Problem exporting in Lightroom.

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
My apologies if this is a ridiculous question, but I'm really struggling with it.

I'm finally getting the hang of some of the basic operations of Lightroom after only recently having downloaded the program for the first time. My problem is this, though: when I'm done with my work and export the processed RAW file onto my hard drive as a TIFF file, it does not export the changes I made. I open a picture that looks exactly like the out-of-camera picture I imported into Lightroom in the first place.

I've gone to the Adobe site, and done Google searches, but none of the answers I've found have either applied to me (I'm already clicking off the boxes they suggest in the export dialog box) or they don't work (things like "it's exported as a jpeg, so re-import and then re-export it again").

This is getting very frustrating. Has anyone here had this problem before who can maybe shed some light on a fix for me? Thanks very much!
 

nikonpup

Senior Member

Why are you using TIFF? My settings (output JPEG).

LR1.JPG
LR2.JPG
LR3.JPG

​My JPEG out put work for (Nikonites - Facebook - Flicker).
 

pforsell

Senior Member
Hi Nikonpup - that's what my client requested. (Thanks for the screenshots!)

Sounds odd, something's definitely not right. I just tried it and it works perfectly. Follow the link to flickr to see the full size so texts are readable. Left: unedited NEF in Lightroom, Right: exported TIFF in Photoshop with white balance, fill light, crop and one sensor dust bunny removed.




export by foppa2011, on Flickr
 
Last edited:

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
That is odd. Thanks very much for posting your example. I'm sure it's down to user error on my part. I'll just have to keep plugging away til I find out what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks again!
 

pforsell

Senior Member
That is odd. Thanks very much for posting your example. I'm sure it's down to user error on my part. I'll just have to keep plugging away til I find out what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks again!

Just a thought, you do have Photoshop? How about exporting as PSD? If it works then you can save the files as TIFF from PS. The workaround might tide you over until the actual problem is fixed. PSD and TIFF are lossless formats so you don't risk losing any image quality.

I'd reinstall LR at your earliest convenience.
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
I found out recently that our subscription to LR includes Photoshop. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet as I'm still trying to come to grips with the various functions of Lightroom. However I should probably open it up and see if I can implement your suggestion, as that sounds quite reasonable.

Thank you very much for taking the time to give me your thoughts. I'm very appreciative.
 

nickt

Senior Member
Some more thoughts....

Try a jpg export.
Try opening the tiff file in photoshop
Check the folder where you exported the tiff to. Are there any .xmp files in the folder? I don't use them and don't know a lot about them, but just wondering if their presence could mess you up.

Check catalog settings under Edit menu. Here's mine.

Untitled-1.jpg
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
Some more thoughts....

Try a jpg export.
Try opening the tiff file in photoshop
Check the folder where you exported the tiff to. Are there any .xmp files in the folder? I don't use them and don't know a lot about them, but just wondering if their presence could mess you up.

Thank you very much, I'll be giving that a look when I get home from work today. Much appreciated!
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Some more thoughts....

Try a jpg export.
Try opening the tiff file in photoshop
Check the folder where you exported the tiff to. Are there any .xmp files in the folder? I don't use them and don't know a lot about them, but just wondering if their presence could mess you up.

Check catalog settings under Edit menu. Here's mine.

View attachment 316332

You don't want to get rid of any .xmp files. Those are the side card files that contain the edits of your NEFs! Your NEFs remain intact during editing. The .xmp files apply those edits when you reopen them as NEF.
 

Andy W

Senior Member
You don't want to get rid of any .xmp files. Those are the side card files that contain the edits of your NEFs! Your NEFs remain intact during editing. The .xmp files apply those edits when you reopen them as NEF.

I didn't know that and have been deleting them. Is that the only way to save an edited RAW image?
 

nickt

Senior Member
You don't want to get rid of any .xmp files. Those are the side card files that contain the edits of your NEFs! Your NEFs remain intact during editing. The .xmp files apply those edits when you reopen them as NEF.
I'm not saying delete them, but rather don't opt to use them if you don't need them, they can get confusing. If the OP had them turned on, he might be experiencing a problem if he separated them from the tiff or with a simple viewer. Not sure what would happen if he had them on but they got lost during a move.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I didn't know that and have been deleting them. Is that the only way to save an edited RAW image?
You should be able to save it as a TIFF which won't require the .xmp. I'm pretty sure the side card file is embedded right into the TIFF. @BackdoorHippie any info here would be appreciated.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I'm not saying delete them, but rather don't opt to use them if you don't need them, they can get confusing. If the OP had them turned on, he might be experiencing a problem if he separated them from the tiff or with a simple viewer. Not sure what would happen if he had them on but they got lost during a move.
As Cindy points out, the .XMP file is the "recipe card" that contains the metadata for its corresponding raw file, which means the edits you've performed in the raw converter. Delete the "recipe card" and you'll have "cookie dough" (your raw file) but no finished "cookie" (the edited image). And let's not get me started on eating raw cookie dough, okay? 'Cause that's just gross. Seriously... Don't do that.

Since a .TIFF should have the .xmp data "attached" (as a header) the OP's problem, it seems to me, is that either the .XMP file is not being attached to the .TIFF when converting, or the header is not being read when the .TIFF is opened. If it was the latter, though, I would THINK that would result in a read-error; and that makes me think the problem lies with how the raw files are being exported.

@Dangerspouse :: Possible solution? The Most Important Setting in Lightroom is Set To Off By Default
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
Lightroom and other RAW file editors are non-destructive editors. When you make changes to the RAW file, those changes are NOT made in the RAW file… the changes are saved in a side-car file or XMP file… If you make edits/changes/saves to any other file format, it saves those changes to the original file, unless you do something to prevent it…

If you goto LR’s Catalogue Settings, then to the Metadata tab… you can uncheck the box that says “Automatically Write Changes to XMP”…

Unchecking that will then save any changes you make to a NEF file in LR in the catalogue instead of creating all those XMP files…

If you frequently use a RAW editor and frequently move files, you will need to move/keep track of the XMP files also. That’s a real PITA… Saving the changes in the Catalogue is much more efficient.

If you move a NEF file without its associated XMP file, you will not see any changes you may have made…

If you frequently use PS for your editing…It’s more efficient to use LR as your file manager and then edit in PS from within LR… then when you save changes in PS, instead of creating an XMP file, it saves the changes back to LR, which then gets saved in the LR catalogue…

If you shoot several hundred photos a month, you’ll save a tremendous amount of disk space and aggravation by eliminating XMP files by using the LR catalogue…
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
@hark Nothing to add that hasn't been said already. If you're applying edits in Lightroom and then exporting from Lightroom then the edits applied to the Raw file should be applied in the export. I see nothing in the export presets that would allow you to ignore them.

As has been mentioned, I high recommend not checking the box that says, "Automatically write changes into XMP", unless you have open the Raw file with the edits into an editor not linked to Lightroom. In other words, if you use another editor and then go to File -> Open and look for the Raw file. If you're using Lightroom then always use Photo -> Edit In (or right-click on the photo and choose the same) so that the edits written in the catalog will be applied automatically ("automatic" happens only with a Raw file, all others give you an option of applying the edit or not).
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
Here is my adventure and learning process regarding xmp files and Lightroom from a few years back. I need to re-read the whole thread myself. Towards the end, Fred and Jake made things more clear for me.
https://nikonites.com/computers-and...om-questions.html?highlight=xmp#axzz5tkPtMxTg

and another thread
https://nikonites.com/post-processi...de-car-files.html?highlight=xmp#axzz5tkSXxZh4

I just finished reading though the first thread. Thanks so much for pointing it out to me, I feel like I learned a lot! I'll get to the second thread later, when work simmers down or I get home this afternoon. Thanks so much again :encouragement:
 
Top