schachtb wrote:
In Bridge, edits to JPGs were also parked in a sidecar XMP (just like with RAW files), which is why I was curious that LR4 wouldn't do it in the same manner.
I am strongly in favor of the option to have all edits saved in sidecars (original masters to remain untouched) in Lightroom. I dunno why that option was abandoned in Lightroom. What were the filenames for these jpeg sidecars of which you speak? (e.g. did they include jpg sub-extension? - if not something like that, there is a xmp filename collision if x.nef in same folder as x.jpg, for example.
Consider wrapping master jpegs in DNG. Things pretty much work out about the same, except instead of exporting, you can update previews that can be viewed on Mac (or Windows) via DNG-smart viewer, and you'll never make the mistake of expecting them to be cooked (i.e. to have edits applied)... Granted, it's still an extra step (DNG previews are not auto-updated), but obviates the need for a tree export/publishing plugin.
PS - there are no general-purpose Mac apps that can interpret the Adobe dev recipe (adjustment metadata). - only Adobe apps...
Rob