Okay… so I take three bracketed photos into Photoshop Elements 11 from Aperture 3. I do a photomerge on the three photos and end up with the 4th merged photo. So when I try to save that final 4th photo it does not go back into my aperture library. I'm not even entirely sure where it goes… I can't find it on my computer. I can save it onto my desktop and then drag it back into Aperture and then drag that photo back into the “project” I am working on, but that is a lot of saving and dragging. Is there a way to make a “new” photograph in Photoshop Elements and then save it back into Aperture and into the Project you are working on? Hope this makes sense! Thanks for any help!
When you edit an image with a plug-in or external editor like PSE 11, Aperture actually creates a new original file and tells PSE to open this file (or files). These new originals are created inside the Aperture library so Aperture already knows about them and as long as you save over the original file name, they will remain in Aperture.
When you create a new file in PSE, Aperture has no clue about it so you need to import that file into Aperture after you have finished saving it in PSE. (I see you’ve discovered this). When you select the save command in PSE, doesn’t a dialog box open asking for a filename and location? It should show where it will be saving it.
There is one other thing you can do, but I’m not sure it is any less steps… Once you create the new merged file in PSE, flatten the file and do a select all and then copy. Then go to one of the 3 images you used to create the merged file (in PSE) and paste it over the top. Flatten the file and save it in PSE. Since this file was created by Aperture, it will be saved in the library. Except it will contain the merged image instead of the original image. When you close out PSE and go back to Aperture, your merged image will show up as one of the 3 you sent to PSE. You can delete the other 2 new originals that Aperture created when you invoked PSE.
It is actually easier to do than all the words I used to explain it.
Thomas