Switching back & forth between PS & Raw

[linda_o]

Hi,
My typical workflow:

Open .dng in Bridge to Camera Raw
Edit in Raw
Open Image in Photoshop CS4
Edit in PS

Question: Can I flip back to Raw, do more editing, then flip back to PS?

I read somewhere that you can click on the layer icon in PS to toggle back to raw, but this is not working for me.

Thanks for any help, advice!
linda_0

 

[clanthar]

When you're in ACR and you go to open the image in Photoshop hold down the shift key; the Open Image button will change to Open Object. This will give you a Smart Object in Photoshop and allow the process you're referring to.

Joe

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

Joe is right. To do that, you need to open the file as a 'smart object'.

 

[linda_o]

Thanks for the quick response. I see how I can do that if I do not edit the photo. However, I would like to work on editing - dodging, cloning, etc., and to do that, I have to rasterize the layer. Then I can't switch anymore.

 

[Big Mike]

Does it work if you do you dodging, cloning, etc, on separate layers?

 

[linda_o]

Yes - but . . .
This is getting complicated. Maybe I need to go to square one with a book on layers, and I don't know enough about how to work with them. If I create a duplicate layer, and work on that, I can make my edits. But I have to go back to the unedited layer to flip back to raw. I go ahead and edit it, then go back to PS, but now my old edits don't apply to this adjusted picture. I would have to duplicate it again, and start my edits all over. Right?
(if this needs too much more tutorial - maybe I just need to be pointed to a good book?)