The Textbook of Digital Photography - PhotoCourse

ChApter 2. digitAl workFlow

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• Snapshots panel lets you name and save a photo at any point in the editing
  process so you can return to that version just by clicking its name.


• History panel lists changes you made to images so you can undo them.


• Histogram panel shows the distribution of tones in the image.


• Basic panel contains sliders you use to adjust the colors and other charac-
  teristics of your images. (This section is discussed in more detail shortly.)


• Tone Curve panel lets you adjust the tones in the image: highlights, lights,
  darks, and shadows.


• HSL/ Color /Grayscale panel adjusts hue, saturation and luminance;
  colors, and the grayscale mix.


• Split Toning lets you set adjust hue and saturation independently in high-
  lights and shadows.


• Detail has controls to sharpen, smooth and de-noise an image.


• Lens Correction reduces fringe effects and controls vignetting.


• Camera Calibration lets you calibrate your own cameras if you find that
  Lightroom’s generic profile doesn’t meet your needs.

deVeloPing imAgeS

Most of the changes you make to an image will be done using the Basic sec-

tion in the Develop module so it’s worth a closer look. Here are what each of

the controls does.

• Color/Grayscale converts the selected photos to grayscale and back to
  color.


• White balance selector tool (the eyedropper icon) lets you click a
  neutral pixel in the photo to remove color tints throughout an image. As you
  move it about the image it enlarges the pixels under and around it and dis-
  plays the center pixel’s RGB values so you can find a neutral pixel to click.


• White balance, temp and tint can be adjusted so that white or neutral
  gray areas don’t have a color tint. Temp adjusts the color from blue to yellow,
  while Tint adjusts from green to magenta. The WB drop-down menu lets you
  select from a standard selection of white balance presets. The default is As
  Shot.


• Tone’s Auto button sets the sliders to maximize the image’s tonal scale and
  minimize highlight and shadow clipping.


• Exposure adjusts the tonal range or contrast of the image by changing the
  white point to brighten or darken an image. The white point is where tones
  become pure white with no detail (255). As you adjust, watch the histogram.


• Recovery lets you restore clipped highlights without darkening the rest of
  an image.


• Fill light lightens shadow areas without lightening other areas.


• Blacks adjusts the tonal range by changing the black point to brighten or
  darken an image. The black point is where tones become pure black with no
  detail (0). As you adjust, watch the histogram.


• Brightness adjusts the midtones (sometimes called gamma) to lighten or
  darken the overall image without affecting the black and white tones and the
  details they contain. By default, the Brightness slider has a value of +50.

The Lightroom Basic
Panel in the Develop
module.

Lightroom’s white
balance selector tool
shows the colors of the
pixels that it points to.

TiP

While dragging the

Aperture settings and Exposure

sliders to adjust the

tonal range, you can

see the levels where

black or white details

begin to emerge

in the image if you

alt+drag the sliders.

Presets, either those
that come with the
program or those you
create and save yourself
can be applied to all
selected images with a
click of the mouse.