Weird ACR issue
p.1 #1Weird ACR issue
Not huge, but being relatively new to ACR as my raw processor, I figured I’d ask this group what I might be doing wrong.
Say I convert an image to B&W and work it a bit in ACR, then open it as a smart object in PS. If I double-click the thumb in PS it reopens in ACR and lets me adjust tweak as it should. However if I toggle B&W off to render a color version and hit okay, it still re-opens as a B&W in PS, not color. Conversely, if I open it as a color image initially and now go back into ACR and convert it to B&W, it correctly reopens as B&W, except now I can go back and toggle B&W off and it reopens correctly in color. So it’s only a problem if I open it initially as a B&W, which seems weird, so am I doing something wrong that prevents the initial B&W to revert to color?
I often will work a good image in both color and B&W, so it’s a bit of an annoyance to have to open it twice or reverse my workflow to get what I want.
TIA!
Say I convert an image to B&W and work it a bit in ACR, then open it as a smart object in PS. If I double-click the thumb in PS it reopens in ACR and lets me adjust tweak as it should. However if I toggle B&W off to render a color version and hit okay, it still re-opens as a B&W in PS, not color. Conversely, if I open it as a color image initially and now go back into ACR and convert it to B&W, it correctly reopens as B&W, except now I can go back and toggle B&W off and it reopens correctly in color. So it’s only a problem if I open it initially as a B&W, which seems weird, so am I doing something wrong that prevents the initial B&W to revert to color?
I often will work a good image in both color and B&W, so it’s a bit of an annoyance to have to open it twice or reverse my workflow to get what I want.
TIA!
Sep 08, 2026 at 05:34 PM
p.1 #2Weird ACR issue
I can duplicate the issue in PS (Windows). Seems like a bug and definitely worth reporting. Is this just on the recent update to PS?
I use LRC for my initial edits (including any B&W conversions) and opening as a SO in PS and re-editing (back to colour) works as it should.
I use LRC for my initial edits (including any B&W conversions) and opening as a SO in PS and re-editing (back to colour) works as it should.
Sep 09, 2026 at 04:10 AM
p.1 #3Weird ACR issue
Personally, I only use OEM converters, i.e., DPP and Phocus. The reason is that only they have the secret sauce. I've had experiences where the converted files weren't just right- a little off, not all of the time, but enough.
Sep 09, 2026 at 05:56 AM
p.1 #4Weird ACR issue
Jack Flesher wrote:
Not huge, but being relatively new to ACR as my raw processor, I figured I’d ask this group what I might be doing wrong.
Say I convert an image to B&W and work it a bit in ACR, then open it as a smart object in PS. If I double-click the thumb in PS it reopens in ACR and lets me adjust tweak as it should. However if I toggle B&W off to render a color version and hit okay, it still re-opens as a B&W in PS, not color. Conversely, if I open it as a color image...Show more →
Hi @Jack Flesher
I have not 100% confirmed why Photoshop and ACR does this yet, but I'm pretty sure.
When in ACR you change to B&W mode, note at the bottom of the screen it is now going to open the Smart Object into PS as a gray gamma (or similar color space). When in PS that also sets the PS mode to Grayscale. That setting becomes part of the Smart Object wrapper. So even when you go back to ACR and change it back to color, the SO shell will convert it back to B&W no matter what you do.
There is a simple way to get around this. When you have finished your initial modifications in ACR, including setting it to B&W mode, change the color space at the bottom of the screen to an RGB color space. The SO will open as B&W, yet the color mode/space will remain in RGB. So when you go back to ACR, if you change back to color mode and save (note that at the bottom of the screen it will still keep it in RGB), when you save from ACR back to the Smart Object, it will be in color.
Of note, if in ACR on the second pass you change the color space back to Gray Gamma, the SO in PS will not change to Gray Gamma when saved. The SO wrapper, once the mode is set, keeps it that way, and anything coming in is converted to that initial color mode and space.
This is not the only characteristic that SOs keep in their wrapper even without ACR. If you take a regular image layer that is in e.g., Adobe RGB color space, turn it into an SO, and then open that SO, the color space of the opened SO is still Adobe RGB, yet if you convert the opened SO to a different color space, e.g., sRGB, and then save the opened SO, the original SO will remain in Adobe RGB. Effectively, the sRGB in the opened SO is converted back to Adobe RGB. So not all characteristics get passed back to the SO and are determined by the characteristics of the SO wrapper.
So it is not a bug.
I am not sure I explained this with enough clarity yet I hope that helps
John Wheeler
Not huge, but being relatively new to ACR as my raw processor, I figured I’d ask this group what I might be doing wrong.
Say I convert an image to B&W and work it a bit in ACR, then open it as a smart object in PS. If I double-click the thumb in PS it reopens in ACR and lets me adjust tweak as it should. However if I toggle B&W off to render a color version and hit okay, it still re-opens as a B&W in PS, not color. Conversely, if I open it as a color image...Show more →
Hi @Jack Flesher
I have not 100% confirmed why Photoshop and ACR does this yet, but I'm pretty sure.
When in ACR you change to B&W mode, note at the bottom of the screen it is now going to open the Smart Object into PS as a gray gamma (or similar color space). When in PS that also sets the PS mode to Grayscale. That setting becomes part of the Smart Object wrapper. So even when you go back to ACR and change it back to color, the SO shell will convert it back to B&W no matter what you do.
There is a simple way to get around this. When you have finished your initial modifications in ACR, including setting it to B&W mode, change the color space at the bottom of the screen to an RGB color space. The SO will open as B&W, yet the color mode/space will remain in RGB. So when you go back to ACR, if you change back to color mode and save (note that at the bottom of the screen it will still keep it in RGB), when you save from ACR back to the Smart Object, it will be in color.
Of note, if in ACR on the second pass you change the color space back to Gray Gamma, the SO in PS will not change to Gray Gamma when saved. The SO wrapper, once the mode is set, keeps it that way, and anything coming in is converted to that initial color mode and space.
This is not the only characteristic that SOs keep in their wrapper even without ACR. If you take a regular image layer that is in e.g., Adobe RGB color space, turn it into an SO, and then open that SO, the color space of the opened SO is still Adobe RGB, yet if you convert the opened SO to a different color space, e.g., sRGB, and then save the opened SO, the original SO will remain in Adobe RGB. Effectively, the sRGB in the opened SO is converted back to Adobe RGB. So not all characteristics get passed back to the SO and are determined by the characteristics of the SO wrapper.
So it is not a bug.
I am not sure I explained this with enough clarity yet I hope that helps
John Wheeler
Sep 09, 2026 at 09:06 AM
p.1 #5Weird ACR issue
John Wheeler wrote:
Say I convert an image to B&W and work it a bit in ACR, then open it as a smart object in PS. If I double-click the thumb in PS it reopens in ACR and lets me adjust tweak as it should. However if I toggle B&W off to render a color version and hit okay, it still re-opens as a B&W in PS, not color. Conversely, if I open it as a color image initially and now go back into ACR and convert it to B&W, it correctly reopens as B&W, except now I can go back and toggle B&W off and it reopens correctly in color. So it’s only a problem if I open it initially as a B&W, which seems weird, so am I doing something wrong that prevents the initial B&W to revert to color?
I often will work a good image in both color and B&W, so it’s a bit of an annoyance to have to open it twice or reverse my workflow to get what I want.
TIA!Hi @Jack Flesher@
I have not 100% confirmed why Photoshop and ACR does this yet, but I'm pretty sure.
When in ACR you change to B&W mode, note at the bottom of the screen it is now going to open the Smart Object into PS as a gray gamma (or similar color space). When in PS that also sets the PS mode to Grayscale. That setting becomes part of the Smart Object wrapper. So even when you go back to ACR and change it back to color, the SO shell will convert it back to B&W no matter what you do.
There...Show more →
Thank you, that makes sense 👍
But I think it should be something Adobe addresses more effectively. No real reason to export the SO in grayscale when we’re exporting a large colorspace file.
Jack Flesher wrote
Not huge, but being relatively new to ACR as my raw processor, I figured I’d ask this group what I might be doing wrong.Say I convert an image to B&W and work it a bit in ACR, then open it as a smart object in PS. If I double-click the thumb in PS it reopens in ACR and lets me adjust tweak as it should. However if I toggle B&W off to render a color version and hit okay, it still re-opens as a B&W in PS, not color. Conversely, if I open it as a color image initially and now go back into ACR and convert it to B&W, it correctly reopens as B&W, except now I can go back and toggle B&W off and it reopens correctly in color. So it’s only a problem if I open it initially as a B&W, which seems weird, so am I doing something wrong that prevents the initial B&W to revert to color?
I often will work a good image in both color and B&W, so it’s a bit of an annoyance to have to open it twice or reverse my workflow to get what I want.
TIA!
I have not 100% confirmed why Photoshop and ACR does this yet, but I'm pretty sure.
When in ACR you change to B&W mode, note at the bottom of the screen it is now going to open the Smart Object into PS as a gray gamma (or similar color space). When in PS that also sets the PS mode to Grayscale. That setting becomes part of the Smart Object wrapper. So even when you go back to ACR and change it back to color, the SO shell will convert it back to B&W no matter what you do.
There...Show more →
Thank you, that makes sense 👍
But I think it should be something Adobe addresses more effectively. No real reason to export the SO in grayscale when we’re exporting a large colorspace file.
Sep 09, 2026 at 09:21 AM
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p.1 #6Weird ACR issue
Jack Flesher wrote:
Say I convert an image to B&W and work it a bit in ACR, then open it as a smart object in PS. If I double-click the thumb in PS it reopens in ACR and lets me adjust tweak as it should. However if I toggle B&W off to render a color version and hit okay, it still re-opens as a B&W in PS, not color. Conversely, if I open it as a color image initially and now go back into ACR and convert it to B&W, it correctly reopens as B&W, except now I can go back and toggle B&W off and it reopens correctly in color. So it’s only a problem if I open it initially as a B&W, which seems weird, so am I doing something wrong that prevents the initial B&W to revert to color?
I often will work a good image in both color and B&W, so it’s a bit of an annoyance to have to open it twice or reverse my workflow to get what I want.
TIA!Hi @Jack Flesher@@
I have not 100% confirmed why Photoshop and ACR does this yet, but I'm pretty sure.
When in ACR you change to B&W mode, note at the bottom of the screen it is now going to open the Smart Object into PS as a gray gamma (or similar color space). When in PS that also sets the PS mode to Grayscale. That setting becomes part of the Smart Object wrapper. So even when you go back to ACR and change it back to color, the SO shell will convert it back to B&W no matter what you do.
There is a simple way to get around this. When you have finished your initial modifications in ACR, including setting it to B&W mode, change the color space at the bottom of the screen to an RGB color space. The SO will open as B&W, yet the color mode/space will remain in RGB. So when you go back to ACR, if you change back to color mode and save (note that at the bottom of the screen it will still keep it in RGB), when you save from ACR back to the Smart Object, it will be in color.
Of note, if in ACR on the second pass you change the color space back to Gray Gamma, the SO in PS will not change to Gray Gamma when saved. The SO wrapper, once the mode is set, keeps it that way, and anything coming in is converted to that initial color mode and space.
This is not the only characteristic that SOs keep in their wrapper even without ACR. If you take a regular image layer that is in e.g., Adobe RGB color space, turn it into an SO, and then open that SO, the color space of the opened SO is still Adobe RGB, yet if you convert the opened SO to a different color space, e.g., sRGB, and then save the opened SO, the original SO will remain in Adobe RGB. Effectively, the sRGB in the opened SO is converted back to Adobe RGB. So not all characteristics get passed back to the SO and are determined by the characteristics of the SO wrapper.
So it is not a bug.
I am not sure I explained this with enough clarity yet I hope that helps
John WheelerThank you, that makes sense 👍
But I think it's something Adobe should address more effectively. No real reason to export the SO in grayscale when we’re exporting a large colorspace file.
That would be my preference as well. One of those "features" not well documented by Photoshop.
Just to add a bit more oddity, if in ACR, rather than changing the mode to B&W, one just turns down the saturation; if you change it down to -100, it gets sent to the SO as gray space, yet if the Saturation is just -99, it keeps it as RGB. I am sure that is Adobe "just tryint ot be helpful:
Also, in PS, if you want to change the SO wrapper, you can convert it from Grayspace back to RGB (Convert to Profile), which is another path to get around the issue.
I.E., a work around Adobe's "helpfulness"
John Wheeler
John Wheeler wrote
Jack Flesher wrote
Not huge, but being relatively new to ACR as my raw processor, I figured I’d ask this group what I might be doing wrong.Say I convert an image to B&W and work it a bit in ACR, then open it as a smart object in PS. If I double-click the thumb in PS it reopens in ACR and lets me adjust tweak as it should. However if I toggle B&W off to render a color version and hit okay, it still re-opens as a B&W in PS, not color. Conversely, if I open it as a color image initially and now go back into ACR and convert it to B&W, it correctly reopens as B&W, except now I can go back and toggle B&W off and it reopens correctly in color. So it’s only a problem if I open it initially as a B&W, which seems weird, so am I doing something wrong that prevents the initial B&W to revert to color?
I often will work a good image in both color and B&W, so it’s a bit of an annoyance to have to open it twice or reverse my workflow to get what I want.
TIA!
I have not 100% confirmed why Photoshop and ACR does this yet, but I'm pretty sure.
When in ACR you change to B&W mode, note at the bottom of the screen it is now going to open the Smart Object into PS as a gray gamma (or similar color space). When in PS that also sets the PS mode to Grayscale. That setting becomes part of the Smart Object wrapper. So even when you go back to ACR and change it back to color, the SO shell will convert it back to B&W no matter what you do.
There is a simple way to get around this. When you have finished your initial modifications in ACR, including setting it to B&W mode, change the color space at the bottom of the screen to an RGB color space. The SO will open as B&W, yet the color mode/space will remain in RGB. So when you go back to ACR, if you change back to color mode and save (note that at the bottom of the screen it will still keep it in RGB), when you save from ACR back to the Smart Object, it will be in color.
Of note, if in ACR on the second pass you change the color space back to Gray Gamma, the SO in PS will not change to Gray Gamma when saved. The SO wrapper, once the mode is set, keeps it that way, and anything coming in is converted to that initial color mode and space.
This is not the only characteristic that SOs keep in their wrapper even without ACR. If you take a regular image layer that is in e.g., Adobe RGB color space, turn it into an SO, and then open that SO, the color space of the opened SO is still Adobe RGB, yet if you convert the opened SO to a different color space, e.g., sRGB, and then save the opened SO, the original SO will remain in Adobe RGB. Effectively, the sRGB in the opened SO is converted back to Adobe RGB. So not all characteristics get passed back to the SO and are determined by the characteristics of the SO wrapper.
So it is not a bug.
I am not sure I explained this with enough clarity yet I hope that helps
John Wheeler
But I think it's something Adobe should address more effectively. No real reason to export the SO in grayscale when we’re exporting a large colorspace file.
That would be my preference as well. One of those "features" not well documented by Photoshop.
Just to add a bit more oddity, if in ACR, rather than changing the mode to B&W, one just turns down the saturation; if you change it down to -100, it gets sent to the SO as gray space, yet if the Saturation is just -99, it keeps it as RGB. I am sure that is Adobe "just tryint ot be helpful:
Also, in PS, if you want to change the SO wrapper, you can convert it from Grayspace back to RGB (Convert to Profile), which is another path to get around the issue.
I.E., a work around Adobe's "helpfulness"
John Wheeler
Sep 09, 2026 at 09:35 AM
p.1 #7Weird ACR issue
Very interesting. Another minor work around when doing the initial edits including B&W conversion is to make the smallest adjustment on one of the colour wheels in the Colour Grading tab. This switches the profile back to RGB and allows you to turn back to colour with a re-edit. A preset makes this an easy edit and it will have no visible effect.
Sep 09, 2026 at 10:13 AM
p.1 #8Weird ACR issue
Appreciate the suggestions. Interesting update for posterity. I worked an ACR up in B&W and before opening it, toggled the grayscale bar at the bottom of the screen and changed it to my preferred working P3, per @John Wheeler 's suggestion. Of course this didn't affect the look of the image at all, and then I opened it as a SO and all works as it should. Now to the interesting part. I worked up another image, and changed to B&W, but it held as P3(!) in ACR without me needing to do anything. So it seems ACR has "learned" my preference for staying in P3 for B&W conversions. FWIW
Edited on Sep 09, 2026 at 10:41 AM · View previous versions
Edited on Sep 09, 2026 at 10:41 AM · View previous versions
Sep 09, 2026 at 10:28 AM
p.1 #9Weird ACR issue
I guess you are not a Lightroom Classic user? I poked around there and found that in the LRC Preferences, in the External Editing tab the colour space appears to be set manually.. Mine is set to Pro Photo (default maybe?) so I assume this manages the profile of the SO when opened into PS. What is also interesting is that when re-edited in ACR and the B&W is tuned off then back on again (3rd edit) the profile in ACR turns to grayscale, but then on another re-edit in ACR turning it to colour the profile turns back to RGB and the file opens in colour. In LRC you can also create a virtual copy so that you have 2 versions with no extra storage.
Sep 09, 2026 at 10:40 AM
p.1 #10Weird ACR issue
mcbroomf wrote:
I guess you are not a Lightroom Classic user? I poked around there and found that in the LRC Preferences, in the External Editing tab the colour space appears to be set manually.. Mine is set to Pro Photo (default maybe?) so I assume this manages the profile of the SO when opened into PS. What is also interesting is that when re-edited in ACR and the B&W is tuned off then back on again (3rd edit) the profile in ACR turns to grayscale, but then on another re-edit in ACR turning it to colour the profile turns back to...Show more →
I do not like the LRc interface, actually the requirement for a catalog, so no I do not use it. My own file structure and working with ACR is far preferable for me.
Per the above, it seems once I set my B&W preference in ACR to my desired working space --in my case 16-bit P3-- it seems to have held. IOW, it seems that ACR holds different output preference sets for color and B&W.
I guess you are not a Lightroom Classic user? I poked around there and found that in the LRC Preferences, in the External Editing tab the colour space appears to be set manually.. Mine is set to Pro Photo (default maybe?) so I assume this manages the profile of the SO when opened into PS. What is also interesting is that when re-edited in ACR and the B&W is tuned off then back on again (3rd edit) the profile in ACR turns to grayscale, but then on another re-edit in ACR turning it to colour the profile turns back to...Show more →
I do not like the LRc interface, actually the requirement for a catalog, so no I do not use it. My own file structure and working with ACR is far preferable for me.
Per the above, it seems once I set my B&W preference in ACR to my desired working space --in my case 16-bit P3-- it seems to have held. IOW, it seems that ACR holds different output preference sets for color and B&W.
Sep 09, 2026 at 10:43 AM