[George Stark]

Adobe Lightroom & Adobe Camera Raw

on: March 31, 2022 at 7:06 pm

LIGHTROOM CLASSIC PRINTING WORKFLOW ADVISE NEEDED…..

LIKE MANY PHOTOGRAPHERS I PROCESS MY RAW FILES IN LIGHTROOM DEVELOP MODUAL  BUT I STILL FIND MYSELF MOVING TO PHOTOSHOP FOR FINAL TOUCHES… USING LAYERS FOR .COLOR ADJUSTMENTS , BURNING AND DODGING. LOCAL ADJUSTMENTS , CLONING ETC…

WHEN COMPLETE IN PHOTOSHOP I CONSIDER THIS THE “MASTER FILE” AND I MOVE BACK TO LIGHTROOM FOR PRINTING..

THIS IS  THE AREA WHERE I NEED ADVICE…

I OPEN THE MASTER FILE IN THE DEVELOP MODUAL AND INITIATE SOFTPROOFING….

I MAKE A VIRTUAL SOFTPROOF COPY OF THE MASTER FILE AND TRY TO MAKE MY SOFTPROOFING ADJUSTMENTS FOR THE PAPER I’M USING… WHILE COMPARING THE SOFTPROOF AGAINST THE MASTER FILE.

THEN I PRINT…

NOW IF THE PRINT WERE PERFECT AT THIS POINT … NO PROBLEM… BUT GENERALLY I FIND SOMETHING TO FIX…. BE IT COLOR… OR CLONING SOMETHING I MISSED .. BURNING AND DODGING….. ETC..

I ALWAYS FEEL I SHOULD MAKE THE ADJUSTMENT TO THE MASTER FILE SO I MOVE BACK TO PHOTOSHOP WHERE I HAVE ACCESS TO THE ORIGINAL LAYERS ETC…..MAKE MY CHANGES AND THEN BACK TO LIGHTROOM FOR PRINTING…

SOMETIMES IT LOOKS LIKE THE 1ST VIRTUAL SOFTPROOF AUTOMATICALLY UPDATES BUT I SWEAR SOMETIMES IT DOES NOT…… ARE THE VIRTUAL COPIES OF THE MASTER SUPPOSE TO AUTO UPDATE TO CHANGES MADE IN PHOTOSHOP?

IT GETS SOME WHAT CONFUSING HERE AS WELL BECAUSE A LOT OF LIGHTROOM WARNINGS ABOUT FILE CHANGED IN OUTSIDE APPLICATION SHOULD YOU OVERWRITE..ETC START TO APPEAR. I ASSUME THE FILE SHOULD BE OVERWRITTEN?

SHOULD I JUST FORGET AND DELETE THE ORIGINAL SOFTPROOF COPY AND START AGAIN?

 IF I TRY A FEW DIFFERENT PAPERS I END UP WITH A FEW DIFFERENT VIRTUAL SOFTPROOF COPIES  AND THINGS START TO LOOK MESSY…

 HOW DO OTHERS KEEP TRACK OF MASTER AND ASSOCIATED SOFTPROOF COPIES AND KEEP THINGS NEET?

BOTTOM LINE……

I’M CURIOUS HOW THE EXPERT PRINTERS IN THIS FORUM WHO USE LIGHTROOM CLASSIC AND PHOTOSHOP MANAGE THIER WORKFLOW WHEN PRINTING FROM LIGHTROOM…

THANKS AND CHEERS

GEORGE

 

• This topic was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by George Stark.

[George Stark Participant Posts: 72]

Re: HELP WITH LIGHTROOM CLASSIC PRINTING WORKFLOW

Reply #1 on: March 31, 2022 at 7:20 pm

LIGHTROOM CLASSIC PRINTING WORKFLOW ADVISE NEEDED…..

 

LIKE MANY PHOTOGRAPHERS I PROCESS MY RAW FILES IN LIGHTROOM DEVELOP MODUAL  BUT I STILL FIND MYSELF MOVING TO PHOTOSHOP FOR FINAL TOUCHES… USING LAYERS FOR .COLOR ADJUSTMENTS , BURNING AND DODGING. LOCAL ADJUSTMENTS , CLONING ETC…

WHEN COMPLETE IN PHOTOSHOP I CONSIDER THIS THE “MASTER FILE” AND I MOVE BACK TO LIGHTROOM FOR PRINTING..

THIS IS  THE AREA WHERE I NEED ADVICE…

 

I OPEN THE MASTER FILE IN THE DEVELOP MODUAL AND INITIATE SOFTPROOFING….

I MAKE A VIRTUAL SOFTPROOF COPY OF THE MASTER FILE AND TRY TO MAKE MY SOFTPROOFING ADJUSTMENTS FOR THE PAPER I’M USING… WHILE COMPARING THE SOFTPROOF AGAINST THE MASTER FILE.

THEN I PRINT…

 

NOW IF THE PRINT WERE PERFECT AT THIS POINT … NO PROBLEM… BUT GENERALLY I FIND SOMETHING TO FIX…. BE IT COLOR… OR CLONING SOMETHING I MISSED .. BURNING AND DODGING….. ETC..

I ALWAYS FEEL I SHOULD MAKE THE ADJUSTMENT TO THE MASTER FILE SO I MOVE BACK TO PHOTOSHOP WHERE I HAVE ACCESS TO THE ORIGINAL LAYERS ETC…..MAKE MY CHANGES AND THEN BACK TO LIGHTROOM FOR PRINTING…

SOMETIMES IT LOOKS LIKE THE 1ST VIRTUAL SOFTPROOF AUTOMATICALLY UPDATES BUT I SWEAR SOMETIMES IT DOES NOT…… ARE THE VIRTUAL COPIES OF THE MASTER SUPPOSE TO AUTO UPDATE TO CHANGES MADE IN PHOTOSHOP?

 

IT GETS SOME WHAT CONFUSING HERE AS WELL BECAUSE A LOT OF LIGHTROOM WARNINGS ABOUT FILE CHANGED IN OUTSIDE APPLICATION SHOULD YOU OVERWRITE..ETC START TO APPEAR. I ASSUME THE FILE SHOULD BE OVERWRITTEN?

 

SHOULD I JUST FORGET AND DELETE THE ORIGINAL SOFTPROOF COPY AND START AGAIN?

 

 IF I TRY A FEW DIFFERENT PAPERS I END UP WITH A FEW DIFFERENT VIRTUAL SOFTPROOF COPIES  AND THINGS START TO LOOK MESSY…

 HOW DO OTHERS KEEP TRACK OF MASTER AND ASSOCIATED SOFTPROOF COPIES AND KEEP THINGS NEET?

 

BOTTOM LINE……

I’M CURIOUS HOW THE EXPERT PRINTERS IN THIS FORUM WHO USE LIGHTROOM CLASSIC AND PHOTOSHOP MANAGE THIER WORKFLOW WHEN PRINTING FROM LIGHTROOM…

THANKS AND CHEERS

GEORGE

[Mark D Segal Silver Member Posts: 951]

Re: HELP WITH LIGHTROOM CLASSIC PRINTING WORKFLOW

Reply #2 on: March 31, 2022 at 8:31 pm

To keep things simple start in Lightroom and do as much of your editing as possible with softproofing on for the paper to be used for printing the photo. Then if you think it needs more work in Photoshop, select Edit In>Photoshop, whereupon the photo transits to Photoshop and you do what ever you want with it there. Then save it. Saving it will open a TIFF (if that’s your default for this process) version back in Lightroom with the Photoshop edits preserved.

If you then do more work on it in Lightroom, Photoshop will not know about that. So if you need to go back to Photoshop again, repeat the “Edit In Photoshop” command, selecting to edit a copy preserving Lightroom changes. It will open as a new copy in Photoshop with the latest LR changes. When you save whatever you do with that in Photoshop, it will open in Lightroom as an “Edit-Edit” copy with those latest Photoshop edits. Then you print this file in the usual way.

If you’ve worked on the photo in both LR and Photoshop and save the Photoshop version, close itthen go back to Photoshop to do more work on that same file and save it, Lightroom will pick-up these edits because it reads the XMP which has those changes saved.

The most manageable way to avoid a multiplicity of edit copies going around this circle is not to do it more than once: i.e. Lightroom edits, Open in Photoshop, edit there, save, then use the Photoshop version in LR to make final finishing touches and print.

Work under softproof in both applications. This way wherever you do your editing, you are always working the adjustments with an eye to the print. If at some later time you need to print the photo on a different paper, you can re-softproof it in Lightroom for the changed conditions. In Lightroom you never lose anything – you can always revert to previous states because the history track remains available indefinitely, or you can make virtual copies in Lightroom, one for each printing condition that has its own soft-proofed adjustments.

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