Edit portraits professionally
Three hidden tools
Learn the tricks of these tools for portrait enhancement
Discover a selection of tools you won’t find in the main toolbox
1
Banish Red Eye Although it’s a rare occurrence in modern
digital cameras, if your portrait has red eye you’ll want to fix it
right away. Grab the Red Eye Correction tool and click over each
offending eye, then use the Pupil Size and Darken sliders to fix it.1
Targeted Adjustment Click on the
Tone Curve panel to find the Targeted
Adjustment tool. Now click on part of your
shot, and drag up to make those tones
brighter or down to make them darker. Your
change will be updated on the tone curve
histogram too.2
Or use Pet Eye Pet portraits are just as fun to work on and
can be susceptible to glowing yellow eyes when using flash. If
this occurs in your images you can use the Red Eye Correction tool
again, but this time use the Pet Eye mode.2
Straighten This tool sits inside the
Crop Overlay panel and looks like a
ruler icon. Click it to activate it, then draw
over the horizon. Lightroom will then adjust
the overall crop of your picture to make the
whole shot level. Just hit Return or click the
Done button to apply it.3
Remove distractions Fo r
simple cloning work grab the
Spot Removal tool and tweak the
Size, Feather and Opacity sliders
to your liking, then paint over the
offending article. If you want to
do heavy skin retouching or more
involved cloning it’s best to save
this for Photoshop.3
Guided Upright Go to the Transform
panel to bring up options that let you
correct lens and perspective distortion.
You can also access the Guided Upright
tool here. You can use this to drag lines
over any areas you want to be perfectly
perpendicular in your shot.4
Fine-tune your patch
Lightroom has now
automatically picked a source
point from the image to replace
your distraction with, but you can
drag it around to change it. You
can also click between the Clone
and Heal options to change how
the new area is blended in.5
Correct white balance
In the Basic panel you’ll find
the White Balance tool next to
the Temperature and Tint sliders
for controlling the white balance.
You can use this tool to quickly
click on a midtone in your shot
like a grey card, to set the white
balance fast.6
Crop tool There are
few images that can’t be
improved compositionally with a
slight crop. Grab the Crop Overlay
tool from the Toolbox and drag
the box to change your crop. Hit
X on the keyboard if you need
to change between portrait and
landscape orientation.THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO LIGHTROOM
Edit portraits professionally
Three hidden tools
Learn the tricks of thesetoolsforportraitenhancement
Discover a selection of tools you won’tfindin themaintoolbox
1
Banish Red Eye Although it’s a rare occurrence in modern
digital cameras, if your portrait has red eye you’ll want to fix it
right away. Grab the Red Eye Correction tool and click over each
offending eye, then use the Pupil Size and Darken sliders to fix it.1
Targeted Adjustment Click on the
Tone Curve panel to find the Targeted
Adjustment tool. Now click on part of your
shot, and drag up to make those tones
brighter or down to make them darker. Your
change will be updated on the tone curve
histogram too.2
Or use PetEyePetportraitsarejustasfuntoworkonand
can be susceptibletoglowingyelloweyeswhenusingflash.If
this occurs inyourimagesyoucanusetheRedEyeCorrectiontool
again, but thistimeusethePetEyemode.2
Straighten This tool sits insidethe
Crop Overlay panel and looks like a
ruler icon. Click it to activate it, then draw
over the horizon. Lightroom will then adjust
the overall crop of your picture to makethe
whole shot level. Just hit Return or clickthe
Done button to apply it.3
Remove distractions Fo r
simple cloning work grab the
Spot Removal tool and tweak the
Size, Feather and Opacity sliders
to your liking, then paint over the
offending article. If you want to
do heavy skin retouching or more
involved cloning it’s best to save
this for Photoshop.3
GuidedUprightGototheTransform
paneltobringupoptionsthatletyou
correctlensandperspectivedistortion.
YoucanalsoaccesstheGuidedUpright
toolhere.Youcanusethistodraglines
overanyareasyouwanttobeperfectly
perpendicularinyourshot.4
Fine-tune your patch
Lightroom has now
automatically picked a source
point from the image to replace
your distraction with, but you can
drag it around to change it. You
can also click between the Clone
and Heal options to change how
the new area is blended in.5
Correct whitebalance
In the Basicpanelyou’llfind
the White Balancetoolnextto
the TemperatureandTintsliders
for controllingthewhitebalance.
You can use thistooltoquickly
click on a midtoneinyourshot
like a grey card,tosetthewhite
balance fast.6
CroptoolThereare
fewimagesthatcan’tbe
improvedcompositionallywitha
slightcrop.GrabtheCropOverlay
toolfromtheToolboxanddrag
theboxtochangeyourcrop.Hit
X onthekeyboardif youneed
tochangebetweenportraitand
landscapeorientation.THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO LIGHTROOM