1 Message
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590 Points
Sun, Jul 10, 2011 7:39 PM
Implemented
54
Lightroom: Support cataloging PNG files in Lightroom
Lightroom should support png and psd files - Adobe's own file type creations - I find this inexcusable. Many of us serious photographers that have lived through all the permutations and advancement of Photoshop with tens of thousands of files only to find that they are not supported by the latest otherwise beautiful Catalog program: Lightshop
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7 years ago
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JeffreyTranberry
Adobe Administrator
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15.8K Messages
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295.1K Points
10 years ago
We should probably make this topic a request for cataloging support for PNG files.
Sr. Product Manager, Adobe Digital Imaging
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lee_jay_fingersh
946 Messages
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13.8K Points
10 years ago
That said, LR does support PSDs assuming they are saved with maximum compatibility. This is required because, without it, LR would basically have to have all of PS's rendering engine embedded to process all those layers into a usable image, and that would make it enormous.
It also partially supports PNGs in certain areas of the program, just not for cataloging.
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Victoria_Bampton_Lightroom_Queen
Champion
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6.2K Messages
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106.3K Points
10 years ago
I do understand your frustration. PNG isn't a format suited to photographs, so I'm not sure you'll get any joy on that one, however the request is at least here for voting.
Did you realise that your PSD files can be imported into Lightroom - you just have to resave them with the maximize compatibility turned on. That is a process that could be batch processed, which may help a little.
Victoria Bampton a.k.a. The Lightroom Queen
www.lightroomqueen.com
Author of Adobe Lightroom Classic - The Missing FAQ and Adobe Lightroom - Edit Like a Pro books.
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stan_burman
20 Messages
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408 Points
10 years ago
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jim_keir
20 Messages
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360 Points
10 years ago
I've already got a plugin for loading JPEG2000 files into Lightroom (Windows only, I'm afraid). If there's enough interest I could do a PNG version too - let me know.
Cheers,
Jim
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bryn_forbes
165 Messages
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3.2K Points
9 years ago
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jim_keir
20 Messages
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360 Points
9 years ago
OK, I'll stick this on the list of stuff to do. I'm pretty much swamped right now but I'll get round to it at some point. Maybe Adobe will add it to LR natively in the meantime ;)
Cheers,
Jim
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alan_harper
478 Messages
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10.5K Points
9 years ago
Anyway, it was easy enough to switch to jpegs for my needs, but since code to read and write pngs is so available, and it is one of the file types that supports xmp metadata internally, the decision to not support them in LR seems absurd.
That said, the lack of support for png's does not get in the way of my use of the program, and one can always convert png's to tiff's without loss if one needs to catalog or edit a particular image. So I hesitate to vote for adding pngs if doing it would distract Adobe from working on more important improvements to LR.
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RikkFlohr
Champion
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1.4K Messages
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24.5K Points
9 years ago
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jo_ann_snover
3 Messages
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80 Points
9 years ago
I thought I could get around that by saving the file as PNG (as I'd had no problem with a transparent identity plate in PNG format) but was shocked to see LR wouldn't import those.
I shoot RAW and don't generate things in PNG except for the web, but I would like to see both support in LR for transparent edges in PSD files and PNG. In the web module in particular, having the ability to deal with transparency (so things merge easily with the page background color) is important.
5
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mcampos393
3 Messages
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192 Points
9 years ago
a) it's extensible
b) it's patent unencumbered
c) it's standardized
d) it supports all of the major things you'd think a common format should support, in a normal, sane, standardized way (metadata storage, alpha channel, color spaces, 48-bit color, etc)
PNG is a better TIFF, though unfortunately bad habits are hard to break - and people haven't really picked up PNG. I have thousands of negatives/slides that I scanned directly to PNGs that I'm now bringing into my LR flow, only to find out they're not supported.
If you google "Lightroom PNG support" you'll see that we're not alone!
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jim_keir
20 Messages
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360 Points
9 years ago
1
John_R_Ellis
Champion
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5.5K Messages
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97.5K Points
9 years ago
http://feedback.photoshop.com/photosh...
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royal_scanlon
3 Messages
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84 Points
9 years ago
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malcolm_weir
4 Messages
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194 Points
9 years ago
As to the TIFF-vs-PNG "debate", the two formats are different with the key issue, to photographers or artists, being that TIFF doesn't intrinsically support a single unified lossless compression method. Several have been added, over the years, but picking one with legs that will supported in the future requires a lot of care, and frankly it's not an area in which most people want to have to become an expert in!
So why use PNG? Simple: it's one of three raster image formats natively supported by web browsers (the other two being JPG and GIF), it's always been unencumbered by licensing issues (unlike GIF), and it supports alpha layers (unlike JPG).
So if you want an image format that can be displayed on any computer or tablet or smartphone, that supports lossless compression and alpha layers and is fully open, you have only one choice.
Unless you want to use Lightroom... and then you have no choice! 8-(
Adobe, just add the format. It won't hurt you, and it will let us photographers that also do illustration use LR as our overall image management/indexing system.
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