Hello. I have some questions that I have not been able to clarify, so hopefully someone out there can help me out out. I have been learning About Adobe Lightroom 3, and I have a couple of questions. I basically understand how the program works, but I need to know the following.


-First question: Can my edits (in Lightroom) to my images (changes in contrast, wb, color, etc) on my DNG or NEF & XMP files be opened and edited by programs that are not by Adobe? I know that I can export the RAW files to JPEG, TIFF or PNG, but can the Lightroom edited RAW files be used later by a non Adobe program, such as Bibble?


-Second question: Can my Lightroom database (matadata, keywords, rankings, catalog, collections, etc) be used by programs other than those by Adobe, such as Bibble?


The reason why I am asking is to clarify if my Lightroom RAW file edits and database collections will be useless outside of the Adobe universe?


Thanks you for any help that you might be able to shine on the matter. I appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Will8 -First question: Can my edits (in Lightroom) to my images (changes in contrast, wb, color, etc) on my DNG or NEF & XMP files be opened and edited by programs that are not by Adobe?

No. The processing is proprietary. The metadata processing instructions (say add +5 vibrance) isn’t understandable outside the Adobe raw processing engine. The same would be try using a non Adobe raw processor. LR wouldn’t understand them.

I know that I can export the RAW files to JPEG, TIFF or PNG, but can the Lightroom edited RAW files be used later by a non Adobe program, such as Bibble?

You can certainly render the raw data in Bibble but you’re starting from scratch so to speak.

-Second question: Can my Lightroom database (matadata, keywords, rankings, catalog, collections, etc) be used by programs other than those by Adobe, such as Bibble?

Not the database but some of the data may be used such as keywords IF its accessible, something that should be visible in a DNG. For example, you can add a keyword or even a rating to a DNG in LR and see that after you render it in Photoshop (File Info). Stuff like collections, nope, again that’s proprietary.

Originally Posted by Will8 Can my edits (in Lightroom) to my images (changes in contrast, wb, color, etc) on my DNG or NEF & XMP files be opened and edited by programs that are not by Adobe?

Your edits are by default stored in a LR database. This can not be read by other products. But you do have the ability to save as XMP sidecar files. These can be read by other non-Adobe products. However, while XMP stores EXIF, IPTC, Keywords, File rating flags, Color labels, and Develop settings, it doesn't store your edit history. So, XMP allows the outcome of the final edits to be read. So, lets say you cropped 8x10, then changed your mind to 5x5. The XMP will contain 5x5, not 8x10. Therefore you get 1) the original, unaltered RAW, and 2) your edit of the RAW.

Originally Posted by Will8 -Second question: Can my Lightroom database (matadata, keywords, rankings, catalog, collections, etc) be used by programs other than those by Adobe, such as Bibble? The reason why I am asking is to clarify if my Lightroom RAW file edits and database collections will be useless outside of the Adobe universe?

No, as far as I know the database is proprietary. I suppose one could consider it useless. But remember, most programs edit the actual image files. Since Lightroom never edits the image files (whether RAW or JPEG or PSD), you always have your untouched original. So, having your database would only give you your edits, which is no small thing mind you. But XMP gives you much of that. I have read that Bibble supports XMP, but do not have direct experience.

Originally Posted by cmason Your edits are by default stored in a LR database. This can not be read by other products. But you do have the ability to save as XMP sidecar files. These can be read by other non-Adobe products. However, while XMP stores EXIF, IPTC, Keywords, File rating flags, Color labels, and Develop settings, it doesn't store your edit history. So, XMP allows the outcome of the final edits to be read. So, lets say you cropped 8x10, then changed your mind to 5x5. The XMP will contain 5x5, not 8x10. Therefore you get 1) the original, unaltered RAW, and 2) your edit of the RAW. No, as far as I know the database is proprietary. I suppose one could consider it useless. But remember, most programs edit the actual image files. Since Lightroom never edits the image files (whether RAW or JPEG or PSD), you always have your untouched original. So, having your database would only give you your edits, which is no small thing mind you. But XMP gives you much of that. I have read that Bibble supports XMP, but do not have direct experience.

Thanks you for clairifying this. I needed to know just how far I could go with Lightroom, and how much I would have to abandon if I went to Linux for example.