Lightroom 2.2 & ACR 5.2

[Jeff L]

Hello All. this is my 2nd post & I'm sure this has been mentioned before but I'm confused. I have Lightroom 2.2 and CS3. LR2.2 came with camera raw 4.6 on it. When raw 5.2 became available LR auto update suggested I install it which I did.
Now when I send a raw file from LR to CS3 I get this message:
"this version of lightroom may require camera raw version 5.2" (which has already been installed.)
If I go to "Help/about it says camera raw 5.2"). Then I get a message that gives me a choice of
"Render using lightroom, Open anyway or Cancel." I choose "open Anyway" and it opens just fine in CS3.
Do I have to uninstall ACR and reinstall 4.6? Everything appears to be working fine. If I open a raw file directly from CS3, ACR 4.6 opens.
Should I just leave 5.2 on(If it actually is installed), and ignore it or what. Or perhaps while LR "About" says v5.2, it's 4.6 thats actually there?
Thanks for your patience, help and understanding. I'm new to PS and LR.
ps, I may have accidently duplicated this post.

[b2martin]

Jeff, I don't know about Lightroom 2, but Photoshop CS3 requires ACR4.x.  ACR5.x is for Photoshop CS4.  I believe ACR4.6 was the last version of ACR released for CS3 and ACR5.2 is the current version for CS4.

[Eyeball]

Just to add to what B2 already mentioned:

Both PS and LR use the same raw engine BUT they are packaged differently and cannot be interchanged.  
You cannot apply an ACR update to LR.  You must apply the LR update and this will automatically give you the latest raw functionality for that product (this will be reflected in LR's About with an ACR version number, which is sort of confusing I know).
The raw functionality in PS (ACR) and the raw functionality in LR are not always 100% in sync.  Sometimes one is updated before the other.
Emphasizing what B2 said, ACR v4.6 is the last (and final) version of ACR for Photoshop CS3.  V5.X versions of ACR are only for CS4.

If you tried to apply the ACR v5.2 update to either LR or CS3, that may be your problem (because v5.2 is not compatible with CS3 and ACR stand-alone updates are not compatible with LR).
If that is what you did, you will need to uninstall the v5.2 stand-alone update from where you installed it.
The most updated scenario for your particular combination of products at this moment in time is:
v2.2 for LR (which will automatically show ACR v5.2 in the Help>About)
ACR v4.6 for CS3

[Jeff L]

"The most updated scenario for your particular combination of products at this moment in time is:
v2.2 for LR (which will automatically show ACR v5.2 in the Help>About)
ACR v4.6 for CS3"


Dear Eyeball and B2. Thanks very much for your replies. I really appreciate it.
I believe I'm getting it. Apparently when I installed the LR 2.2 auto update it installed or attempted to install the ACR 5.2 update. Thats must be why in LR ABOUT it says ACR 5.2. I think (I may be wrong) that the only place where ACR is installed is program files\common files\adobe\Photoshop\plug-ins\cs3\file formats. In that location is the acr plug-in 4.6. That must be why I get I get the LR messages in my original post. Since the update I've been able to open up CR2 files in both LR and CS3. If I bypass LR and open raw in CS3 ACR 4.6 opens.
I don't believe ACR is installed anyplace else other than where I mentioned above. I suppose if I wanted to get rid the 5.2 message in LR I could uninstall LR 2, reinstall it and not do the auto update.
Bottom line is: I think I can leave everything as is and continue to work.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Again, Thanks much.

[Jeff L]

B2 and eyeball.
I found this link to a blog which shows exactly what I've been trying to say (although you guys have already helped me.)  

http://www.lightroomqueen.com/blog/

If you want click on the link and scroll about 1/2 way down to LR 2.2 / CS3 entry.

[Victoria Bampton]

If you want click on the link and scroll about 1/2 way down to LR 2.2 / CS3 entry.

Here's the direct link: http://www.lightroomqueen.com/blog/2008/12...ility-with-cs3/

[Jeff L]

Here's the direct link: http://www.lightroomqueen.com/blog/2008/12...ility-with-cs3/

Dear Victoria. You have a wonderful blog/web site. I immediately bookmarked it and will be a regular visitor to it.
Just to be clear: Even though in LR2 About it says ACR5.2, I'm actually processing raw in 4.6 (that's what it says if I open a  raw file directly from CS3)? So I can ignore the "about - ACR 5.2", click open anyway and proceed as normal.
Am I correct in that assessment?
thanks again.

[Victoria Bampton]

You've got it Jeff - it throws the raw data to whatever version of ACR you're running in PS.  That's why it could become a problem in the future, when the gap widens between ACR 4.6 and a later version of LR, but for now, the results are almost, if not completely, identical.

[Jeff L]

Victoria. I don't want to bother you to much, but I have one more question. How do I or can I get rid of the "about" 5.2 version number in LR? Would I uninstall LR2 altogether and then reinstall it from the original CD and then when LR wants to update, simply refuse the 5.2 update? maybe turn off auto update altoghether?
thank you again for your help. Jeff

[Victoria Bampton]

It's fine where it is Jeff.  When you update it 2.3, it'll say 5.3, and so forth.  It's built in to the program itself, so you can't remove it.  The only time you should be bothered about a 5.2 update is if you install CS4, in which case, go ahead and install it.  CS3 can only go up to 4.6.

[Jeff L]

It's fine where it is Jeff.  When you update it 2.3, it'll say 5.3, and so forth.  It's built in to the program itself, so you can't remove it.  The only time you should be bothered about a 5.2 update is if you install CS4, in which case, go ahead and install it.  CS3 can only go up to 4.6.

Thank You very much Victoria> You're much appreciated.
Jeff

[01af]

Lightroom does not use the Camera Raw plug-in. Instead, Lightroom virtually is Camera Raw. In other words, Lightroom is another incarnation of Camera Raw, however not as a plug-in but as a stand-alone program (and with a lot of extra functionality, such as Import, Database, and Presentation). Lightroom 2.2's raw converter functionality is the same as ACR 5.2.

The Camera Raw plug-in (i. e. the Camera Raw.8bi file) is for Photoshop and Bridge, not for Lightroom. The latest Camera Raw plug-in version for Photoshop CS3 is ACR 4.6; the current for Photoshop CS4 is ACR 5.2.

So if you have Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom 2.2 then you're using ACR 4.6 via Photoshop and ACR 5.2 as the built-in raw-conversion engine of Lightroom 2.2. If you want Photoshop to use the same raw-conversion engine as Lightroom then you'll have to upgrade to Photoshop CS4 in order to be able to use the Camera Raw 5.x plug-in.

-- Olaf