Thanks, I've been reading up on it, and I guess the fundamental question I have is about the files, I'm having trouble figuring that one out. I'll continue to hunt. I think I must be hung up conceptually on what happens to files and where they go. if I have a raw file that I scanned, and then I work on it in Lightroom, do i typically have a clean version then saved somwhere, or is lightroom simply saving my work sitting in a sidecar file or embedded information in that original file?
This is where a tutorial will really help you.. there are a few variables to your question.
Your raw files are handled in a 'non-destructive' manner. Any work you do on them in LR, is attached via a sidecar file. Think of it as a recipe.. that LR uses to adjust your preview image, print, save to web, or import into another editor such as CS5, Photomatix, etc. The original file never changes. Only the attached sidecar file, the recipe. This holds true even if you create "virtual copies" and have 4-5 different versions of the same file. This is one of the great features of LR.. you keep storage overhead as low as possible this way.
However.. if you open a file in CS5 or another external editor, you must specify if you want a jpeg, tiff, psd, and which color space.. and then LR creates that file and exports it to CS5 immediately showing the new file in the LR panel.
When you're done editing the file, you then 'save' it, and if you only 'save' and don't 'save to' a new name, then the updated version of the file is now there in LR. If you did a 'save to' with a new name, then you'll need to import it into LR separately.
And I've never heard of a "raw' file from a scan. A tiff, PDF, PSD, or Jpeg yes.. You scan, save them in the desired folder/directory, and then import them into LR. Some scanning programs can be configured as external editors in LR, and then will auto import/save into LR.
I hope this helps.
