Open photos in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements

You can perform additional editing to your photos using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements from within Lightroom. You must have either Photoshop or Photoshop Elements installed on your computer for this feature to be available.

  1. In the Library module or Develop module, select the photo you want to edit. Then, choose Photo > Edit In Adobe Photoshop or Edit In Adobe Photoshop Elements.

    If you’re opening a camera raw or DNG file in Photoshop CS3 (10.0.1) or later, it opens directly.

  2. (JPEG, TIFF, and PSD only) In the Edit Photo dialog box, select one of the following:
    Edit A Copy With Lightroom Adjustments
    Applies any Lightroom adjustments you’ve made to a copy of the file and sends that file to Photoshop or Photoshop Elements for editing.

    Edit A Copy
    Edits a copy of the original file without Lightroom adjustments.

    Edit Original
    Edits the original file without Lightroom adjustments.

    Note: Select Stack With Original to stack the edited photo with the original.
  3. (JPEG, TIFF, and PSD only) Click Edit.

    If you edit a copy of the photo, Lightroom automatically adds the copy, with -Edit appended to the filename, to the catalog as you open it in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

  4. Edit the photo as desired in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.
  5. Choose File > Save in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

    Edited camera raw and DNG files are automatically added to the Lightroom catalog with -Edit appended to the filename. The file format is either TIFF or PSD, depending on what is specified in External Editing preferences.

    JPEG, TIFF, and PSD files edited as copies with adjustments are also saved according to the format specified in External Editing preferences.

    Note: When saving changes to JPEG, TIFF, and PSD images in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, make sure the filename and format are the same as the copy or the original in Lightroom if you want the photo to be updated in the catalog.
  6. Switch to Lightroom to see the edited photo in the catalog.
    Important: When saving from Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, be sure to turn on the Maximize Compatibility option so that Lightroom can read the images. Photoshop CS3 and later automatically save PSD files from Lightroom with maximum compatibility.

For a video about editing photos in Lightroom and Photoshop CS3, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2211_lrm.

For a video about editing photos in Lightroom and Photoshop CS4, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4121_ps.