Photo Mechanic and Adobe Camera Raw differences

[d7e7r7]

Hi Guys,

So I'm using Photo Mechanic to manage my images and Adobe Photoshop & Camera Raw to edit them.

I don't have internet at home so I will check my PM & ACR version numbers when I get home and revert back tomorrow but thought I'd post this so long in case anyone has an answer for me in the mean time.

The problem is that there isn't consistency when looking at images between PM and then opening them up in ACR and PS. I've attached 4 screen shots highlighting this issue. 1 in ACR and 1 in PM and then the same at 100% crop.

I'm sure there's a simple setting that I'm missing on either program, but have tried all the ones I could think of but haven't had any success so far.

Thanks in advance 

Kind Regards,
David Ritchie

[Hayo Baan]

PM shows you the embedded jpg e.g. as created by the camera. Photoshop & Lightroom do not update the embedded preview when you edit your photos there, so you will always see a difference. There is one exception to this: with dng files, Photoshop and Lightroom can be told to update the previews so you will see your edits in PM too. With Photoshop's ACR this is even done automatically as soon as you set the preference, with Lightroom you always have to do this manually (right click file, choose update dng preview). I have fully switched to dng and can recommend this workflow wholeheartedly

[d7e7r7]

Thanks for the reply. I don't have any jpegs, only raw images. Is there any way you know of that I can have images display the same on ACR as they do on PM?

[Hayo Baan]

No, not really. ACR and Lightroom use their own way of interpreting the raw data. You can get close, but not exactly how the camera did it (which is what PM is showing you).

[d7e7r7]

That's frustrating... You'd think Adobe would be able to show you the images as the camera made them like Photo Mechanic is displaying them

[fabianlujan]

I guess and it's only my opinion, that having those images instead of the original files, speeds up the process of organize and manipulate images.
The full image get into the game when you need to edit them.
My case is a slooooow laptop and having low-quality images just to review and mark/unmark them save my day.
The full image instead could cause me problems.

Why you need the full image instead of a low-quality version?

Thanks!

[Luiz Muzzi]

That's frustrating... You'd think Adobe would be able to show you the images as the camera made them like Photo Mechanic is displaying them

Hi,
I have developed certain strategies over the years to try to overcome this deficiency of LR...
First, I have developed a import preset in LR that tries to mimic the exact colors and other features of the embedded preview of PM (you will have to work out your own based on your camera, etc).
Second, I try to limit my use of LR just to the unavoidable, i.e. I only use it with pictures that need a considerable amount of editing. If I need to do just a little tweak, I use DPP (Canon's software) instead, because in it you can see the same preview as in Photo Mechanic (and you preserve the same fantastic colors you can see in your original photo).
HTH,

-Luiz Muzzi