Picture Post-Processing

The goal of post-processing is to enhance the image to tell the story you want to tell. It's not about making the image look good, but rather to make it look the way you want it to look. Usually, you want to put more emphasis on the subject and use the other elements to support it.

Most of the items in here should be changed in the way that best serves the story you want to tell and these are just some techniques that you can use to achieve that.

Preread

• this document (web archive link) for getting a better understanding of terminology and concepts
• this video has been used as a reference for this document
• this video also has some good tips on color grading

The Process

1. Enable profile corrections under the lens correction tab
   • Check "Remove Chromatic Aberration"
   • Check "Enable Profile Corrections"
2. Crop the image to get the desired composition that tells the story you want to tell
   • Play with different cuts to see which one works best
   • If there isn't a good cut, it's possible that the image was not composed well in the first place and lacks a clear subject and it might not be worth spending time on it.
   • Either include a whole object or cut it out completely
3. Adjust the exposure
   • Enable alerts for overexposed and underexposed areas
   • Don't make the photo too bright or too dark.
   • It's possible to improve areas that are too dark or too bright with other tools.
4. Adjust the white balance
   • Use the white balance picker to pick a neutral color
   • Use temperature to make the image warmer or cooler
5. Adjust the tone and brightness
   • You can adjust these globally or locally (with masks)
   • Local adjustments can be used to remedy areas that are too dark or too bright
   • Adjust shadows and highlights
   • You can use the tone curve as well
6. Adjust details of the subject
   • Use masks to adjust the subject separately from the background
   • Adjust clarity
7. Adjust colors
   • Adjust vibrance and saturation
   • Use color mixer to adjust specific colors
   • Tone curve can be used to adjust colors as well
8. Noise reduction
   • Use luminance noise reduction
9. Adjust sharpening on the details tab
10. Wait for a while, then come back and see if you still like the image and repeat the steps if necessary

tip

You can speed up the process by creating presets for each step and applying them to the images.