A good edit reveals what you saw; a heavy one replaces it. A consistent order of operations keeps edits clean and quick.
1. Import and back up
Copy files from the card to two places before formatting it. Add keywords and location as you import — your future self will thank you.
2. Cull
Flag the best frames quickly, then compare similar ones side by side. Reject soft frames at 100% zoom. Be ruthless; a few strong images beat many average ones.
3. Lens corrections
Enable profile corrections (distortion and vignetting) and remove chromatic aberration. Do this first; it changes how everything else looks.
4. White balance
Set white balance to taste, not to neutral. Sunrise light should stay warm; blue hour should stay cool. Preview options with the white balance preview.
5. Exposure and tones
- Set overall exposure, then recover highlights and lift shadows.
- Set white and black points so the histogram uses the full range without clipping important detail.
- Add contrast gently with a tone curve rather than the contrast slider.
6. Color
- Adjust individual hues: greens in landscapes often look too yellow and saturated; desaturate and shift them slightly.
- Use vibrance rather than saturation.
- For sunsets see editing sunset colors naturally.
7. Local adjustments
Guide the eye: brighten the subject slightly, darken distracting edges, add a graduated filter to a bright sky. Keep transitions smooth.
8. Noise and sharpening
Use AI or traditional noise reduction for high-ISO night images. Sharpen with a mask so only edges are sharpened, not the sky.
9. Crop and straighten
Straighten horizons and crop to the intended aspect ratio.
10. Export
- Web: sRGB, long edge 2048–3000 px, quality 80–90. Use the image resizer for quick batches.
- Print: full resolution, 16-bit TIFF or high-quality JPEG; see printing landscape photos.
- Remove location data from shared files when sensitive — the EXIF remover does it locally.
About 1 min read · Updated 2026-10-20