Before and after comparison in ACR 14.1

[popcorn]

Hi everyone,

I must have some parameter set incorrectly somewhere in 2023.

When I use "before and after" comparative widow in ACR, it functions correctly the first time.
I compare my edit with the original.

If I exit that widow, and later come back to compare the "before and after" images, the before window no longer displays the original but instead displays the previous edited version.
This never happened to me in the previous versions of ACR.
Can I set it up differently?
 

[pontiac1940]

I never use the before and after feature, so for what it's worth. 
I opened a dark raw file that had not been previously edited. It was lightened and then opened in PSE and the image saved as a jpg. 

When I opened the raw fill again, as expected the adjusted image opened. When I clicked the before-after toggle, both windows showed the lightened version. (? ? ) When the default settings was toggled  (pink arrow) the unedited version displayed BUT it was called after and the adjusted version was the before.

That just seems odd. 

[Andy]

I'm not an ACR expert as I mostly use Lightroom first. So I can't really say how older versions work. I did test just now in PSE2022/ACR 15.1.0.1329 and can replicate the above results.
If you open the file in ACR and then make a change to the RAW file, it puts those settings into a .xmp file with the same name as the file (if you select the "Done" button). I suspect that when you reopen the file, it reads that .xmp file and treats those settings as the original.

[pontiac1940]

Andy, that is exactly what happens. The xmp file stores the edits. If the file is deleted, the unedited original image opens.

[michelb]

Did you notice the four icons aligned vertically from the top right corner?

The 4th one, [...] just under the eye, is a menu allowing to switch to different settings, Reset to open, reset to default, apply previous settings...

That's another way to toggle between before and after.

As I see it, the xmp file is not the only place where the settings are stored when you exit the ACR with 'Done' or 'Open'. There is a copy of the just closed list of settings stored somewhere in PSE to allow retrieving the 'previous settings'.

[popcorn]

Hi
If I open an image
I then process it by pushing the Temp to the far left ( it is blue )
I click DONE and save it.

Then open this saved NEF blue file in ACR
It comes in as a Blue file
I change the processing and move the Temp to the far right ( it is yellow )

At the bottom right of the screen there are two icons
a black square which gives access to the the comparison window.
a split square which toggles between the default settings and the new edited setting.

If I click on the toggle it will alternate the screen between the latest setting and the original default setting.
If I click on the black square it display the first (blue) edit compared to the original (default setting )

If I revert to single view and toggle the split square, it will now display the latest edit ( yellow )
If I now click on the solid square, it will display the blue edit compared to the latest ( yellow ) edit

Merely by clicking the toggle you can alternate between the comparison of the blue edit with the original default
or the blue edit with the latest yellow edit.

I can now compare my final edit (yellow) with both the default and the first edit (blue)

I am sure that you both know this, but I didn't and I think its cool!