Another LR5 question: Good morning all, I have been familiarizing myself with Lightroom 5 and doing some image editing with the many options available and so far have been able to...

peteto Loc: Las Vegas

Good morning all,
I have been familiarizing myself with Lightroom 5 and doing some image editing with the many options available and so far have been able to figure out how to improve those images that could use a little help. However, I have not been able to figure out how to save the changes I've made. I've tried exporting the image to various folders, I've tried saving the Metadata to the image, but still no success. Can anyone please tell me what I'm missing or not doing. Any help as always would be greatly appreciated. I'm certain it is something very simple and just plain missing it.
Thanks

Pete

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

peteto wrote:

Good morning all, br I have been familiarizing my... (show quote)

Lightroom is saving your changes for you. Your changes are not made directly to the image but are stored in the program as "extra instructions" about how you want it to look. If you want to export an image (for instance, a jpeg to post here or send to a print service) you fix it the way you want and EXPORT it with the settings you want. You can keep this new exported file forever, for a little while, or delete it right away, because your "real" file is still sitting right there in Lightroom. I usually delete my exported files because I can generate another at any time. I don't export till I'm ready to use it for something specific, no reason to.

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

peteto wrote:

Good morning all, br I have been familiarizing my... (show quote)

Pete,

One of LR's greatest abilities is to do "non-destructive" editing. This simply means that your original image file is never altered, so there's no reason to save it.

Instead, LR renders your image for you to see and allows you to make edits to it, but all those edit instructions are kept in a separate file (.XMP sidecar file) or stored in the DNG (digital negative) if you use that format.

When you subsequently call up the image, LR will render it with those instructions applied. The beauty of this is that you can always get back to the original image by clicking the reset button.

Hope this helps.

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

This thread interests me, too, a newbie to LR and a novice with Photoshop. If I may jump in to ask a related question, what happens to the image if it is opened in PS after some changes are made in LR? Must one export it to PS, thus making the changes permanent, or does PS work the same way?

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

Desert Gecko wrote:

This thread interests me, too, a newbie to LR and a novice with Photoshop. If I may jump in to ask a related question, what happens to the image if it is opened in PS after some changes are made in LR? Must one export it to PS, thus making the changes permanent, or does PS work the same way?

Check out the Post Processing section of the Hog and also the wonderful list of links and tutorials that Searcher and others have put together for all of the major software packages. There are also great Lightroom and Photoshop tutorials on youtube, at B&H, at Adorama and of course, Adobe just to name a few. Good luck.

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

Desert Gecko wrote:

This thread interests me, too, a newbie to LR and a novice with Photoshop. If I may jump in to ask a related question, what happens to the image if it is opened in PS after some changes are made in LR? Must one export it to PS, thus making the changes permanent, or does PS work the same way?

Check out the Post Processing section of the Hog and also the wonderful list of links and tutorials that Searcher and others have put together for all of the major software packages. There are also great Lightroom and Photoshop tutorials on youtube, at B&H, at Adorama and of course, Adobe just to name a few. Good luck.

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

Mr PC wrote:

Check out the Post Processing section of the Hog and also the wonderful list of links and tutorials that Searcher and others have put together for all of the major software packages. There are also great Lightroom and Photoshop tutorials on youtube, at B&H, at Adorama and of course, Adobe just to name a few. Good luck.

Thanks. I've watched a few tutorials on Youtube, but didn't think of visiting the PP section here.

sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

Desert Gecko wrote:

This thread interests me, too, a newbie to LR and a novice with Photoshop. If I may jump in to ask a related question, what happens to the image if it is opened in PS after some changes are made in LR? Must one export it to PS, thus making the changes permanent, or does PS work the same way?

Yes, in LR, right click the image and choose to Edit in, Photoshop. LR creates a copy of the image (with or without LR edits per your preferences) and opens it up in Photoshop. When you close the image in PS confirm to save and leave all settings/names/locations alone. You'll return to LR with the edited photo.

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

Thanks, slo. Funny, years ago I did all my own b&w processing and some color so I got pretty good at it, but now I have to learn the digital darkroom.

sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

Desert Gecko wrote:

Thanks, slo. Funny, years ago I did all my own b&w processing and some color so I got pretty good at it, but now I have to learn the digital darkroom.

I would say you've got a head start, it's all the same stuff, Frame it, get the overall exposure the way you want it, dodge & burn where necessary, maybe adjust the white balance & color, then make the print.

I think LR is made with that same process in mind.

birdpix Loc: South East Pennsylvania

sloscheider wrote:

Yes, in LR, right click the image and choose to Edit in, Photoshop. LR creates a copy of the image (with or without LR edits per your preferences) and opens it up in Photoshop. When you close the image in PS confirm to save and leave all settings/names/locations alone. You'll return to LR with the edited photo.

To spell this out a little further, you will return to LR with the edited file, in the format you chose to save it in (JPG, PSG, TIFF, DNG etc) and it will be displayed in LR right next to the original file. So, now you have two files, the original with your LR edits and a new file with the LR edits and PS edits "baked in".

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

Lightroom isn't a program you open and use, you need to find tutorials and study it. There have been many discussions here on Lightroom tutorials. Look up Hal Schmitt etc.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Desert Gecko wrote:

This thread interests me, too, a newbie to LR and a novice with Photoshop. If I may jump in to ask a related question, what happens to the image if it is opened in PS after some changes are made in LR? Must one export it to PS, thus making the changes permanent, or does PS work the same way?

Usually when the file is returned to LR from PS its is a TIFF or a PSD and the changes are permanent. Unless you import the file and convert to a smart object then you can take the file back into PS and make changes

Mark7829 Loc: Calfornia

minniev wrote:

Lightroom is saving your changes for you. Your cha... (show quote)

Nice description only your files do not sit in lightroom. LR is simply an interface. Your files reside in folders on your computer, cloud or external device. I think you know that but it is a common misperception.

However, let me plug PS and Bridge. There is no exporting or importing of files. No chance of losing the link. I only shoot raw, the file is either raw/raw processed or psd or you have created another file type such as jpeg. That is three files that you can move about at will.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Mark7829 wrote:

Nice description only your files do not sit in lig... (show quote)

You're right, that is a common misconception. The files are wherever you put them; however, the Lightroom editing "instructions" are not applied to those files but instead reside in the associated LR catalog files. The notion that the LR edits have somehow attached themselves to the original files is a second misconception. This does mean that one can't drag original image files willy nilly around the computer like they would before - they must be moved "within" the LR interface or LR won't know where they are anymore and will show you the dreaded "?" when you click on the image.

I respect everyone's right to choose what they prefer. We need to find file structures that fit the way we think and work. For me, though, putting all my raw files into a dated file structure and managing them and their resultant edits from within LR with key wording and collections is much preferable to the rather clunky way I had to do things in the years I spent with Bridge.