Tip of the day - Photo Basic Editing Software and workflow
Basic Editing Software– My Choices
Choosing the right tool for the job
I get asked this question a lot. What software do you use to edit photos? The answer has remained the same for over ten years though I know the amount of time spent in any one of the apps and overall has changed and reduced dramatically.
Adobe Lightroom Classic - This is the desktop version not the cut-down lite version for cloud-based storage and editing on your tablet.
DxO NIK Collection - formerly NIK, then Google NIK. Still available as a free download or purchase the latest version for around £85
Adobe Photoshop. The Photography Plan (20GB) is £9.98 a month with a Creative Cloud Subscription but you will receive Lightroom Classic and Photoshop
The illustration shows my own workflow and thought processes. The tasks in the grey box are not done to every photo and not always in that order though typically it will go something like this;
5 Basic Editing Software Steps in Lightroom
Lens Corrections and Transform for levels
Crop the photograph if needed
Spot Removal (Grrrrr, Lightroom’s spot removal tool can be annoyingly inconsistent and doesn’t always do a good job, so this sometimes has to be done in Photoshop)
Exposure adjustments in the Basic Panel. Shadows, Highlights, Whites and Blacks
White Balance refinement if needed/wanted
At this point, I decide on how I want to style the image. If that can easily be done in Lightroom with the range of tools available then it’s done there. If not I edit the image in NIK Collection to Color Effex or Silver Effex if B&W.
I’ll answer the obvious question that will be asked. Why don’t I just do it all in Lightroom? The answer is that I could do that and have done so many times over the years, however if I can do a better and/or easier job in NIK then why make it harder. Would you use a hand drill to drill a hole when you have an electric one next to you? NIK also has pre-sets/recipes of a style I have created before so it’s often very easy and quick to use one of my saved recipes as a starting point and then refine things from there.
I will post some tips and useful links on using NIK tomorrow and am thinking of running a webinar soon demonstrating the editing workflow below.
Editing Workflow - Click image to download pdf
If you want to support my business and invest something for when we return to normal working ways you can buy yourself a digital gift voucher. You can redeem the voucher at any time against any event or service. You’ll be spending a little bit now for future use and I will have a little bit of cash flowing in, a win-win. Thanks