Colour shift when using 4.2 Edit In to adjust a NEF file in CS6

Question

If I choose Edit In and CS6 the resulting image in CS6 shows a marked colour green/yellow colour shift.
The LR4 external editor is configured to edit using ProPhoto RGB with 16 bit TIFF.
However, if I use the Export option with the same settings and then open the image in Photoshop it is fine.
Equally, if I first convert the NEF image to a DNG and then use Edit In with the same settings it also appears fine in Photoshop. This would appear to rule out any issues with monitor profiles (monitor profiled with i1).
Therefore this appears to be an issue with NEF files (Nikon D3) using the Edit In facility.
Also for some obscure reason it also does not always give the option to Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments and just goes straight to Photoshop (even though it has been adjusted in Lightroom!).

Answer 1

manicfoto wrote:
Richard,  perhaps I have not made the issue clear.   If I import an image into Lightroom and choose Edit In Photoshop it should go straight to Photoshop as no changes have been made in Lightroom.  However, if I make any adjustments in the Develop module and choose to make further changes in Photoshop I should have the option to Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments etc.  This dialog is not offered consistently.
If I make a change in Photoshop it should (and does) correctly save it as a new TIFF file.  Again if I make any adjustments in Develop module and then choose to make further changes in Photoshop to the TIFF file it should still offer the dialog box with the copy options.  Again this is not happening consistently.
Richard correctly explained how 'Edit In' works with raw files, at least that's the way it does on my Windows 7 64 bit system.
When selecting 'Edit in' with a raw file the 'What to Edit' popup with options for 'Edit a Copy with LR adjustments,' 'Edit a Copy,' and 'Edit Original' will not appear. Instead a TIFF file is created in system memory with LR adustments applied, which then opens in PS. Until you hit 'Save' in PS the TIFF file resides only in system memory. Once you hit 'Save' or Save As' (with the same folder location) the TIFF file will appear inside LR with both the LR and PS adjustments applied.
manicfoto wrote:
trshaner, I have done some further testing of the DNG files, and they do, in fact, also exhibit the same colour shift behaviour, although the amount of the shift seems to depend on the original image - some images show a more marked shift than others which was not obvious to me at first.
This is consistent with LR output rendering engine problem if both the NEF and DNG copy for a specific image take on the same color shift. Since the effect is very subtle on a single conversion I can see where you might have confused the DNG as looking OK.
manicfoto wrote:
I then performed another test with a TIFF file and although the change was smaller the colour definitely shifts, with the amount of shift being determined by the contents of the original image, so I have to conclude that I have the output rendering issue mentioned earlier in the thread.
Incidentally, the colour shift issue is also found if I use the option to Open as a Smart Object in Photoshop.
I have re-installed Lightroom 4.2 but the problem is still the same.
To really confirm that this is being caused by the LR output rendering engine you will need do an additional 'Edit a Copy with LR Adjustments'  to the TIFF file. This will create a 2nd TIFF file, which you can then select and then 'Edit a Copy with LR Adjustments.' I would do this at least three times to insure you can see the "cumulative' effect from the LR output rendering engine conversion. You will want to compare the last TIFF file (4th) with the original (1st) TIFF file.
Please try this and post the histograms for the original TIFF and last Tiff with three cumulative 'Edit a Copy with LR Adjustments,' or confirm that's what you have already done in the above posted histograms.