2 Replies Latest reply: Nov 5, 2011 12:32 PM by phibbus RSS

    Extracting an .xmp sidecar from an ACR-edited RAW smart object layer...

    phibbus Community Member

      Hello all.  Given the following situation:

       

      Several thousand TIFF files, each containing two RAW files embedded into separate Smart Object layers.  The RAW files were named with sequential numbers prior to being composited into the TIFF files via a script, and the TIFF filenames correspond to those of the embedded RAW files.  The RAWs have subsequently been edited in ACR from within the TIFF files.

       

      I've done a little digging, but I can't seem to turn up answers to several related questions:

       

      A) Should I wish to re-extract the RAW files from the smart object layers with the edits that have been applied, is there a method of PerLayerMetdata that can be used to extract a complete .xmp sidecar that will be recognized by ACR and associated with the exported RAW?

       

      B) Should I wish to change the sequential-naming of the parent TIFF files, is there any method to correspondingly change the filenames of the embedded RAWs directly within the smart object layer?  In other words, using PerLayerMetdata, can the filenames of the RAWs be changed without exporting the RAWs using a different filename and then replacing the contents of the smart object layer?

       

      C) I would ultimately like to be able to save the embedded RAWs as DNGs with their ACR edits applied, if necessaray.  Given a way to accomplish A), above, it would be a fairly simple to export the RAWs and associated .xmp files and then run the DNG converter on the lot.  However, does anyone know of a way to save a DNG directly from the smart object layer?

       

      Any ideas or pointers to existing documentation are much appreciated.

        • 1. Re: Extracting an .xmp sidecar from an ACR-edited RAW smart object layer...
          Michael L Hale Community Member

          Photoshop itself does not use layer metadata. So unless you have a script that writes info to the layer's metadata the answer to a and b is no, you can't use perLayerMetadata.

           

          I don't see a direct way to get at the ACR settings of a camera raw file embedded in a smart object. If you edit the SO layer Photoshop saves a copy of the embedded raw file in the system temp folder then open ACR. It looks like the xmp sidecar is not written to the temp folder. The smart object layer descriptor only has three key, type( raster or vector ), name, and smart filter list.

           

          As for saving DNG directly from a smart object, again I think the answer is no. You might be able to come up with something where you edit the smart object and use a system command to convert the raw file in the temp folder. That assumes that Adobe's DNG converter accepts command line arguments. But over all I think you would be better off converting the original raw files and replacing the SO contents.

          • 2. Re: Extracting an .xmp sidecar from an ACR-edited RAW smart object layer...
            phibbus Community Member

            Thank you kindly, Michael.  I see now that the example I was viewing had done exactly what you describe, writing ACR settings into the SO layer's metadata at the time of embedding.  I was only looking at the portion which later accessed those settings using PerLayerMetadata, and I had mistakenly assumed that CS5 was automatically embedding xmp data in this manner, now, when opening or placing a RAW file as a SO.

             

            I don't see a direct way to get at the ACR settings of a camera raw file embedded in a smart object.

             

            This is sort of what I was afraid of.  They're in there, somewhere, but I'm having no luck figuring out how to access them.

             

            If the ACR settings for a RAW smart object are, indeed, not exposed to automation in some manner, I think I must change my workflow such that either: A) No edits are performed in ACR after object embedding; or B) the RAWs are converted to DNGs prior to smart-object embedding so that the ACR settings can be exposed in the exported file.