Workflow tips for Lightroom Classic in 7 steps

Monday 17 July 2023, 14:41 by Nando Harmsen | 6,294 views | 9 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Editing a photo into a finished result is part of photography. What comes out of the camera is rarely perfect. How you edit a photo is very personal. I can give you a few tips for a pleasant workflow.

Editing a photo becomes less difficult when you have a good workflow. That workflow is different for everyone, in principle. After all, every photographer has a favourite way of working. But are you looking for your favourite way? Then these tips will help.

The tips are based on a workflow in Lightroom Classic. If you do not use that software, look at what is edited in each step. Your favourite software package will have that option too. It may look slightly different, but basically it is the same or comparable.

Step 1: Lens correction

Lens correction removes lens faults. Distortion, chromatic aberration and vignetting caused by the lens disappear.

But be careful, sometimes lens correction creates unwanted effects. You may only notice this later in the workflow. In that case, you need to go back and turn off lens correction. So always pay close attention.

Apply any transformations in this step too, straighten the horizon, and crop the photo to your preferred aspect ratio.

Step 2: Dust spots and blemishes

This is a good time to remove dust spots and blemishes. They may be difficult to see. It can therefore help to temporarily set the contrast very high, or apply Dehaze extremely strongly.

you can also make dust spots visible using Visualise Spots. See what works best for you. Do not forget to set the contrast or Dehaze back to 0 afterwards.

Step 3: Global exposure, colour and contrast

Optimise the exposure, highlights and shadows. Do not make this too extreme, but make sure the photo has the best possible appearance. Do not worry too much yet about areas that are far too light or dark. That comes in the next step.

Also optimise the colour using white balance and tint. Be a little careful here too, but remember that you can always adjust everything later. Nothing you do is final or irreversible.

Step 4: Local exposure and contrast

Once you have finished the global adjustments, it is time to adjust the exposure and contrast locally. Sometimes this is hardly necessary, while at other times it is essential.

You make local adjustments using masks. Use radial masks, linear masks, or object recognition. Do not be afraid to use more than one. Applying vignetting is also a form of local adjustment.

You can always go back a step from here and adjust the global edit. It is an interplay between global and local adjustments. Take your time.

Step 5: Mood and colour

This is not always necessary, and it is also very personal. When thinking about mood, consider effects such as the Orton effect, which gives the photo a dreamy appearance.

You can also create mood by adding a colour using colour gradients. It gives your photo a distinctive, unique appearance. Here too, you can go back a few steps to adjust the white balance.

If you have your own style, consider creating a preset from your colour gradient. This gives you a quick starting point with nothing more than the press of a button. You can then optimise the result further.

Step 6: Check the exposure and contrast again a day later>Although you can make further adjustments to the exposure and contrast during every step of your editing, it is a good idea to do this again after a day.

Although the editing of your photo was basically finished, further adjustments may still be needed. Your photo may have too little contrast or colour, or the editing may have gone too far. You only notice this once you have gained some distance. So look at the photo again a day later, and adjust what is needed.

Step 7: Sharpening and noise

In principle, this step is only needed when you are going to export the photo. You can of course deal with noise here too, but sharpening depends on how the photo will be used.

Sharpening for use on the internet is different from sharpening for print. Sharpening for a poster is also different from sharpening for a small postcard-sized print. You can only sharpen with a specific purpose once you are exporting for a particular use.

Adapt it to your own preferences

These 7 steps are of course not compulsory. They are not a holy grail that guarantees a good photo. But they can be used as a starting point for your personal workflow.

What are your steps when editing? Do you consistently follow a particular order, or do you let what you see guide you and work in a less structured way? Let us know in a comment below this post.

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About the author

Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.

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9 comments

guest wrote on Tuesday 18 July 2023 at 10:57 | reply
Nando, ik vind deze workflow handleiding echt heel tof. De uitleg erbij is ook goed te volgen. Toch heb ik nog een vraag.
Je noemt o.a. het toepassen van een Ortoneffect. Ik weet wat een Ortoneffect doet, maar de vraag is wanneer pas je het toe en wanneer niet. Nu zal je misschien zeggen dat het afhangt van de persoonlijke smaak. Dat is op zich juist. Maar kan je proberen te omschrijven bij welk type foto's je het zou kunnen gebruiken en bij welk type foto's juist niet?
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

Nando wrote on Tuesday 18 July 2023 at 11:30 | reply
Op je vraag is niet echt een antwoord te geven. Je weet wat het effect doet, en je eigen voorkeur bepaald of je het effect wil uitvoeren. Het type foto maakt daar niet bij uit.
Maar om de keuze wat te sturen. Een Orton effect geeft een dromerige sfeer. Als jouw foto een dromerige sfeer moet uitstralen, of je vindt het erbij passen, dan is dat misschien de geschikte foto daarvoor.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

Donald Willemsen wrote on Tuesday 18 July 2023 at 16:20 | reply
Dankjewel voor het antwoord op mijn vraag.
Daar kan ik wel wat mee. Ik ben ook een liefhebber van het softfocus effect zoals David Hamilton dat gebruikt. Opvallend is dan wel dat het bijna alleen bij tegenlicht een mooi effect geeft. Ik denk dat het bij het Ortoneffect ook zo kan zijn.
Blijkbaar gaat er op deze site wat mis, want die gast moet zijn Donald Willemsen. Het kan ook zijn dat het beter is om eerst in te loggen en dan pas een reactie te schrijven. Dan weet jij in ieder met wie je te aken hebt en dat is wel zo prettig, lijkt me.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

Jan Willem Hartmann wrote on Thursday 20 July 2023 at 15:37 | reply
Beste Nando, ik zie dat je in deze workflow ruisvermindering pas aan het einde toepast. Vanuit diverse Lightroom ambassadeurs wordt juist aangeraden om in de nieuwste versie, direct na de eerste globale aanpassing in ‘tone’ ruisvermindering toe te passen als dit nodig is en daarna de aanpassing ‘presence’ en de rest te doen. Zeker eerst ruisvermindering vóór vlekken verwijdering. Waarom jouw keus om ruis later aan te pakken
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

Nando wrote on Thursday 20 July 2023 at 16:14 | reply
Een goed opmerking. Inderdaad wordt er geadviseerd om dit als eerste te doen.
Echter, ik heb niet het idee dat het veel uitmaakt. Daarom blijf ik dit nadien doen.
Het kan wel eens interessant zijn om de proef op de som te nemen.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

Hanneke wrote on Thursday 20 July 2023 at 21:00 | reply
Ik wilde deze tips gaan toepassen bij het bewerken van mijn foto's gemaakt met Olympus Om1 mk 2. Maar Olympus komt niet in de merkenlijst voor. Waarom niet? Vr. groet Hanneke
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

MacBigfoot wrote on Thursday 18 April 2024 at 20:50 | reply
Met aan zekerheid grenzende waarschijnlijkheid:
RAW-files uit een Olympus (met extensie ORF) hebben deze correcties softwarematig al meegekregen uit de camera.

Er bestaat software om die correcties ongedaan te maken bij het importeren, en dan zelf aan de slag te gaan met correcties, of die andere software de correcties toe te laten passen.

Zelf denk ik: als een degelijk merk met goede apparatuur, waarvan je mag verwachten dat ze hun producten goed kennen, zelf de correcties toepassen: zouden third-parties softwaremakers dat dan beter kunnen?
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

Jan Willem Hartmann wrote on Thursday 20 July 2023 at 21:14 | reply
Beste Nando, in bijvoorbeeld deze video van Anthoney Morganti vond ik hierover duidelijke uitleg waarom eerst 'healing' toepassen voor 'masking'.
https://youtu.be/J3pnrY1iYJw
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

Nando wrote on Friday 21 July 2023 at 00:31 | reply
Klopt, Jan-Willem. Precies zoals ik in mijn stappenplan ook heb laten zien.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

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