I used Adobe Photoshop Elements. I edit RAW files from my Canon 7D. When Adobe apps edit a RAW file they generate an XMP that stores the edits externally, rather than changing the actual RAW file. But then when I open the RAW file later, it automatically loads the edits from the XMP file.
How can I go back to the original RAW file without deleting the XMP file and losing the first version I edited?
Either re-name the XMP file, or duplicate and re-name the RAW file.
Seems to me that your best bet might be to just copy the RAW files to a separate directory for safekeeping before you start editing them. That way, you’ll have one set of files that are untouched, and another that are edited and linked to the XMP file.
Of course, your problem might be a function of Photoshop Elements too. If you use a different program to view your RAW file, do the XMP edits show up there too? If not, then it’s likely that using Photoshop Elements to view them is where the problem lies- there might be a switch to turn off loading XMP edits or something.
I don’t have another program to edit RAW files, so not sure. I am assuming that the only link from a RAW file to the XMP is the file name, rather than metadata in the file, so I always make a copy of a RAW file anytime even after I’ve already created an XMP by editing. It does seem to defeat the purpose of having the edits in a separate file, though. I sometimes explicitly save RAW edits as a .dng file, then open the dng file to select the set of edits I want to work on. I haven’t checked to see how or if that affects the XMP file.
My guess is that the link is probably either within Photoshop Elements somewhere as some kind of table that keeps track of which XMP corresponds to which RAW file, or maybe within the XMP itself. I doubt they change the RAW file.
Can you save a copy of the RAW files and reimport them? That might work.