hello, I read this forum for a few months, this is my first post here
I use Lightroom, Photoshop and Nik Collection. I have few years of experience in photography and huge collection of photos, I need to organize everything to make my workflow as non-destructive as possible.
My plan is to store photos in 3 main folders:
1) originals - all RAW files
2) retouching - PSD files with RAW as smart-object, then adjustment layers, dodge/burn, smart filters
3) finished - TIFF files
The first stage is already accomplished. I pushed LR postprocessing to the limit. I can do a lot with wb/curves/hsb/toning. I miss layers - so I could peform curves more than once or use masks.
The second stage can be acomplished in PS - I can send image from LR to PS as smart object, then I am free to use adjustment layers, smart filters (like color efex pro) and even dodge/burn (as gray layer or curve layers), then I store everything as PSD and I can reopen it later and change everything in non-destructive way: I can disable any layer, I can edit camera-raw settings I can change control points in Nik.
The third stage are full scale, 16-bit, flat images exported from PS. They can be edited further, but it’s not possible to go back. They are just flat single layer images without more info inside.
The biggest problem right now is how to use clone/healing brush. I don’t mean skin softening, I mean fixing most visible issues on skin but also stuff in background which can be distracting. My initial idea was to perform this type of retouching at the end, in the “finished” stage. However, I realized it doesn’t work this way. It’s best to do all color correction, dodge/burn and effects on “clean” image.
If I will do initial clone/healing in PS, then I will lose my camera raw smart object - for instance if I move back to camera raw and make my photo brighter - the cloned layer will not match the current background layer.
I can do non-destructive healing in LR just like I did in the past, but it’s very limited when compared to PS.
I can do clone/healing in last stage, but then I will need to repeat it after each change in the future. And photos in my second stage will be “dirty”.
Also the whole idea of frequency separation requires images which are not smart objects, am I right? Or is it possible to do frequency separation as smart filter?
What are your experiences with non destructive workflow?
PS. Is it possible to peform Lightroom adjustments (including healing brush) twice on same image and store everything non destructive in PSD? I know I can call LR on TIFF exported from LR, but I can call LR on smart object as smart filter in PS?
I use Lightroom, Photoshop and Nik Collection. I have few years of experience in photography and huge collection of photos, I need to organize everything to make my workflow as non-destructive as possible.
My plan is to store photos in 3 main folders:
1) originals - all RAW files
2) retouching - PSD files with RAW as smart-object, then adjustment layers, dodge/burn, smart filters
3) finished - TIFF files
The first stage is already accomplished. I pushed LR postprocessing to the limit. I can do a lot with wb/curves/hsb/toning. I miss layers - so I could peform curves more than once or use masks.
The second stage can be acomplished in PS - I can send image from LR to PS as smart object, then I am free to use adjustment layers, smart filters (like color efex pro) and even dodge/burn (as gray layer or curve layers), then I store everything as PSD and I can reopen it later and change everything in non-destructive way: I can disable any layer, I can edit camera-raw settings I can change control points in Nik.
The third stage are full scale, 16-bit, flat images exported from PS. They can be edited further, but it’s not possible to go back. They are just flat single layer images without more info inside.
The biggest problem right now is how to use clone/healing brush. I don’t mean skin softening, I mean fixing most visible issues on skin but also stuff in background which can be distracting. My initial idea was to perform this type of retouching at the end, in the “finished” stage. However, I realized it doesn’t work this way. It’s best to do all color correction, dodge/burn and effects on “clean” image.
If I will do initial clone/healing in PS, then I will lose my camera raw smart object - for instance if I move back to camera raw and make my photo brighter - the cloned layer will not match the current background layer.
I can do non-destructive healing in LR just like I did in the past, but it’s very limited when compared to PS.
I can do clone/healing in last stage, but then I will need to repeat it after each change in the future. And photos in my second stage will be “dirty”.
Also the whole idea of frequency separation requires images which are not smart objects, am I right? Or is it possible to do frequency separation as smart filter?
What are your experiences with non destructive workflow?
PS. Is it possible to peform Lightroom adjustments (including healing brush) twice on same image and store everything non destructive in PSD? I know I can call LR on TIFF exported from LR, but I can call LR on smart object as smart filter in PS?
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