How does Edit in... Work?

After you EditIn PS, you Save (not saveas) the file and it is saved in LR with "edit" appended to file name right alongside the original raw file.

So you would know it was edited outside of LR. If you wanted to add some metadata, you could either add a keyword to search on or make a Virtual Copy and name it with whatever code you wanted. Actually, if you only use a few external editors, you could tag it with a color label, one for each editor. As an example, I always label any file I printed with blue - very easy to find printed files.

Maybe some of the more experienced guys will have a more elegant solution, but this can get you started...

Cheers,

Tom

I agree with SausalitoDog, if you want metadata to indicate that the photo was edited in a specific application, you would have to assign the metadata yourself. If you want to determine if the photo has been edited outside of LR, you could simply search for all photos with the same base name (for example, DSC_0001) and since LR adds "-edit" to the file name when you use Edit In..., then such a search would find DSC_0001 and DSC_0001-edit

This probably isn't going to solve the problem for you. But when I use the Nik plug-ins I like to do it from Photoshop rather than Lightroom. I don't like to clutter Lightroom with a lot of virtual copies. Using Nik in Photoshop stores each Nik adjustment on its own layer. Then I can save that image including the layers so that I can look at the workflow if necessary.

Most of the stuff you would do in PS with actions, you do in LR with Presets, but I don't know of any way to manage metadata with presets.

I think if you can narrow your category of situations to 3 or 4, you would find that a color label (which is searchable and can be assigned with a single keystroke) will fix you up with a solution that is even simpler than a keystroke for an action...worth trying.

Jim-

Do you mean that you actually locate the file on your system and OPEN it in PS rather than LR?

If so, doesn't that render the image unsearchable in the catalog?

I rarely go from LR straight to a plugin but go Edit In PS and then use filters and plugins to my hearts content... To your point, I really don't know if it saves the layers when I save it back to LR. I really don't care so much about that in all but the rarest cases (where I would want to go back and insert changes in a single layer) as I do care about having everything in the catalog data base.

How to you handle these two conflicting mandates? (maybe I need a tweak in MY workflow)...

Thanks,

Tom

It does....

Picturequest wrote:

 

I prefer Tiffs to PS files. I'm pretty sure the roundtrip as a TIFF keeps all layer intact.

I think you misunderstood my workflow. I always start in Lightroom, choosing to "edit in" Photoshop. After the image opens in Photoshop I start working with the Nik plug-ins, saving each adjustment from Nik to its own layer. When that image is saved and returned to Lightroom, if I haven't flattened the image removing all layers, those layers are retained the next time I open that image in Photoshop. I don't always retain the layers, but when I do they are always there and available.

Jim-

That's what I more or less assumed but wanted to state it like that for the benefit of Picturequest.

That's just how I use the plugins as well and love working that way.

Cheers,

Tom