Lightroom, suggested editing process ??

tonybassplayer

tonybassplayer

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Tony
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Relative newcomer to digital photography and really loving the whole experience of going out for a few hours and then coming home to download the pictures on to my laptop and see what it have managed to get.

I bought the Lightroom and Photoshop CC bundle and starting to get to grips with Lightroom but my editing process is a little random at the moment

I tend to add a little colour where required, adjust the shadows and brightness, up the sharpening etc but just wondered if there is a basic suggested process and a particular order of events that is reccomended

Many thanks

Amazing forum by the way, learnt so much and log on daily.
 
I have always been lead to believe that you start at the top slider of the basic panel and work down the list of sliders.

I too would be interested to hear peoples views on editing in lightroom
 
Start by scrolling down to the bottom of the develop menu and entering "Lens Corrections" . Click "Enable Profile Corrections" This will add corrections for your particular body/lens combo, such as barrel distortion and vignetting. When it comes to processing you will have fewer problems to deal with; for example a straight horizon will be easier to correct it than a curved one. I understand you can set Lightroom up to do this on import.

Then it's back up to the processing section (blacks/whites/shadows/highlights) . Moving the black slider to the left will add apparent saturation to your colours. If the image then looks too dark I then tend to open up the shadows. Moving whites to the right will give your image a brighter look; if the highlights are then overcooked you can move the highlights slider to he left to counteract this. For me these are the basic processing tools. You can then fine-tune things with for example a little vibrance (possibly), and/or select particular areas using the adjustment brush and work on those.

It's probably a matter of personal preference in the end what order you do things in.
 
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Play with all the tools so that you can see what they do. It's non-destructive so you've nothing to lose - you can revert.

Back in the real world, don't think that you have to use all the tools available. Each image is different and some need less processing than others. Quell any desires to over-hype images. There's no rigid order - you will learn to improvise by experience.

Sharpening is really best reserved as the last step before export at a particular pixel size.
 
Tip
Hold the alt key down when moving the highlight, shadow,blacks,whites & Exposure :)
 
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Hi Tony - how's basschat these days?

Anyway, my LR workflow is as follows:
Lens corrections - enable profile corrections, remove chromatic aberrations, straighten if required with either auto or manual tools. If CR is bad (check 1:1) then go to the colour tab and use the eye dropper to select CR for neutralisation.
Detail - I normally set luminance noise to just drop the noise a little, which requires about 15 for my Sony, whatever ISO, generally leave sharpness alone, may boost colour noise if there's a lot of CN in the image.
Basic tab - set white balance if needed, use exposure to adjust mid tones, highlights & shadows for tones at either end to taste or control stuff out of range (hold alt key to see JUST what's out of range) set white & black points (holding alt key). Tweak clarity if needed (usually between 6 & 30 - the image may appear sharper with more) and maybe vibrance/saturation.
At this point I'll also remove dust spots & do other cloning if needed, brushwork, gradients to polish the image.
Tone curve - generally ignore except where I'm trying to do something unnatural.
HSL/Colour/B&W - Some colours may need tweaking up or down - always go sparingly - and normally start with saturation, then luminance and finally hue. May find that tweaks here require a return to Basic tab for more corrections.
Split toning - generally reserved for B&W.
Effects - may add a little vignette, though I prefer the vignettes in Perfect Effects.

The reasoning behind this workflow is that everything is designed to correct the image progressively, hence first removing mechanical flaws, then noise, before actually developing the image. Generally I import my Sony images using a preset that includes the lens and detail corrections so that I can go straight to the basic tab, however I'm having to rethink the process with my D610 because Nikon RAW images are all over the place compared to those form the Sony.
 
jerry12953 said:
Toni,

Interesting to note that you also use Lens corrections first as well. It seems curious - to say the least - that Adobe put it close to the bottom of the Develop panel.
Click to expand...

Me too, I would put lens correction as a default on import but LR recognises my Tamron 24-70 as a Sigma : / However if that's not an issue for others it would be a time saver.
 
One of my lenses has a bit of barrel but it's only an issue when there are important rectilinear elements in the frame, so mostly I ignore lens corrections. Actually, one of the things I enjoy (or not) about lenses is the 'personality' of their rendering, so I'm resistant to what could be seen as a sanitisation of this.

I don't think I've ever touched the saturation tool. Why would one?

I always have the histogram visible as a reference.
 
Lightroom is a workflow tool, the first thing before any editing is grading and selection. Use the library module and go though the images grading them with the star system (keys 1-5) for scoring. Remove or delete any unwanted shots. So say 1 star as keepers on the first pass. Then go through again and set to two stars any that you think are the better ones and maybe need a little editing.
Then do your editing, and grade those between 3 and 5 stars. You can then use the colour flags for additional subsets.

Easy then to select just your best shots for printing, exporting etc.
 
On my slow and old laptop I leave lens correction to the last unless it is so distorted. It seems to slow the laptop when doing editing, at least on my setup. (LR5.7) If you are just starting I would advise to get started with good habits like file naming, keyword tagging, backing up. (All the stuff I haven't done till now :()
 
droj said:
One of my lenses has a bit of barrel but it's only an issue when there are important rectilinear elements in the frame, so mostly I ignore lens corrections. Actually, one of the things I enjoy (or not) about lenses is the 'personality' of their rendering, so I'm resistant to what could be seen as a sanitisation of this.

I don't think I've ever touched the saturation tool. Why would one?

I always have the histogram visible as a reference.
Click to expand...

I'm wondering why people are so worried about lens "imperfections" - I have always disabled this type of correction as you can end up with shots being too "clinical" if they have every sort of imperfection surgically removed - a bit like listening to vinyl where a few pops and crackles seem to add more character compared with clinical cd
 
boliston said:
I'm wondering why people are so worried about lens "imperfections" - I have always disabled this type of correction as you can end up with shots being too "clinical" if they have every sort of imperfection surgically removed - a bit like listening to vinyl where a few pops and crackles seem to add more character compared with clinical cd
Click to expand...

And that I find interesting too. What I see happen with lens corrections is removal of distortion, CA and unintended vignetting, none of which I find charming in my particular set up. The characteristics that I don't want removed from my lenses, like smooth bokeh and fine detail from my 50 1.4, crisp microcontrast from my Zeiss 16-80 remain untouched. To me, it's all about setting up the workspace before starting development - I can add all the distortions etc back later if that might add to the image.
 
ancient_mariner said:
And that I find interesting too. What I see happen with lens corrections is removal of distortion, CA and unintended vignetting, none of which I find charming in my particular set up. The characteristics that I don't want removed from my lenses, like smooth bokeh and fine detail from my 50 1.4, crisp microcontrast from my Zeiss 16-80 remain untouched. To me, it's all about setting up the workspace before starting development - I can add all the distortions etc back later if that might add to the image.
Click to expand...

I too would of thought that the corrections would be desirable and intend to try and set up a import preset to do this.
 
Many thanks for the comprehensive replies.

I have been doing most of the suggested ideas but not necccesarily in the right order and I need to get a little more disciplined with my approach.

The online tutorials are really good but it's nice to get an idea of what happens in the real world :-)
 
tonybassplayer said:
Many thanks for the comprehensive replies.

I have been doing most of the suggested ideas but not necccesarily in the right order and I need to get a little more disciplined with my approach.

The online tutorials are really good but it's nice to get an idea of what happens in the real world :)
Click to expand...

I use a preset on import which does lens corrections and performs the auto setting of the Basic panel. I then have a standard start point for editing. I then go through
Dehaze - this can be influenced by the sliders also so it may be worthwhile doing the auto after this.
Basic sliders, Vibrance, Clarity, Saturation
Detail: Noise reduction, Sharpening
Colour enhancement (HSL, Colour etc)
Cropping
Tone curve
Local adjustments (clone, heal, local exposure changes)
Effects
 
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