Today’s Question: I have quite a few layered TIFF files created via Photoshop that I subsequently applied Lightroom Classic Develop adjustments to. How do I non-destructively incorporate those Lightroom Classic adjustments into the TIFF file without destroying the Photoshop layers, so that I’m not dependent on Lightroom Classic moving forward?
Tim’s Quick Answer: You can’t, at least not with this specific workflow. You would either need to apply the adjustments entirely in Photoshop or export a flattened copy of the image to preserve the adjusted version beyond Lightroom Classic.
More Detail: Part of the challenge with a workflow that involves sending images from Lightroom Classic to Photoshop is that these two applications use an entirely different approach to how adjustments are applied. Fortunately, there is a bit of a workaround that enables you to apply the same adjustments you’ll find in Lightroom Classic using Photoshop.
When you send a raw capture from Lightroom Classic to Photoshop, a new file (either TIFF or PSD based on the setting in Preferences) will be created based on the source image and the adjustments you’ve applied in the Develop module. You can then use Photoshop to add new layers and apply various adjustments to the derivative image. If you then save and close the image, the layers will be preserved with the new file alongside the source image in Lightroom Classic.
You can apply additional adjustments in Lightroom Classic to that derivative image, but you can think of them as not exactly being compatible with Photoshop. In other words, if you send the image to Photoshop using the “Edit Original” option (so that all layers are preserved) the adjustments you applied in Lightroom Classic won’t be visible while you’re working in Photoshop. Those adjustments will appear again once you’re back in Lightroom Classic.
You could use the Camera Raw Filter (found on the Filter menu) within Photoshop to apply the same adjustments found in Lightroom Classic but using Photoshop instead. However, this would require that you create a new composite layer by selecting the top layer on the Layers panel and holding the Ctrl+Alt+Shift keys on Windows or Command+Option+Shift keys in Macintosh while pressing the letter N followed by the letter E on the keyboard.
You could also convert that composite layer to a smart object if you wanted to apply the Camera Raw filter as a smart filter, but doing so would further complicate the fact that you have now hidden your original layers below the new layer being used for the Camera Raw adjustments.
So, there really isn’t an elegant way to combine adjustments from Photoshop and Lightroom Classic in this way. Keep in mind, however, that at any time you could export a copy of the derivative file in order to have a file that includes the effect of all Lightroom Classic adjustments. However, this derivative image would not include any of the Photoshop layers from the original derivative.
