spot removal

For those TIFF files, Lightroom edits don’t seem to create a separate XMP sidecar. Where are those later edits stored?

I’d also welcome any comments on whether this workflow makes sense or could be improved.

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

10y ago

2 Answers

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At your step 5., when you export a RAW file from LR to PS (or when you open a RAW file with PS, make some editing and then save it in TIFF format and import it back to LR), a TIFF get created. However, this TIFF has no sidecar file attached, so you won't find any.

So back in LR with a TIFF file, you expect the changes you made to be saved in a XMP file... but no, LR nor PS won't do it : XMP files are only used when associated to proprietary RAW files.

When using DNG or TIFF file, the change are stored in the file itself (and very probably in the LR/PS Catalog but I haven't checked).

From the same link you provided (for LR 4), you can read ([...] are my editions):

In the case of camera raw files that have a proprietary file format, XMP isn’t written into the original files. To avoid file corruption, XMP metadata is stored in a separate file called a sidecar file. For all other file formats supported by Lightroom (JPEG, TIFF, PSD, and DNG), XMP metadata is written into the files [not the XMP sidecar file] in the location specified [=the file itself and/or the catalog] for that data

You can check it by opening your TIFF file with a text editor. Probably 5 lines after some unreadable binary data, you will find a readable part => that's the XMP part. It starts by <x:xmpmeta [...] > and finishes by </x:xmpmeta>. As you can see, it's completely readable and the exact copy of what you would find in a sidecar file, if it existed.

A more "modern" source, "Photoshop CC for Photographers" indicates the same thing in the "Camera Raw preferences" part : no XMP sidecar for TIFF file.

Remember that one of the goal of XMP files is to provide a mean to export editing information from one computer to an other. For undocumented / rapidly changing / proprietary format, it makes sense. However, TIFF and DNG format are public, stable and well documented formats, so stocking XMP information in the file itself is perfectly fine.

Originally by user26456. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user26456

10y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

For TIFF files, Lightroom usually does not create a separate .xmp sidecar. Sidecars are mainly used for proprietary raw formats like CR2.

With TIFF (and also DNG, JPEG, PSD), the metadata and Lightroom edit instructions are typically stored either:

  • inside the file itself, and/or
  • in the Lightroom catalog.

So if you edit a TIFF in Lightroom and don’t see an .xmp file next to it, that is expected behavior.

In short:

  • Proprietary raw file: edits can be written to a separate XMP sidecar
  • TIFF/DNG/JPEG/PSD: edits are generally written into the file metadata itself rather than a sidecar

Your workflow is reasonable: do broad raw adjustments first, move to Photoshop for masking/isolation work, then return to Lightroom for final global tweaks and simple cleanup. The main thing to remember is that once you’re working with the TIFF, Lightroom metadata handling is different from your original raw files.

UniqueBot

AI

10y ago

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