TIP: Photoshop Workflow that WORKS (for me)

Question

Been thinking about this for a while and have figured out a workflow that integrates photoshop(PS) editing quite well with Lightroom (LR).
My goals.
*Export to PS in TIF PSD or jpg.
*Autoimport back to library for stacking with original once edited
*Avoid excessive browsing while exporting and importing.
Solution involves use of Autoimport to a 'SORT' folder.
It is mainly for use with single images that I want to pay extra attention to.
Here are the steps.
1. Create 2 new empty folders somewhere accessible. This can be done with the '+' key in the Folders panel. I have mine in my root photo directory. Call them Develops and 1ASORTBOX (the 1A means your sortbox will be at the top of your folder list in LR).
D:\Develops
D:\1A SORTBOX
2. File>Auto Import>Auto Import Settings...
- Set Watched folder to D:\Develops
- Set Destination to D:\1A SORTBOX
- Set Subfolder to Misc
- File naming :filename
3. Find a RAW file that needs photoshopping. Develop.
4. Export to destination D:\Develops
- choose format etc. FILENAME can remain the same!
- EXPORT
You will now see your file appear in the 1A sortbox/misc foler at the top of the list. Develops folder stays empty.
I created the Misc subfolder so that I can specify subfolders in the future if I want. In the meantime, they all go to misc, but I view them by selecting the top level 1Asortbox folder (all subfolder items remain visible) and sort from there.
5. select the image in the sortbox - then ctrl-E to edit in PS.
you can also automatically open the file in PS by selecting that option during export - but you end up with 2 files when you save - this works because PS tries to save the file in the develops folder which is then autoimported)
- edit the original.
- Edit in PS and save.
6. Drag the edited file to the same directory as it's parent RAW and stack it there. (I keep my edited one on the top of the stack becuase that is the one that will be exported when I do a batch export) It can be the same filename as the original. (I wish we could stack across subfolders)
This method speeds things up a bit for me.
I avoid having to select an output directory every time I want to export a PSD for editing. The export directory is always set on D:\Develops. It is so handy to have the file autoimported with all metadata intact (including heirarchical keywords). Much easier to drag the images from the sortbox folder destingation folder than to find and reimport single images manually.
I then use the Ctrl-E edit in PS function if I want to edit these files further. Choose edit original - save will overwrite your PS edits. If you want to keep the original edit, then edit as a copy or create a virtual copy first.
Hope this helps those struggling with the whole PS integration thing. Sorry its so long - it find it hard to explain these things.
Any suggestions to improve this would be fantastic.
Cheers
KEv
PS still trying to get my serial email. Grrr.

Answer 1

I have used this workflow for developing a few shoots and it has been working a treat. Makes lightroom a pleasure to use for me now.
The automation results in a RAW and jpg in the same folder with same name. Good for stacking and keeping a clean reference system.
I discovered a bug that occurs with the samename RAW/jpg in the same folder. Posted a thread here:
http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc3493d
Basically if you rename the jpg, the RAW gets renamed too. And you can move the jpg around in grid mode properly. If you don't need to rename or move the jpgs around then the workflow is fine.
So I've made a slight adjustment to the workflow which auto renames the developed jpg.
The steps are now:
1. Export from LR to watched folder d:\develops
- in the export dialog, make sure you select 'open in photoshop' in the dropdown menu.
After this step you get a jpg (or whatever format you choose) in the sortbox with same name as the RAW, and the file open in PS.
2. Edit and ctrl-S in Photoshop
- photoshop will save the edited image to the develops folder (because this is where it opened the image from). LR then auto imports to the SORTBOX folder. Because there is already a jpg with the same name in the sortbox, LR will automantically rename the jpg with filename_2.
3. Delete the original export jpg from the sortbox and move the edited filename_2.jpg to the destination RAW folder for stacking.
The filename will be different and not be affected by the bug described. Still very quick and easy, possibly better if you don't mind the changed filename.
Kev