Lightroom first or Photoshop first?

[TheStupidForeigner]

I like to edit colours, contrast and these kind of things in Lightroom, but if I need to remove an unwanted object, or something like that I always go over to Photoshop... The problem is I am worried to remove objects first as I will lose data from not having a RAW in Lightroom (as far as I know photoshop can't save raws). But on the other hand, if I do my editing in Lightroom first I'm not able to have multiple versions with the Photoshop edits included, so for each version (ie. a soft dreamy edit, a hard edgy edit, and maybe a b&w or two) I would need to make the Photoshop edit over again.

This really frustrates me and I don't know what to do. Is there any way around these problems?

 

[tirediron]

There is indeed; for $10/month you can subscribe to Adobe's Creative Cloud photographer's "bundle" which gives you both LR and PS, and all the updates (as long as you maintain your subscription). It really is the best deal going.

 

[TheStupidForeigner]

No no no, sorry I maybe didnt make it clear. I have both of them, but I never know which to use on my images first. If I use photoshop first I lose the raw data, if I use lightroom first I have to do the photoshop edit to every version of the image I make. Does that make any sense?

 

[Buckster]

You don't lose the RAW data unless you physically delete the RAW file.

LR just shows you what the output image will look like after you apply any effects if you decide to output an image of it in JPG, PNG, TIF, PSD, or whatever. It doesn't change the RAW file at all. If you look at the history of changes to an image in LR, you'll see that you can go right back to the base state of it when it was imported.

PS is pretty much the same. You can't even open a RAW file directly in PS, so it's not an issue.

As for whether you should remove objects (or other pixel-level edits) with Photoshop first and then apply filter style changes in LR, that would be the easiest way to deal with it.

 

[The_Traveler]

Do your global edits in LR then make virtual copies and export them to PS.
When they are saved you will have different PSDs based on the same set of LR additions to the raw file.

 

[Vtec44]

I mass edit in LR, then export and do more extensive edit in PS.

 

[Buckster]

From the OP's description, I imagined wanting to make 5 different filter-style LR images, and in each one, there's a bicycle to be removed from the scene, which requires quite a bit of time and effort in PS pixel-level editing to do.

The choices are:
1. LR first, make the five filter styles, export all 5 to PS and remove the bike from each one, one by one.
2. PS first, remove the bike, then open that image in LR and make the 5 filter styles.

In either case, you must make the 5 LR styles.
In scenario 1, you also have to remove the bike 5 times.
In scenario 2, you only have to remove the bike once.

 

[TheStupidForeigner]

From the OP's description, I imagined wanting to make 5 different filter-style LR images, and in each one, there's a bicycle to be removed from the scene, which requires quite a bit of time and effort in PS pixel-level editing to do.

The choices are:
1. LR first, make the five filter styles, export all 5 to PS and remove the bike from each one, one by one.
2. PS first, remove the bike, then open that image in LR and make the 5 filter styles.

In either case, you must make the 5 LR styles.
In scenario 1, you also have to remove the bike 5 times.
In scenario 2, you only have to remove the bike once.

Yup, this is exactly my problem. But if I go with scenario 2 I will lose the raw data as the file will not be raw after photoshop editing it right? I am starting to think there is no way around this problem

 

[Buckster]

From the OP's description, I imagined wanting to make 5 different filter-style LR images, and in each one, there's a bicycle to be removed from the scene, which requires quite a bit of time and effort in PS pixel-level editing to do.

The choices are:
1. LR first, make the five filter styles, export all 5 to PS and remove the bike from each one, one by one.
2. PS first, remove the bike, then open that image in LR and make the 5 filter styles.

In either case, you must make the 5 LR styles.
In scenario 1, you also have to remove the bike 5 times.
In scenario 2, you only have to remove the bike once.

Yup, this is exactly my problem. But if I go with scenario 2 I will lose the raw data as the file will not be raw after photoshop editing it right? I am starting to think there is no way around this problem

You don't really "lose" the RAW data, as that's still in the original RAW file and always will be, assuming you don't delete that file.

You DO lose the "RAW" data from the PSD you create when you remove the bicycle. However, you have to assess whether you can still apply and use the LR styles you want to use, and if they will still work with the PSD file. Chances are, they will work just fine unless your LR style edits are SO extreme that they can only work if you have the depth of the RAW file to work them.

You don't necessarily need a full RAW file to make some pretty whopping big style changes to an image in LR or PS, especially to a full-size PSD image saved at 16 or 32 bit, and even better, if it's not blown out or blocked up.

 

[TheStupidForeigner]

Yeah I think my plan is to make all my exposure changes in lightroom, then edit in photoshop, then back to lightroom to make the versions I want. Might not work in every case but I think that is the best balance other than photoshopping every version one by one.

Thanks for all the opinions.

 

[The_Traveler]

One cannot un-break eggs.

 

[Dave442]

I do LR first then to PS and end in LR. I may take the virtual copies of the same picture to PS a couple times, but this is rare for me and even then I often do different things to the image in PS.

If you have to do the exact same thing to each copy in PS then make an Action.

 

[table1349]

Used to do the LR thing but have switched to Capture One Pro from Phase one. I can do a large portion of my post processing in Capture One without having to open Photoshop.