Lightroom starter preset/workflow?

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542
Name
Joe
Edit My Images
Yes
Hello, would anyone be happy to offer any hints of tips in regards to their current workflow when dealing with raw files in Lightroom..

In particular I'm new to post processing as a whole & wondered if anyone could offer a good starting point as for settings (slider figures) that have been applied & used as preset which you apply to every raw file on import to bring out the colour as a better starting point than the in camera jpeg, to which you then either save as is or do further work if needed?

Many thanks :)
 
There isn't a single set, it depends on the photo and the look you are going for, you might want more or less contrast for example depending on the light in the original scene. Try the Auto button, it's not a bad place to start.
 
There isn't a single set, it depends on the photo and the look you are going for, you might want more or less contrast for example depending on the light in the original scene. Try the Auto button, it's not a bad place to start.

Thank you for the tips. :)
 
One thing I do to all my photos is to tick the lens distortion correction and the chromatic aberration buttons.
 
One thing I do to all my photos is to tick the lens distortion correction and the chromatic aberration buttons.

Thank you for the tip & actually I think from looking earlier today it seems this is done automatically through my Olympus camera :)
 
Copied from a reply in a previous thread, my workflow in Lightroom (6) goes bottom up:

Transform first to get the image properly straight IF NECESSARY, usually done manually because that way I can adjust the crop later.

Lens corrections, always applying CA corrections (occasionally manually - some of my lenses have huge CA) & toggling between lens profile on & off.

Sharpening next, I usually adjust radius to 0.7 or 0.8 for less sharp lenses, 0.6 for sharper glass - this helps sharpness a lot, reducing visible over-sharpening. I normally keep sharpening down to 55 (APS-C) or 65 (FF) and use masking to prevent excess busyness in OOF areas. Normally stay away from luminance noise reduction unless noise is extreme, but do sometimes use colour noise reduction in high ISO images.

Tone curve - I often boost highlights between 7 and 13 to bring a little sparkle unless the image is over-exposed & highlights need holding back.

Basic area - if the land and sky are unbalanced then I'll usually pull the sky back and boost the land using gradients or masking brush. Adjust temperature & tint, then exposure, then highlights & shadows if needed, then contrast & clarity (because this affects the W&B points) then white & black point. Very occasionally I'll lift or reduce vibrance, tend to leave saturation alone or reduce it slightly.

Sometimes at this point I'll go into HSL & adjust individual colour chrominance, saturation & hue, but not often unless I'm really struggling to get realistic colours in the basic panel. Occasionally too I'll use split toning - good for shots where highlights are warm & shadows cool etc. I don't do mono conversions in Lightroom.

Other things:
Using older Nikon & sony lenses I found myself wanting more clarity to increase contrast, apparent sharpness & pop - this often resulted in images that were hard & unrealistic, & needed to be reigned back. I also found that colours were warmer with these lenses, & typical daylight would require 5200K and +15 to +35 magenta for a more-or-less balanced image. Images on APS-C especially didn't tolerate excess sharpening well, with edges looking false, and halos could be a big problem if an image was pushed too hard. I also found the highlights and shadow controls to be very powerful.

Using modern Sony gear I often reduce clarity to get a softer, smoother image, because the combination of lenses and sensor deliver much more contrast and edge detail than is required or even desirable. Colours are much cooler, and daylight balance often required 5800K to 6000K with +2 to +7 magenta. I can sharpen a very long way if needed without artifacts, but that's unusual. Highlight and shadow sliders have far less effect, and I sometimes have to use the tone curve or local adjustments to get the control I want. The Sony A7 files have a huge amount of shadow recovery available.

I use brushes quite a bit where I want localised adjustment. The automask function can be very helpful, but is far from foolproof, and can cause trouble if you don't check what's been masked (press 'O' to toggle mask colour on/off). Reduce flow if trying to feather masking, building up layers in areas you want more mask, just leaving a single pass at around 20% where you want less. Generally it's best to work with what's in the image already, rather than trying to fake it (skies especially can look fake if overworked).

That'll do for now. ;)

Examples?

Rolling off clarity and choosing sensible sharpening allowed me to keep these beach huts looking clean & un-fussy, rather than harshly warts-and-all.
Next year yellow by Toni Ertl, on Flickr

This was shot on a day with overcast skies and rain in the air. I used the masking brush to darken & cool the water, then lift shadows & warm the foliage & bridge. They already had the right ingredients, but the image just needed a little help.
Bowmans Bridge 3 by Toni Ertl, on Flickr

Hope that's useful.
 
Hello, would anyone be happy to offer any hints of tips in regards to their current workflow when dealing with raw files in Lightroom..

In particular I'm new to post processing as a whole & wondered if anyone could offer a good starting point as for settings (slider figures) that have been applied & used as preset which you apply to every raw file on import to bring out the colour as a better starting point than the in camera jpeg, to which you then either save as is or do further work if needed?

Many thanks :)

I would tend to import, then process the first 'typical' image with the basics (sharpness, colour temperature, clarity, drop highlights 10/boost shadows 10 etc) then sync settings across all the images that are similar before doing the detailed processing for each.

Only tweak as much as is necessay & no more.
 
I would tend to import, then process the first 'typical' image with the basics (sharpness, colour temperature, clarity, drop highlights 10/boost shadows 10 etc) then sync settings across all the images that are similar before doing the detailed processing for each.

Only tweak as much as is necessay & no more.
I would tend to import, then process the first 'typical' image with the basics (sharpness, colour temperature, clarity, drop highlights 10/boost shadows 10 etc) then sync settings across all the images that are similar before doing the detailed processing for each.

Only tweak as much as is necessay & no more.

Good morning,

Thank you very much for your detailed advice & tips of the standard workflow you use.

It's given me an insight into the parts of LR I should be focusing on as a starter & I feel a bit more confident now about getting started with using the program.

Thanks again, very much appreciated
 
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