Why does Lightroom create a TIFF when using “Edit in Photoshop” on a CR2 file?
Asked 4/23/2012
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When I right-click a Canon CR2 raw file in Lightroom 4 and choose “Edit in Photoshop,” Lightroom first creates a TIFF. Why does it do that, and can I change this behavior?
My usual workflow is to adjust the raw file in Lightroom, open it in Photoshop for additional edits, then save the result as a PSD. Can Lightroom send it as a PSD instead of a TIFF, and is there any advantage to TIFF here?
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Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
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Yes. Lightroom is rendering the raw file into a Photoshop-editable file before sending it over, because Photoshop can’t directly receive Lightroom’s non-destructive raw adjustments as a live CR2 edit. By default, Lightroom often creates a TIFF for this handoff.
You can change the format in Lightroom under Edit > Preferences > External Editing, where you can choose TIFF or PSD for files sent to Photoshop.
So the TIFF is not pointless—it’s the rendered version of your raw file with your Lightroom adjustments applied, ready for further pixel editing in Photoshop. If you prefer PSD, you can set that instead. Both TIFF and PSD are normal choices for this workflow.
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