Non-destructive Photoshop Workflow

Joe94

Joe94

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Joe
Edit My Images
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Evening all,

I currently use Lr Classic, as this is what I have been using since learning photography and post processing, however I have now started venturing into PS to look at some more advanced processing techniques & one thing in particular that has trumped me, is I created a signature for my images, but have found it much easier to apply it within Ps than Lr...

Now I know I can currently move an image from Lr to Ps & back ect, but I wanted to know what a good workflow would be to just use photoshop as the main program from start to finish, without Lr at all.

I shoot RAW and am also not bothered about not using Lr file system, as I can quite easily just use a normal files system on my iMac, but the only thing I am worried is the non destructive processing... This is one thing I do like about Lr is that everything in non destructive to the original, with all changes saved to one file & backed up when closed. So really I want to know what would be an example workflow that uses just Ps, but is still non destructive to the original raw files, and if so why are changes saved & how is backup of these changes completed?

Many thanks all :)
 
Light room and Ps are 2 intentionally different programs. LR is designed to develop, catalogue, manage, export etc images. It works by creating virtual masks so that, as you know, changes are non-destructive.

Ps is a pixel-level editor, designed to make fundamental changes at the pixel level, and this is not compatible with a non-destructive workflow.

Your workflow should be to use LR for image development, exporting to Ps when LR cannot make the changes you require. This is why LR creates another file when you export to Ps or another plugin program, so that irreversible changes made cannot affect the original image.

Use them for what they were designed to do to benefit fully.
 
Stegosaurus said:
I don't know why you want to save your RAW files in a PS file, but the easiest thing would just be to have your original image saved as a layer under the copy you are working on.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the tip regarding Layers, very much appreciated :)
 
ancient_mariner said:
Light room and Ps are 2 intentionally different programs. LR is designed to develop, catalogue, manage, export etc images. It works by creating virtual masks so that, as you know, changes are non-destructive.

Ps is a pixel-level editor, designed to make fundamental changes at the pixel level, and this is not compatible with a non-destructive workflow.

Your workflow should be to use LR for image development, exporting to Ps when LR cannot make the changes you require. This is why LR creates another file when you export to Ps or another plugin program, so that irreversible changes made cannot affect the original image.

Use them for what they were designed to do to benefit fully.
Click to expand...

Thank you Toni, that makes sense tbh. Start in Lr & then as you say for when I am going to start doing some more enhanced processes, then just jump over to Ps but then back.

I think my next step, is to just give it a try :)
 
troutfisher said:
Your first action after opening a file in PS is make a copy (ctrl+j) in windows do all your edits on the copy,you still have the orginal file unchanged until you flatten all the layers
Click to expand...

Thank you for the tip, making a copy first does sound like a good idea :)
 
Joe94 said:
Thank you Toni, that makes sense tbh. Start in Lr & then as you say for when I am going to start doing some more enhanced processes, then just jump over to Ps but then back.

I think my next step, is to just give it a try :)
Click to expand...

You're welcome. FWIW I find Lr is a great hub for managing editing in other applications: I use Nik Silver Efex for mono, On1 Photoraw for pixel-level editing (it does a lot of the photo-specific stuff that Ps does) and occasionally DXO Optics pro for alternative processing or noise reduction. Everything goes out and comes back into LR for image management.
 
I never could get on with Lightroom and its Catalog system, so use Bridge and Photoshop. Photoshop opens raw files in Adobe Camera Raw which is non-destructive. All changes are recorded to a sidecar file and not the original raw image. If you want to go back all the way to square one, just delete the .xmp file associated with the raw image file. Next time ACR opens the raw file, you can edit from scratch again
 
dja said:
I never could get on with Lightroom and its Catalog system, so use Bridge and Photoshop. Photoshop opens raw files in Adobe Camera Raw which is non-destructive. All changes are recorded to a sidecar file and not the original raw image. If you want to go back all the way to square one, just delete the .xmp file associated with the raw image file. Next time ACR opens the raw file, you can edit from scratch again
Click to expand...
Not to hijack, but how do you find bridge? AFAIK it's foc isn't it?
 
dja said:
I never could get on with Lightroom and its Catalog system, so use Bridge and Photoshop. Photoshop opens raw files in Adobe Camera Raw which is non-destructive. All changes are recorded to a sidecar file and not the original raw image. If you want to go back all the way to square one, just delete the .xmp file associated with the raw image file. Next time ACR opens the raw file, you can edit from scratch again
Click to expand...

Thank you for the tips, very much appreciated :)
 
ancient_mariner said:
Not to hijack, but how do you find bridge? AFAIK it's foc isn't it?
Click to expand...

Thabk you again for your help :)

As for Bridge I actually use this already quite a bit, aside from any workflow, but just as a browser of my media files. It’s especially useful for my Olympus RAW files as macOS dosnt yet support them, so you only see a generic file image in Finder menus, where as bridge shows you the actual file :)
 
Stegosaurus said:
My pleasure. Make sure you don't use the 'flatten layers' command, or you will lose your original. It is far, far better to just keep a copy of your original RAW image as a sacrosanct, seperate file.
Click to expand...
No editing program ever alters your Raw files so there is no need to make a copy. Photoshop (and every other pixel editor) will save your editing as a separate file, leaving the raw file alone.
 
john.margetts said:
No editing program ever alters your Raw files so there is no need to make a copy. Photoshop (and every other pixel editor) will save your editing as a separate file, leaving the raw file alone.
Click to expand...
Fair enough. I use GIMP which doesn't accept RAW files in the first place, so you are forced to keep a seperate file. And that's the way I like it TBH, as one file is a lot easier to lose than two!
 
Stegosaurus said:
My pleasure. Make sure you don't use the 'flatten layers' command, or you will lose your original. It is far, far better to just keep a copy of your original RAW image as a sacrosanct, seperate file.
Click to expand...

I have done just that for a short while. I have 2 external hard drives 1 x 1terrabite and 1 x 500gig I save all raw files on the 1tb hard drive using a name and date as the folder reference.
The other are all high quality Jpg with the same folder name as the 500gig HD, that way they can be cross referenced. I also keep a record in alphabetical order so they can be traced easily. I much prefer a straight forward way of storing images.
 
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I dislike Lightroom with a passion! I am still largely old school and firmly believe old school methods such as written alphabetical order. I also find constant reading of typed words on a a screen both boring and eye strain provoking. My way has served me quite well for most of my lifetime and don't see why I should change now. I do things for enjoyment not necessarily for efficiency. I only use technology when I see the need.
 
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darkroom12 said:
I have done just that for a short while. I have 2 external hard drives 1 x 1terrabite and 1 x 500gig I save all raw files on the 1tb hard drive using a name and date as the folder reference.
The other are all high quality Jpg with the same folder name as the 500gig HD, that way they can be cross referenced. I also keep a record in alphabetical order so they can be traced easily. I much prefer a straight forward way of storing images.
Click to expand...

Amen. So do I.
 
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