I shoot Camera Raw and typically follow the ACR filter from start to finish:


  • White Balance - Auto and then adjust as needed.
  • Exposure, Contrast, Highlights...Clarity, etc. - Auto and adjust as needed.
  • Tone Curve - I prefer the Auto feature in PS.
  • Sharpening - A great tool. Google how to use it especially the Masking.
  • Saturation - Great to use particularly in conjunction with the Targeted Adjustment Tool.
  • Split Toning - Don't generally use this.
  • Lens Correction - Generally a must because it corrects my cheap lenses.
  • Fx - I try to avoid dehaze because I think that it adds noise.
  • Camera Calibration - I just leave it set at current.



If I am doing a landscape I will use the Gradient Filter. It can bring life back to dull skies.

  • Back in Photoshop Ctrl J to create a copy of the image in a new layer before each adjustment:
  • Curves - Auto does a great job.
  • Image - Auto Tone, Auto Contrast are very good. Still undecided on Auto Colour.
  • Dodge & Burn tools are good for selectively enhancing areas.
  • Maybe additional sharpening. Check for dust bunnies and use the Spot Healing brush tool. Anything that needs tobe taken out of the picture use the Clone Stamp.
  • Check for noise. I really like the free Dfine2 to look after this. Topaz DeNoise is also pretty good.
  • Save as a high quality TIF. Look at it again in the morning.


That's it.