Write Adjustments to Source Files

[simplify]

I have a project containing 13,000+ .tif files in LightRoom.  I would like to do a saturation move of -15 on all 13,000 files and have that saved to the source files so I don't have to export everything into the many organizing folders on my computer. 

Is there a way to write my adjustments to the source files?  I thought I could do an export to 'Same folder as original photo' However Lightroom won't let me do that unless I change the file name.

Please help, this is the last step in a year long job.

Thanks,

[john beardsworth]

No, Lightroom is designed to be non-destructive.

[simplify]

Does anybody have any other ideas on how I can apply a desat to 13,000 files?

[john beardsworth]

Write a Photoshop action which includes save and close steps, save it as a droplet on your desktop. If you're on Mac drag the files from LR and drop them on the droplet. If on Windows, use Bridge and Image Processor to launch it.

[Chris_Brown]

Yup. Make an action in Photoshop that applies the desaturation, then saves & closes the file.

[Eyeball]

Actually, you might be able to do it in LR with some caveats:
- First, it will probably be necessary that you have applied no saturation adjustments to the TIFs previously using Lightroom.
- Second, you need to be satisfied with using Lightroom as your export/printing engine.

If those two things are true, then you can just create a preset that knocks down the saturation the needed amount, select all the desired images in Library, and apply the preset using Develop Settings.

I would suggest doing that in subsets.  LR might choke trying to do all 13,000 at one time.

As implied in the caveats, the saturation adjustment will only be seen by LR or ACR.  Other graphics programs will not see the change.
If you modify the TIF later with a raster program like Photoshop, I am not sure if the saturation adjustment will be retained or not.  Better check to be sure.

By the way, you should be able to export to the same folder with the same file name by using the "Existing Files" parameter in the Export dialog.  I WOULD NOT SUGGEST DOING THAT THOUGH UNLESS YOU HAVE MULTIPLE BACK-UPS OF YOUR SOURCE FILES.

Also, what you are trying to do sounds pretty strange.  I would suggest explaining in a little more detail why you have to do what you're trying to do.  It is easy to get so fixated in trying to climb out a window in Adobe products that it's easy to overlook a much easier-to-use door.

[simplify]

Thanks everyone.

I setup a batch action in photoshop, and the computer is now doing all the work.  Will probably go all night.

Thanks for the quick answers.

[digitaldog]

You can do this in LR! But you will have to export and create new files. But when you say

write my adjustments to the source files

you need to understand how LR deals with these edits.
IF the data is raw, you will not be writing this to the source files, it's raw and Adobe treats them as read only. But if and when you wish to have an actual RGB document in JPEG, TIFF, etc, you'll export (render) that set of instructions and with the raw, you'll create 13K of new images with the edit. No reason to even think about Photoshop (I can't even imagine how long it would take just to open 13K images).
IF the images are rendered (TIFF, JPEG etc), again, only the instructions are created, the source file can have those instructions embedded but again, you need LR to render a new iteration with the edit. And again, way faster to do this in LR than even think about Photoshop. I agree with Eyeball's recommendation for doing this in batches.

[simplify]

digital dog.  I understand how lightroom works.  The only solution to my issue was to use a batch photoshop action.  It only took about 4 hours to batch all 13,000 files.  Needing to keep a complex folder structure which was already created, this was the best and only way to make it happen.  I know that exporting all the files to one folder would be easy in Lightroom.  However like I said the files were organized in a complicated folder structure containing hundreds of subfolders.

Like lightroom lets you 'edit original file in photoshop', it should give you the option to render your adjustments to the source file.

Either way, problem solved.  $120k job finished!

[digitaldog]

Glad it all worked out for you. FWIW, in LR's Export, there's a option to save that exported file to the same folder as the source. That should have fixed the issue you report regarding a complex folder structure. And if you used a naming convention in Export such you could then sort the new rendered images with the edit, be real easy to know the 'original's from the newly exported files with that saturation tweak.

I've as yet seen very few instances if any, where LR didn't handle multiple images better and faster than Photoshop which by it's very design is a 'one image at a time' workflow.

[simplify]

Thanks,

I tried the save to same folder option, but lightroom brings up an error message saying it can not save the file because it is the root file.  I was banking on this working, which is why I panicked a bit when I saw the error message.  It can only be saved to the same folder if it is a different file type, or uses unique naming.  Another gripe with lightroom - it should let you specify what unique naming is, not just revert to a '-1' at the end.

[digitaldog]

I tried the save to same folder option, but lightroom brings up an error message saying it can not save the file because it is the root file.

Well yes, the file name has to be unique. You don't want LR writing over the orignal.

it should let you specify what unique naming is, not just revert to a '-1' at the end.

It should (will) once you create a custom file naming template. Then select that for Export (see File Naming area).

[simplify]

That was my problem,  I had to keep the same file name and same file structure.  Thanks for the info about changing the file name,  that makes sense.