Removing Distractions - Part 2 - Making a Copy: First of all, thank you to everyone for their suggestions on how to proceed with editing my tiger picture. The question that yesterday's...

KerryF

First of all, thank you to everyone for their suggestions on how to proceed with editing my tiger picture. The question that yesterday's discussion raised is why do I need to make a copy before working on the picture? I realize that PS is a destructive program and that makes sense, but I have Lightroom and it is nondestructive so there shouldn't be any need to work on a copy, unless you are being ultra conservative.

sandiegosteve Loc: San Diego, CA

No you don't. At any time in LR, you can create a virtual copy and reset everything back to the original. You can also look at the image history and make a virtual copy from there, or you can create snapshots that allow you to jump to the image and settings at points where you saved them.

In PS, I like to create a background copy of the original that I turn off. That gives me a way to go back.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

As long as you stay in Lightroom 6, it is non destructive. FWIW, I tried the Lightroom Spot Removal Tool in both Heal and Clone. I couldn't keep from making a mess out of it. There might be a way, but I didn't find it.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

KerryF wrote:

First of all, thank you to everyone for their suggestions on how to proceed with editing my tiger picture. The question that yesterday's discussion raised is why do I need to make a copy before working on the picture? I realize that PS is a destructive program and that makes sense, but I have Lightroom and it is nondestructive so there shouldn't be any need to work on a copy, unless you are being ultra conservative.

PS is not destructive and I would go farther and say that no editing program is destructive. Just apply a little common sense and work from a copy of your original, or, like in PS and Elements, save your edited version as a PSD or rename it when you save it to differentiate it from the original. I load all my originals to a folder on an external drive and then copy that folder to my HD to work on in PS Elements. When I finish editing I save as PSD files so I can go back and do more edits if needed. I can then convert the PSD files to JPEG's or any other format I need and place them into a new folder for use by other programs or emailing.

Linary Loc: UK

KerryF wrote:

First of all, thank you to everyone for their suggestions on how to proceed with editing my tiger picture. The question that yesterday's discussion raised is why do I need to make a copy before working on the picture? I realize that PS is a destructive program and that makes sense, but I have Lightroom and it is nondestructive so there shouldn't be any need to work on a copy, unless you are being ultra conservative.

I have removed the offending twig in your photo using Photoshop. If you would like me to post it, please say.

I did have a go in Lightroom, if anyone says they can do it in Lightroom, ask him to prove it. (It probably can be done in LR, but will take an expert to achieve a decent result.)

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

gvarner wrote:

PS is not destructive and I would go farther and s... (show quote)

The very fact that you make a copy to work on in Photoshop means it IS destructive. You can use it in a non-destructive way by doing everything on layers. If you do work on a copy without using layers, you will have to start all over with another copy if you mess up. But with layers, you can go back and change just the work you did on one layer.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Linary wrote:

I have removed the offending twig in your photo using Photoshop. If you would like me to post it, please say.

I did have a go in Lightroom, if anyone says they can do it in Lightroom, ask him to prove it. (It probably can be done in LR, but will take an expert to achieve a decent result.)

A lot of people are experts. Just ask them.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

KerryF wrote:

First of all, thank you to everyone for their suggestions on how to proceed with editing my tiger picture. The question that yesterday's discussion raised is why do I need to make a copy before working on the picture? I realize that PS is a destructive program and that makes sense, but I have Lightroom and it is nondestructive so there shouldn't be any need to work on a copy, unless you are being ultra conservative.

As long as you have your original image protected on your camera's memory card, your fine.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

KerryF wrote:

First of all, thank you to everyone for their suggestions on how to proceed with editing my tiger picture. The question that yesterday's discussion raised is why do I need to make a copy before working on the picture? I realize that PS is a destructive program and that makes sense, but I have Lightroom and it is nondestructive so there shouldn't be any need to work on a copy, unless you are being ultra conservative.

You are correct, no need to make a copy in LR. You can makes virtual copies not for any protection, if for nothing else, to process the photo in any number of ways(B&W, Topaz, etc etc). That said LR Spot removal is not powerful enough for sophisticated removal.

sseeley52

Convert to Smart Object in PS which will allow you to edit your file and change edited values later if you so desire...will not destroy the original file.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Mrs Murphy's Law is why to make a copy before working on a photo, preferably stored off the computer, in my case on an external drive, if something can go wrong it will. IMHO YMMV

Nikonnorm Loc: East Gwillimbury Ont.

Hope you don't mind

rond-photography Loc: Connecticut

KerryF wrote:

First of all, thank you to everyone for their suggestions on how to proceed with editing my tiger picture. The question that yesterday's discussion raised is why do I need to make a copy before working on the picture? I realize that PS is a destructive program and that makes sense, but I have Lightroom and it is nondestructive so there shouldn't be any need to work on a copy, unless you are being ultra conservative.

The point of making a copy (with LR adjustments) is that LR does not do anything to the file you are working on. It displays the photo as if you have made certain adjustments (brushes, exposure, contrast, etc) but there is nowhere on the disk that an actual file with those changes exists (until you export it to a jpeg or whatever when you are satisfied with the look).

If you don't make a copy, then what you modify in PS is the original file, and it will not have all of those nice adjustments you just made.

Yes, you can then "save as" in PS and your original will be unchanged, but you will then need to make adjustments on the file you just created by cloning out some distraction.

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

Thanks to all of you for helping those of us on the sidelines who are just gathering the courage to begin the process of editing anything. These post are so helpful and encouraging to people like myself that lack the confidence to try something a bit complex

In reading these paragraphs I see that many of you have developed your own systems of productions where you manage the product from start to finish at your own rates.......interesting !

Thanks once again guys. This is so valuable to me reassuring as well.

JIMBO

NCMtnMan Loc: N. Fork New River, Ashe Co., NC

Why would you ever want to work on the original when making a copy is so simple?