Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2

You can access the Preferences by going to Edit > Preferences on Windows or Lightroom > Preferences on Mac. Once the Preferences dialog box appears click the External Editing tab to access these settings.

By default Lightroom always chooses the most current version of Photoshop you have installed as the primary external editor, but you can configure other applications to be used in the Additional External Editor section.

The File Format, Color Space and Bit Depth options are the same as the previous version of Lightroom, and choosing the default settings is recommended.

One small, but much requested, new option is the ability to configure the resolution setting that is included in the copy that is sent to the external editor. The important point to keep in mind is that this is just a metadata setting and will not affect the pixel dimensions of the copy being created. Some people just like to have the option to decide what value is used.

The more exciting option that was added to Lightroom 2 is the ability to add multiple external editors! You can even create multiple configurations of settings for the same editor and save each configuration as a preset. Here’s how it is done.

Step 1.

In the Additional Editor section, click the Application Choose button. On Windows, navigate to the Program Files folder, then into the folder for the application you want to use as your editor and select the application file. On Mac, navigate to the Applications folder and choose the desired application. Once the application is selected click the Choose button.

This will set that application as the additional editor.

Step 2.

Configure the File Format, Color Space, Bit Depth and Resolution settings as needed to work with that particular application.

In my example I am going to create an 8 bit Adobe RGB TIF option for instances when I don’t want to use my default 16 bit ProPhoto options in the primary editor. This might for times where I’ve imported a JPG into Lightroom and want to edit a copy of it further in Photoshop. Since it was originally an 8 bit Adobe RGB image there is nothing to be gained by creating a 16 bit ProPhoto copy of it.

Step 3.

Click the Preset drop-down menu and choose Save Current Settings as New Preset.

When prompted, enter a descriptive name for your preset so that it is easily recognizable later. In my case I named it 8 bit TIFF Photoshop CS3. Click Create.

That’s all there is to it! However, the bonus is that once you’ve created that preset you can repeat the process and add as many other configurations of applications and settings as you might need.

Now, when you access the Edit In menu you will see your presets listed in the menu, which makes it a snap to move to the next editor in your workflow.