A repeatable editing workflow

Use this sequence as a starting point. Skip steps you don't need and return to earlier adjustments as the image develops.

1. Review and compose

Open a photo in the Editor (Ctrl+2). Decide what you want to correct or emphasize.

Press C to crop and straighten. Use ∠ Level to level the image, choose an aspect ratio, and click Done.

Throughout the edit, hold B to view the original or press \ for a before/after split.

2. Prepare the RAW file

For RAW photos, start in the RAW tab. Check the profile, white balance, exposure, highlight and shadow detail, sharpening, and color noise reduction.

Leave settings at their defaults if the image already looks right. See Developing RAW files.

3. Choose a starting look

You can build the grade yourself or start with a recipe or an imported LUT.

Apply a recipe before making detailed adjustments: it replaces the settings it includes. An imported LUT provides a base for your pins, curves, and sliders.

If you have an image you want to use as a visual guide, add it as a reference.

4. Set white balance and tone

Open White balance (W) to correct a cast. Use Pick neutral if the photo contains an area you know should be gray. You can keep some warmth or coolness if it suits the scene.

Open Tone (T) to set overall exposure, then adjust contrast, brightness, highlights, and shadows. Use the Tone curve for more specific tonal changes.

These controls apply before your color pins. See Tone and contrast.

5. Shape the colors

Read the color cloud on the wheel, then choose the main colors you want to change.

Click a color to place a pin, or hold Ctrl and drag over an area to sample its color and lightness. Move the pin to adjust hue and chroma, and use the Lightness strip to lighten or darken it.

Start with the main color changes. Select a pin and hold H to check which areas it affects.

See The color wheel and Editing colors.

6. Refine the selection and intensity

Choose the control that fits the adjustment:

• Lightness range limits a pin to highlights, midtones, shadows, or a custom tonal range.
• Variance in the Pin panel gathers a pin's hues toward one color or spreads them apart.
• Radial or linear masks limit pins to a region. Create or select the mask before placing its pins.
• Protect colors preserves selected colors while other pins adjust the image.
• Saturation, Color EQ, and Chroma curve refine color intensity across the photo, by hue, or by chroma.

See Luminance masks, Pin panel, Masks, and Saturation controls.

7. Create a B&W version, if needed

Open B&W (3), choose a film look, and use the B&W EQ to adjust how source colors become gray.

Your color pins and B&W EQ settings are kept separately. White balance, Tone sliders, and the Tone curve are shared between both versions.

See Black and white.

8. Check detail and add grain

Open Histogram and enable Clipping to check highlights and shadows. Correct lost detail where it matters; intentional deep blacks or bright light sources may still clip.

If you want grain, open Film grain and judge its texture in the 100% loupe. Then check the full image to see how it fits the photo.

See Film grain.

9. Save and export

To reuse the adjustments, save a recipe. For other photos from the same shoot, Copy look and Paste look let you choose which settings to transfer.

Select the Color or B&W version you want to export, then open Export (Ctrl+3). Choose the format, size, and destination, and add any borders, frames, or watermarks under Finishing.

Export creates a new file and leaves the original unchanged. See Exporting and Borders, frames, and watermarks.