Developing photographs This section is critical to understanding the essential adjustment tools in the Develop module. The subsections are presented in the optimal order for ease of use and performance, although the results don’t depend directly on the order of operations since all Develop module adjustments are just instructions (see “Order of adjustments” in this lesson). The Develop module workflow used in this section is: 1 Make fundamental global adjustments (adjustments that affect the entire image) to tone and color in the Basic panel. 2 Make additional global adjustments, if needed, in the Tone Curve panel and HSL panel. 3 Perform global noise reduction and capture sharpening in the Detail panel. 4 Clean up dust spots using the Spot Removal tool. 5 Perform Lens Corrections, if needed. Do this after spot removal to maximize performance. 6 Apply local adjustments (adjustments that affect part of the image) using the Graduated Filter tool, Adjustment Brush tool, and/or Radial Filter tool. 7 Optionally, save metadata to the file, which stores adjustments in the image so that other programs can read them. The image is ready to pass off to Photoshop if needed. The lesson files for this section are raw files (although Develop module controls can be used to adjust PSDs, TIFFs, JPEGs, and PNGs too). Explain that the initial appearance of a raw file is just Lightroom’s default conversion from raw data to visible image; the Develop module controls give users the ability to fine-tune the initial conversion. Remind students not to worry about using the exact adjustment values in the illustrations, but rather to use adjustment values that look best on the image on their monitors.
Adjusting color and tone in the Basic panel The Basic panel contains the most essential Develop module controls, so it should be covered thoroughly. Have students work through all the exercises to get practice applying the Basic panel controls.
Working with the sliders Draw students’ attention to the efficiency tips in this section for using the sliders in the Basic panel and throughout the Develop module:
• To change the value of a slider, either drag it or use the methods in this section to increase or decrease its value in more controlled increments.
Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for Photographers Classroom in a Book
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