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Dan Rodney/2 min read

Editing in Photoshop

Lightroom vs Photoshop

Lightroom for Volume

Process hundreds of photos quickly with consistent edits.

Photoshop for Pixel-Level

Composites, retouching, and detailed corrections.

Round-Trip Workflow

Right-click → Edit In Photoshop, returns as a copy in Lightroom.

Non-Destructive

Both apps preserve originals — edits stored separately.

Master Adobe Tools at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop's Graphic Design Certificate covers Photoshop alongside the broader Adobe toolkit that complements Lightroom in any photography workflow.

Learn how to seamlessly integrate and utilize both Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop in this comprehensive tutorial, covering topics such as opening and adjusting a Lightroom photo in Photoshop and locating the Photoshop-edited photo in Lightroom.

Topics Covered in This Lightroom Tutorial:

Opening a Lightroom Photo in Photoshop, Adjusting a Lightroom Photo in Photoshop, Locating the Photoshop-edited Photo in Lightroom

Exercise Preview

lightroom previewB4

Exercise Overview

In this exercise, you’ll edit a Lightroom photo in Adobe Photoshop and then return the edited photo to Lightroom.

NOTE: You must have Photoshop installed on your computer to finish the exercise.

Editing in Photoshop

  1. Make sure you’re in the Library module.

  2. In the Catalog panel on the left, click on All Photographs.

  3. CTRL–click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) on the first Washington Monument photo (_CAS2074). If you don’t see this photo, complete the first part of Exercise 4G: Creating a Basic Web Gallery to import this set of photos.

  4. Select Edit In > Edit in Adobe Photoshop CC 2018.

    NOTE: Your version of Adobe Photoshop may be different.

  5. If a dialog opens asking what to edit, choose Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments and click Edit.

  6. If a dialog opens regarding the Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in for full compatibility, click Render using Lightroom.

  7. After the photo loads in Photoshop, at the top of the screen, go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate.

  8. Go to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast.

  9. In the dialog that appears, set the following:

    Brightness: 15
    Contrast: 60

  10. Click OK.

  11. Go to File > Save.

  12. Quit Photoshop and return to Lightroom.

  13. Notice that both the original photo and the Photoshop-edited version are listed side-by-side. The Photoshop-edited version has been renamed _CAS2074-Edit.

  14. CTRL–Click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) on the _CAS2074-Edit photo and select Show in Finder (Mac) or Show in Explorer (Windows).

    The edited photo appears in the original photo’s folder as well.

    As you can see, editing between Lightroom and Photoshop is quick, convenient and simple!