To view your Imagen edits, open your photos in Lightroom Classic, Lightroom, Photoshop, or Bridge. Your computer's default image viewer won't show them.
Imagen saves your edits as XMP metadata, a standard Adobe format. It doesn't change or overwrite your original photos. If you edited your photos locally after uploading them to Imagen, Imagen's edits will overwrite those changes.
This guide covers:
- How XMP works in RAW, DNG, and JPEG photos
- How to view your edits in each Adobe application
View your edits in each Adobe application
Adobe editing software has different ways of saving the XMP edit information in the photos.
Viewing edits in Lightroom Classic
For help with downloading edits, see Download a project to review edits in Lightroom Classic. The way you uploaded the original photos to edit in Imagen determines how you see the edits in Lightroom Classic.
Original photos uploaded from a Lightroom Classic catalog
When you upload your original photos from a Lightroom Classic catalog, you don't need to do anything to see your edits. When Imagen downloads edits for Lightroom Classic, it embeds the XMP edit information in the same catalog as the original photos.
Original photos uploaded from a folder
When you upload your original photos from a folder instead of a catalog but want to review them in Lightroom Classic, Lightroom Classic needs to read the XMP edit information from the photos.
- In Lightroom Classic, select the Library tab.
- Select the images that you edited in Imagen and downloaded for review in Lightroom Classic.
- From the Metadata menu, select Read Metadata from File.
When you upload your final edits, Imagen takes the changes from the catalog itself.
If you need help with reviewing your edits in Lightroom Classic, see these Adobe tutorials.
Viewing edits in Lightroom
For help with downloading edits, see Download your project for review in Adobe editing software.
- When Imagen downloads edits for Lightroom, it creates a sidecar XMP file in the local file location but not in the cloud. To see your edits, look under Local instead of Cloud.
If you still don't see your edits, right-click the folder and click Refresh folder.
- When you tweak the final edits in Lightroom, it doesn’t automatically update the XMP files. To save the edit info, click the Share icon at the top right of the screen, and then click Original. Click Export when prompted to make a copy of the edit information in the XMP files. When you upload your final edits, you upload this information.
If you need help with reviewing your edits in Lightroom, see these Adobe tutorials.
Viewing edits in Photoshop or Bridge (ACR)
You need to edit photos with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), which is the default setting. Verify that the default settings aren't changed.
- In the ACR preferences, go to File Handling, and verify that the File Format Handling settings are set to embed XMP in DNG and to automatically open JPEG and TIFF with ACR. ACR always opens RAW and creates an XMP sidecar file with the edit metadata.
For help with downloading edits, see Download your project for review in Adobe editing software
With Photoshop Elements, you must install the Adobe Camera Raw extension to see Imagen edits. See this update from Adobe for more info.
When you open the photos, you’ll see your edits from Imagen. All changes are automatically saved to the XMP files. If your photos are in DNG, JPEG, or TIFF format, the edits are automatically saved in the photos themselves.
If you need help with reviewing your edits in Photoshop, see these Adobe tutorials. For help in Bridge, here's the help center.
How XMP works in RAW, DNG, and JPEG photos
The XMP information is saved differently depending on the photo's file format.
RAW photos and sidecar XMP files
For RAW photos, the XMP file is a separate sidecar file created in the same folder as the original photo. The XMP file has the same name as the RAW photo, but its extension is XMP. To see the edits or culling information, the XMP file must be in the same folder and with the same name as the original photo, like this:
These are the RAW formats supported by Imagen: NEF, CR2, CR3, ARW, NRW, CRW, SRF, SR2, ORF, RW2, RAF, PTX, PEF, RWL, SRW, 3FR, and FFF.
DNG and JPEG photos with embedded XMP information
For DNG and JPEG photos, the XMP information is embedded in the photo itself.
If you are using Photoshop or Bridge, make sure to review edits with ACR, which is the default setting. See Photoshop or Bridge (ACR) for more info.