I love the workflow suggested in Lightroom but I am a bit confused about how to integrate Photoshop into it.

After the usual develop tweaks in Lightroom I like to send the file to Photoshop for Photokit sharpening [OUTPUT] and softproofing. My question is ; do you do the final sharpen before or after softproof adjustments? and secondly after softproofing do you need to flatten the image before saving it back to Lightroom for printing or do the adjustment layers follow with the file from Photoshop?

It will be a great day when we can add our plug-ins to Lightroom and Softproofing is part of the Lightroom workflow.

Lex-

Here's what I do:

1. Import from CF card into Lightroom as DNG with full metadata: keywords, copyright etc. Backup converted DNGs immediately, discard original camera raw files.

2. Edit shoot using Pick flags first, then Stars, to filter down to final selects. Pictures that don't make the cut stay in the library for a while... but will likely be deleted later, after further review.

3. Process (Develop) the final selects in LR as fully as possible - but at this time no sharpening applied in LR, and only modest noise reduction if needed.

4. Edit in Photoshop CS3: first, Noiseware if necessary, then PhotoKit Capture Sharpen, PhotoKit Creative Sharpen, Dodge & Burn using Adjustment Layers and/or painted pixel layers and finally, any necessary additional retouching. This is the Master file - saved as TIF with all layers intact.

*Compositing would be done at this stage, too...

5. When Master file is considered DONE - Soft Proof for intended output(s). Add adjustment layer groups as necessary for expected output.... all in the Master file.

6. Notice that all this is done at NATIVE RESOLUTION. No resizing on export from LR and no resizing of Master working file. Resizing is done only when needed for output - including printing, or web galleries, etc.

7. You can bring the layered file back into Lightroom, or flatten first (then Synchronize)... Ideally, aAfter flattening and resizing to final print size, PhotoKit Output Sharpen for the printed output. Save flat print file if desired (I don't, unless I'm making lots of prints at this size).

8. Print from either Photoshop or Lightroom. I'm moving more toward printing sets of images from LR, but single large format prints I still am doing from PS (though they do get added to the Catalog eventually).

Remember to Save out your Metadata frequently!!!

Hope this is helpful... I'd welcome other's suggestions for improvement... as we all know, "workflow" is always evolving...

Only adjustment I would make is print using Qimage.

Thank you very much for your excellent suggestions guys. I really appreciate the effort that you have put into your most comprehensive reply Nat. It was up to your normally very high standard.

Regards

Lex.

I know that everybody has their own workflow but you think I should and can be able to delete my original RAW files after converting them to DNG? My current problem right now is that I have both the RAW files and the DNGs that LR is converting, so have to get rid of something because i am quickly running out of space this way!

Thanks for the input.

I debated keeping the original raw files for nearly a year before fully committing to DNG. I no longer keep the CR2s. If you have concerns, I'd recommend embedding the original raw file inside the DNG; I've successfully extracted a number of them done with that method and it works fine. Your DNG will be twice as large, but at least you won't have double the number of files.

This is a controversial topic, but there is information in some manufacturer's RAW files that is not preserved in the DNG conversion (unless you embed the original RAW). In Nikon NEFs, maker note information, including focus distance is discarded.

This information is used by DXO in correcting lens distortion, to name one example of its value.

I'd keep them both, space is cheaper than ever these days, buy an external hard drive and dump them on there.
Adobes lack of support of earlier versions makes me wary of switching totally to DNG, not helped by little other support for it. Theres also talk of a "new" DNG version, just how compatable this will be is anybodys guess.
For now. I'm playing a "belt and braces" approach, just in case. Wayne

For now I keep my original RAW (.CR2) files because I occasionally will process a file using another RAW converter (e.g., DPP or Capture One). Uncommon, but it does happen.