Help - cante see developed images

Question

Sorry about this one - there has to be a simple answer for a new user. I have exported developed images from RAW(NEF) to JPG and put them back in the same folder as my RAW files (I want to keep them together so I know where to find them) but Lightroom cant see them. I know they are there as Finder sees them and they open in Preview. Using MacPro & Lightroom 1.0, Mac OSx4. A quick answer?
Iain

Answer 1

Several things -
1) When you export to the same folder as the RAW, you would have to import to get the image back into LR. LR does not automatically read in files in one of its listed folders.
2) However this may not work - I know you can't get RAW and jpg from a camera card together into the same folder during import, because LR doesn't import two files of the same name (different extensions). This may be the problem in your case. If the jpg files are named differently, then item (1) applies to you.
3) Why do you want to reimport a jpg derived from a RAW in the library? That's not the LR philosophy! When you have edited a master file to a point where you want to "save" it, make a virtual copy of it. This is how you get a derivative file in the library. Better yet, whenever you begin editing a master (RAW in your case) with the goal of producing an image that you want to save, create a virtual copy first, then edit it. The idea is that a jpg is a format that you want to use in the "outside" world, like a file to print or one to attach to email. All of these "exports" should come from a negative (a master or virtual copy). But you shouldn't have to reimport one of these "exports".
- Pierre