LR3 to CS5

I have LR3 and CS5 but when I want to edit a photo in CS5 from LR3 the edit in photoshop link is grayed out. I did not have this problem with LR2 to CS4. I am trying to avoid the Adobe help desk, so any suggestions will be appreciated!

If you installed CS5 after installing LR3, LR3 might not "realize" CS5 is there. Try reinstalling LR3.

I don't know that you'd need to re-install. In older versions of LR, there was a setting in the options to tell it where PS was. I don't know if it's still there, but reinstalling sounds drastic.

Perhaps LR3 is different and I only have LR2, but a LR2 reinstall is/was not drastic. Installing an update for LR2 was just a matter of downloading and installing the updated LR2 right over the top of the previous version.

Yes Brian, David is right. Reinstalling is extreme. All you have to do is open LR and go to Preferences. There you'll see a screen with about 5 tabs and the middle is "External File Handling". There you can have the option to set up a primary and secondary application. I have CS4 set up as my primary and DPP as my secondary. So when I want to open an image in LR in another app, I have the option.

Hope that helps

Garry

..but a LR2 reinstall is/was not drastic

Even if it's simple and quick I'd still call it drastic. It would replace a lot of files, touch the registry if it's Windows, remove any custom settings you've made, etc. Hopefully it would be simple, but there is the possibility that things could get screwy. Also a lot more work than is necessary and prevents Brian from understanding how a simple settings change could have fixed his issue.

So, yes, I would call it drastic.

I agree with David. When programs are reinstalled, the old files should be replaced with new files. Sometimes installers are not perfect and leave remnants of the old program behind. When this happens, there may be incompatibilities between the new files and the old ones. This can cause serious problems that can be devilish to resolve.

There seems to be paradigm among some computer users that goes something like this: 'My program doesn't work right. I'll just uninstall and reinstall, and that will fix it.' Not! In the vast majority of cases, trouble shooting to identify the cause will usually lead to a simpler fix.

As an example, There was a serious issue with MS Expression Web v4 (a web dev app). Users who researched the issue found that the problem was not with EW, but with Kapersky Anti-Virus! Kapersky worked with MS and released a fix. My point here is that the problem may be with the program, and maybe not; it could be the OS, or a conflict with another program which cannot be rectified by reinstalling the program.

Garry and David also bring up an important point regarding using the programs we have installed on our machines: We need to learn how to use them, and know how to make changes to preferences and settings that are often hidden away.

Remember that the F1 (Help) key never broke anything!

I hope you get this sorted out, Brian.

--P

Thanks for all the quick responses!! I followed Gary's recommendation first and it worked. I will follow Preston's suggestions with future software issues I face.