I have imported my photos into lightroom 4.4, edited and saved the metadata but when I export the photos as a catalogue the changes that I have made have not been saved and I only have the original photos. Can someone help me sort this problem out. Why are the changes not showing on the exported files when in lightroom they appear to be done.
If you mean that the original photos have not been changed to show the changes, that's how Lightroom works. The changes are in the catalog file, not in the photos.
If you mean something else, please explain further.
The original files have been changed to reflect the changes but when I export them as a catalogue to the desktop and then when I open the folder to check the photos it seems to have reverted back to the original import with no changes. Thanks for your assistance I really appreciate your help but it is 2.00am here in Melbourne well past my bedtime if you reply I will respond tomorrow. Thanks and good night.
The original files have been changed to reflect the changes
Why do you say this? What did you do to confirm that the original files have been changed? This is not the normal way that Lightroom works, unless you specifically overwrite the original files (something that is extremely discouraged), Lightroom will not change your original files.
... but when I export them as a catalogue to the desktop and then when I open the folder to check the photos it seems to have reverted back to the original import with no changes.
Yes. This is the way Lightroom works. The edits are in the catalog file, not in the photo file itself. You are not seeing anything wrong or unexpected.
Maybe the original photos have not been changed, what I mean is that when I open up Lightroom it takes me directly to my last session. The photos are there in the Catalog section, and they reflect the changes that I have made but when I export them the changes are not there.
Yes, you see the changes in Lightroom. If you look at the exact same photos outside of Lightroom, you will not see the changes. This is why when you export as catalog and look at the photos outside of Lightroom, you will not see the changes. This is all perfectly normal and expected.
Yes that is by design when exporting as a catalog. Negative files (originals) are exported with the catalog settings. When you import the exported catalog from the USB drive into Lightroom 4.4, or later e.g. on another computer, the editing will be available.
Negative files (originals) are exported with the catalog settings.
I guess I don't understand what you mean. I would say the opposite, that the originals are exported unedited and unchanged, and not with the catalog settings.
Thanks but the person I am sending the photos to does not have lightroom, they only want to have the photos printed off. Does that mean that when they select the photo's to print at a printing station the changes will be there?
This might make more sense to you if you understood what a catalog is. The Lightroom catalog is a database. Think of it as a big brain that stores all of the information about your images, including what they look like after you edit them. Those edits are stored inside of the catalog, not inside of the images. If you want images that contain the edits you have to export them to new files. 99jon explains how to do that. The beauty of this workflow is that your original images remain untouched. I can't see any reason for you to be exporting catalogs after reading this thread.
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