COLOR WORKFLOW

between

Lightroom 4 &
Photoshop CS6
JOE BRADY

FOR ALMOST EVERY LIGHTROOM USER WHO FINDS THE NEED

TO DO PIXEL-BASED EDITING ON IMAGES, SENDING IMAGES
FROM LIGHTROOM TO PHOTOSHOP IS A PRETTY COMMON AC[ LIGHTROOM MAGAZINE ]

TIVITY. PRIOR TO THE INTRODUCTION OF BOTH LIGHTROOM 4

32

AND PHOTOSHOP CS6, THIS OFTEN CAUSED MUCH TEETH

GNASHING BECAUSE OF UNEXPECTED COLOR SHIFTS. THIS
HAPPENED FOR SEVERAL REASONS, INCLUDING THE FACT
THAT PREVIOUS VERSIONS OF THESE TWO PROGRAMS USED
DIFFERENT COLOR ENGINES BEHIND THE SCENES.

LIGHTROOM 4
COLOR
SETTINGS
NOW, LIGHTROOM 4 AND PHOTOSHOP CS6 SHARE THE
SAME COLOR ENGINE AND IMAGES CAN BE SENT BACK
AND FORTH WITHOUT FEAR. TO MAKE SURE THAT ANY
EDITS YOU DO IN PHOTOSHOP DONT CAUSE ANY COLOR OR TONAL SURPRISES, ITS IMPORTANT TO HAVE

Lightroom works in a color space

called Melissa RGB. This space is
essentially ProPhoto RGB with a modified gamma curve set at 2.2. Before
going into the Photoshop color settings, lets make sure that Lightroom
will send images into Photoshop with
the correct settings.

A COLOR WORKFLOW BETWEEN THE TWO PROGRAMS

THAT PROVIDES THE MOST ACCURATE EDITS.

Start by making sure that when you

send an image from Lightroom 4 to
Photoshop CS6 that youre using the
ProPhoto RGB color space with a bit
depth of 16 bits/component. These
options are found on the External
Editing tab of the Preferences dialog in Lightroom (Lightroom [PC:
Edit]>Preferences). This will keep colors from shifting and provide a great
match in color and tone. While its
true that ProPhoto RGB uses a different gamma curve than the default in
Lightroom, the differences on your
monitor are negligible. Lightroom
does recommend exporting TIFF files
into Photoshop, but if youre stuck
in your ways and prefer to keep
PSD files, thats fine. Just make sure
to click the Maximize Compatibility
checkbox when you save the file in
Photoshop. (Note: To check your current Maximize Compatibility settings
in Photoshop, go to Photoshop [PC:
Edit]>Preferences>File Handling. In
the File Compatibility section, youll
see a drop-down menu for Maximize
PSD and PSB File Compatibility. Your
options are Never, Always, and Ask.)
Dont concern yourself with the Resolution number, the default of which
is 240. It has no effect on the file
youre editing.

[ COLOR WORKFLOW ]

33

PHOTOSHOP CS6
COLOR SETTINGS
Before you bring your images into Photoshop, its important
to make sure that the color settings in Photoshop are set to
make transferring from Lightroom as accurate as possible. You
can access these choices under Edit>Color Settings. The most
important selection is the first onethe RGB Working Spaces.
You want to make sure that ProPhoto RGB is chosen. The three
choices below dont concern most photographers, so leave
them at their default settings.

[ LIGHTROOM MAGAZINE ]

Below that is a section called Color Management Policies.

The important thing here is to always select Preserve Embedded
Profiles. The rest of the options here wont concern you in this
workflow, nor will any of the choices available when you click
the More Options buttonthose defaults are fine.

34

[ COLOR WORKFLOW ]

35

B E F O R E YO U D O A N Y
E D I T S , C A L I B R AT E
YO U R M O N I T O R
Its always important to mention that any editing you do
in Photoshop or Lightroom assumes that your monitor is
calibrated. Youre making edits to your images based on
how it looks on your screen, so you need to know that the
image you see on the monitor is accurate.
The single biggest complaint from most users is that they
get prints back from their lab or off their printer that are
too dark. An overly bright monitor (as most are) is the
greatest cause of dark prints because youre judging your
images based on your bright display. A monitor calibration
system is a must for anyone doing their own image editing. You need your monitor to show your image as accurately as possible and you cant do this by eye. A device like
the ColorMunki Display from X-Rite (http://kel.by/VFub0l)
is an easy-to-use tool that will get your monitor calibrated
without any need to know about color management. If
you dont get your monitor under control, then your edits
are just guesses!

N O W YO U C A N M A K E
YO U R I M A G E E D I T S I N
PHOTOSHOP CS6

[ LIGHTROOM MAGAZINE ]

With your color policies in Lightroom 4 and Photoshop

CS6 now set to bring you the most consistent color and
tone, you can safely make your edits. With your image
selected in Lightroom, go to Photo>Edit In>Edit in Adobe
Photoshop CS6. Make all of your edits in Photoshop and
when the image looks the way you like, simply Save the
image (not Save As). When you go back to Lightroom 4,
youll find the saved PSD or TIFF file sitting next to your
original RAW file in the Filmstrip. Remember that the file
type was determined by the choices you made in your
Lightroom 4 preferences for external editing. All of your
layers will remain intact when you open this file again
in Photoshop using the Edit Original option in the Edit
Photos with Adobe Photoshop CS6 dialog. You can now
prepare your image for printing from Lightroom and take
advantage of the soft proofing features, which well cover
next issue. n

36

ALL PHOTOS BY JOE BRADY