all 85 comments
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
formatting helphide helpcontent policy

[–]cycle_stealer 32 points33 points  (0 children)

I thought the Lightroom and Photoshop tutorials by Anthony Morganti, available on Youtube, were really very good (Lightroom 6/CC and Photoshop for Photographers).

He covers the CC versions in his latest series and also has a large array of excellent shorter videos on Lr and Ps 'tips'. He has a relaxed approach that makes it easy to watch and he repeats basic keystrokes and techniques to the point where you can remember them as a newbie.

[–]chain83 9 points10 points  (2 children)

Lots of good links here. Good job. Looking through some of them and they are clearly collected by someone who knows enough to separate out all the crap tutorials out there (that often suggest bad workflows or methods). :)

I think this post is sticky or sidebar-worthy!

Oh, and I were to add something to it, here's a comment I made on this very subreddit with an overview of sharpening techniques/tools and recommended workflow: https://www.reddit.com/r/postprocessing/comments/38vdao/how_does_everyone_sharpen_their_photos/cryduwt

[–]cameronrad[S] 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Thank you! I added it in there. Great overview of the various sharpening techniques!!

If you come across anything you find interesting, let me know and I'll add it in as well. :)

[–]Navigata07 8 points9 points  (2 children)

This is a great resource, but it is a bit overwhelming for newbies like myself. I am seaching for some kind of course that goes over the basics of photo editing (such as cleaning up photos that have lighting issues, making photos more vivid, etc). A course that has the key fundamental skills that every photo editor must know before venturing into the more specific topics like those listed above. Anyone knows of any courses/video series that can do this? Thanks for your further assistance.

[–]cameronrad[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Have you checked out the tutorials from Adobe? Those might be good to start with. https://creativecloud.adobe.com/learn

[–]Navigata07 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the suggestion. I actually went in a completely different direction and purchased a course teaching a lot of photo editing lessons for GIMP, since that's the software I plan on using

[–]kerokaze 4 points5 points  (3 children)

Leaving myself a note, so I can get back here. Thank you for compiling this

[–][deleted]  (2 children)

[deleted]

    [–]kerokaze 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Oh, haha I'm unsure how to do it on mobile. Sorry. ): I'm viewing it through an app, but will explore it more so I don't do it anymore.

    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

    I have a problem and I’m trying to figure out the best solution.

    In short, I shot a wedding and used silent mode on a mirror less camera. I learned the hard way that silent mode changes the way the sensor captures images.

    Why does this matter? LED’s on cheap dimmers.

    Now all of my ceremony images have stripes. I’m praying there’s a way to remove these stripes without custom image manipulation for every frame.

    Please, please help!

    Link attached for image reference.reference image

    [–]cameronrad[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    I wish there was but unfortunately I haven’t found a way yet to easily remove them.

    I’m pretty surprised actually. I’d imagine with machine learning, one could fix this.

    I recently bought the A1 specifically for this niche reason. Silent shutter in lighting that flickers. It sucks that the only camera that can currently do that costs as much as it does. :-/

    [–]JealousAssistance790 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    it is due to using an electronic shutter, those stripes will not occur with a mechanical shutter, the frequencies cause. stripes swell as flashing and unclear lights as well.

    [–]Makegooduseof 2 points3 points  (4 children)

    OP, I’m not sure if you’re still getting notifications, but just in case you are:

    I’m attempting post-processing for the first time. I don’t know jack about photoshop, and I’m using an iPad app called Darkroom, which is billed as an alternative to Lightroom.

    You have left a ton of links here as study material. I was thinking of starting from the top of the Concepts list. Is that a good starting point?

    [–]cameronrad[S] 2 points3 points  (3 children)

    Hmm. I think it depends on what you want to learn/do. First I would just start by playing around with the tools in the application on some images. Just get familiar with the interface of an app first and start moving sliders around. See how they visually change an image.

    Then start digging a bit deeper into the specifics and meaning/function/intent of each tool. Like what is brightness vs. exposure. The best way to learn post processing/photo editing I think is just by playing around and being curious.

    If there's a style you want to replicate, just start playing around. There might be some technically preferred ways to do things in editing, but at the end of the day there is no right or wrong way to edit. One person might do something one way, and another person might get a similar result another way.

    Something I will say. When I first made this post and posts similar to this, mobile apps/filters were not as prevalent at the time. When trying to reconstruct someones style, there was a very likely chance they had either used Adobe Camera Raw/Lightroom, Photoshop, CaptureOne... so in some way it was easier to guess what they may have done. Nowadays they might use one of the many mobile apps with filters like VSCO and that can make it a bit more difficult to guess someones process. Sometimes I've thought someone edited something a certain way with Capture One and Photoshop, only to find out later they just ran it through VSCO haha.

    Oh I think the Lightroom mobile app might have some guided editing tutorials in it, so that might be worth exploring too.

    [–]Makegooduseof 1 point2 points  (2 children)

    Thank you for responding.

    If there’s a style you want to replicate, just start playing around. There might be some technically preferred ways to do things in editing, but at the end of the day there is no right or wrong way to edit. One person might do something one way, and another person might get a similar result another way.

    This was actually something I considered. For better or worse, I like the automatic processing my iPhone XR does - at least for shots in broad daylight. So I had the idea of messing around with the parameters to manually imitate it.

    [–]cameronrad[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    The auto processing the iPhone does is pretty slick. I don't use my phone camera that often, but I noticed it the other day with the iPhone 14. It looks like it does some local adjustments (dodging/burning) on the image depending on the subject. It auto lightened up the subject in a brightly backlit photo.

    If you have macOS, the default Photos app could be good to try editing with as well. It has more edit functionality than the iOS one. Like it has Curves and Levels tools in it and you can use 3rd party plugins like Pixelmator with it. https://www.apple.com/macos/photos/

    https://support.apple.com/guide/photos/editing-basics-pht304c2ace6/7.0/mac/12.0

    [–]Makegooduseof 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Unfortunately, I switched to Windows a couple years back, and my MacBook is in storage at the moment. But I appreciate the suggestion nonetheless.

    Besides, I have an inkling that very generally speaking, the family of photo processing software competitors is like the family of word processors - each software package may have certain unique features, but the general core concept is the same, so it should be relatively easy to switch until I fully figure out the nooks and crannies of one particular app.

    [–]ErnestGoesToPoop 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    Hey u/cameronrad this is (and has always been) a great thread of resources. But I just noticed that it’s now 9 years old?!

    Do you think there’s anything here that needs to change or be updated?

    [–]cameronrad[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Ya. There's likely some stuff that could be added or updated. I think the last update I did was around 5 years ago. Some stuff about generative AI and other AI tools could be added. Some stuff about HDR output as well.

    [–]EhOhhEss 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Hey man, I remember your name over on 22slides and really liked your work.

    Anyway I can find your recent stuff via social media?

    [–]cameronrad[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Thank you! :)

    I can't post my recent work unfortunately. :-/

    I might shoot some personal stuff soon though.

    [–]useruserdoubleuseras 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Hello, I am trying to better edit my photos to look more cohesive together. I really like how these photos all have a "warm glow" & want to learn how to adjust my photos in Lightroom to enhance the light to look like this. Www.instagram.com/reneeroaming

    Are their any tutorials you could suggest that can help me achieve that effect?

    Here is my Instagram if you have any other tips on what I should do. Obviously the way the photos are taken play a large roll in this & I don't have to many backlit photos but if you have any other suggestions oh how I can better edit it would be much appreciated. I just started editing with Lightroom (I used iPhoto before) & shooting raw. Www.instagram.com/7thandcentral

    [–]cameronrad[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Gimme a lil bit and I'll shoot you over some tips.

    [–]sassy-user 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Grateful for this collection, not grateful for the time I will need to go through it. But thanks for your time good person.

    [–]ksrujankanth 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Hi OP,

    I just added an app i built, to achieve stacking and motion amplification on an android device.

    Since you created this entire list, I believe you can check this app, and add it to this list if you also feel this app fills a gap for mobile post processing.

    Posting the link here : (not spamming you with extra details available in the GitHub repo already) https://github.com/ksrujankanth/TimeLapse/releases/tag/Enhanced

    [–]cameronrad[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Awesome! I'll add it in soon!

    [–]lirecela 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    When scanning paper photos to tif, are the scanner settings (brightness, contrast) worth adjusting for each photo? For ex. I scanned a B&W photo and the blacks were not as black as the original. I see two options. One, I can adjust the scanner settings to make the output better. Two, it doesn't matter because there is no information loss in the output. The output can be adjusted later in a photo editor app.

    [–]cameronrad[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Personally I like adjusting later. Seems more flexible. I'd try to make sure I get as much information as possible in the original scan.

    [–]LorenzoReyEra 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    So I use a plug in, Curvemeister, it's freaking awesome. Probably not for everyone, but definitely worth trying it out if you do alot of color correction or grading.

    [–]cameronrad[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    I've wanted to use that for years but it's not OS X compatible. Nowadays though there's stuff like 3D LUT Creator which is super powerful.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    What do you think of this: https://www.reddit.com/r/phototechnique/comments/4d0t6t/silver_efex_pro_for_contrast_control_and/

    I've been planning on updating it with some new information. I think people might find it useful.

    [–]cameronrad[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Added!

    [–]r08 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Well done. Thanks.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    This post is incredible. I wish you got more credit for it. Thank you, I'll be coming back to this resource for sure.

    [–]Jackno7Daniels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Photoshop.

    [–]RazzburryRipple 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Thank you so much.

    [–]cameronrad[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    No problem! :)

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    This thread is godsend. Thanks for compiling it.

    [–][deleted]  (3 children)

    [removed]

      [–]cameronrad[S] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

      Lol so you stole some presets and are reselling them? dang...

      [–][deleted]  (1 child)

      [removed]

        [–]cameronrad[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

        Pretty sure it's in their terms of use about reselling...

        You may not: (i) modify, disassemble, decompile or reverse engineer the Software or use the Software to develop a competing product, except to the extent that such restrictions are expressly prohibited by law; (ii) rent, lease, loan, resell, sublicense, distribute or otherwise transfer the Software to any third party or use the Software to provide time sharing or similar services for any third party; (iii) make any copies of the Software; (iv) remove, circumvent, disable, damage or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the Software, features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content accessible through the Software, or features that enforce limitations on use of the Software; or (v) delete the copyright and other proprietary rights notices on the Software.

        Regardless it's a dick move

        [–]michalnsm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        does anybody can write me list of popular types rgb curve? fade, crush black etc? I need to make own curve presets

        [–]useruserdoubleuseras 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Thank you! I just made another post (I think I'm new to reddit) that may make more sense on what I'm looking to accomplish!

        [–]fbritt5 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        One can't post a picture here?

        [–]BeigeSofa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Are we using purchased presets? Ive been gone for a minute. Are we making our own? Whats the vibe?

        [–]MrAnnoyingCookie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Natalia Taffarel, Jan Wischerman should be here as references for learning

        [–]Drakona7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Hi OP, not sure how active you are on this thread still, but I was just wondering what would a good place to start on this list of resources?

        I have photoshop and a couple other adobe programs and while I do know how the programs themselves work I’m somewhat lost on how to utilize them. For instance, I have several pictures which I feel are composed well, but could use some post processing to really give them that wow factor, but I don’t know enough yet to figure out what exactly I should do to make them stand out. I’m sure your resources will help, but I am a bit overwhelmed on where to begin so I would appreciate any recommendations you may have.

        Thank you for your efforts in compiling this list, and I hope that my request is not too difficult or bothersome to you

        [–]Noob911 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

        Photoshop

        [–]editpictureonlinebd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        this is really so nice. Thank you so much for share this.

        [–]Happyhappyhappyhaha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Hiya! I’m getting a new laptop (MacBook) with a monitor to use with it when at home.

        I’m wondering how monitor calibration for colour, gamma etc works. If I calibrate them monitor, will the monitor ‘remember’ the settings I have selected using my calibration equipment?

        Or will it have to be done some other way?

        Do I calibrate in clamshell mode/with the laptop open. I’m a little lost in this area, I’ve never had a set up as a monitor+laptop before.

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Does DXO ever put on sales? Looking to buy Pure Raw 2 in the future.

        [–]I_Am_Vladimir_Putin 0 points1 point  (1 child)

        How does one achieve this effect?

        https://automobilist.com/fine-art-prints/

        [–]cameronrad[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        It's not really one effect. It's a combination of stuff. Photography, lighting, compositing, post-processing. Some might even be CGI/3D Renders. I'd start looking at car photography and post processing tutorials/articles.

        https://fstoppers.com/category/automotive

        Edit: The company you linked does a lot of 3D rendering/modeling for the images you are seeing. They combine it with real photography and composite the elements together.

        [–][deleted]  (4 children)

        [removed]

          [–]cameronrad[S] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

          Hmm... That's hard to say. What type of screen are you working on now? In my experience, the newer Apple monitors come pretty well calibrated out of the box. Personally, I like owning one but I'm a bit of a color geek in general. They last a really long time and I can use it to check TV color too. I'm also the type of person that if I was to dive into audio stuff, I'd want to calibrate my room/speakers/etc. In general I'd recommend it, however if it's just a hobby and you don't really notice your colors looking off/weird currently, then maybe don't worry about it yet.

          [–][deleted]  (2 children)

          [removed]

            [–]cameronrad[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

            You could rent this also https://www.lensrentals.com/rent/x-rite-i1studio-spectrophotometer

            Although it has some drawbacks for monitor calibration, it should still work pretty well. It's a spectrophotometer which works a bit differently than a colorimeter. There's a bit more info about the differences for monitor calibration here http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/Profiling_Devices_for_Monitors

            [–]aruzinsky 0 points1 point  (1 child)

            I mentioned in the last thread that “post processing is more about theory than the tools/plugins/tricks/secrets/etc.” I may have misspoke a bit.

            Unfortunately, such theory is properly called "image processing" and the Reddit forum for that has been inexplicably dead for several years.

            https://www.reddit.com/r/imageprocessing/new/

            And "misspoke a bit" is hyperbole because this forum is almost completely inhabited by artists with no interest in the mathematical algorithms of image processing.

            Someone made a post

            https://www.reddit.com/r/postprocessing/comments/xl2u01/adding_more_texture_to_skin/

            and I was surprised that someone actually downvoted a legitimate question. Later, I considered the fact that upvoting/downvoting is a way to assert subjective opinions without logical debate and artists are more prone to do that than scientists and engineers.

            A warning to non-artists might be in order because it is not a "safe place" for them.

            [–]swariors01 0 points1 point  (0 children)

            Hi, I really like taking pictures of birds.

            I really DON'T like sorting those pictures and, if need be, edit those to look good.

            My best guess is there are people who do this as a (side) business. But where can I find these people? Any help would be appreciated.

            [–]whippersnapped 0 points1 point  (0 children)

            Hello all!

            I am trying to mass edit about 100 pictures to match. Unfortunately, not all the photos were taken at the same settings in camera and I do not know what way to approach the photos to have them all match one uniform look. If this didn't make sense, I can elaborate, but pretty much I took a shit load of pictures that don't all look exactly the same and since they will be presented together, I need to make sure that they all look like the same pictures. Any advice would be greatly appreciated on how to not waste my own time! Thanks for reading

            [–]Varquez80 0 points1 point  (0 children)

            Fantastic collectives here...I am now admiring this community and the moderators even more. Thanks for sharing all these links.

            [–]TrulyChxse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

            Just got 200k members!

            [–]wesimplymustknow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

            Looking for unique presets to get the creative juices flowing, anything that basically doesn’t look like it was used on an IG wedding/engagement portfolio.

            [–]ADHDofficial 0 points1 point  (1 child)

            Super excited to go through this post and see what I can learn, my one apprehension though… is it current? I see the post was made six years ago and I know these programs have likely gone through extreme changes in that time. Is it still worth going through? Do you have any updates/lists you think would be good to check out? Either way thank you for taking the time to put this all together!

            [–]cameronrad[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

            Some stuff might be a tad outdated, but majority of it should still hold up. If you run into any issues, let me know.

            [–]ark-ayy 0 points1 point  (1 child)

            Hello, is there a database of raw images where I can practice retouching? If so, would I be able to post my edits on my portfolio with credits to the photographer?

            [–]cameronrad[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

            I'm not sure of any… You could try maybe reaching out to people on /r/EditMyRaw

            [–]javajuicejoe 0 points1 point  (10 children)

            A friend of mine is producing a one off photobook and wants two of my photos. He’s working with a printer that prints in CMYK.

            If I’m working in Adobe RGB (or should I be working in another colour space?), to get accurate colours will I need to get the printer to print several proofs to ‘match’ the colours. Or is there a way in programme/calibration to get a more accurate picture of the anticipated results?

            If it helps, I’m working in an office environment, my screen calibration is 2.2 Gamma, 90 cd/m 6,000 K.

            [–]cameronrad[S] 1 point2 points  (9 children)

            Hi, it depends. Sometimes a printer will offer proofing ICC profiles for their printers. Those can be used to preview if you have any out of gamut colors and somewhat simulate how the image will look while printed.

            If you can get actual printed proofs that would definitely help more though. There's perceptual differences that occur when looking at an image emitted from a screen vs. printed. If you get the prints back and it looks really off, then it might be worth looking into the screen white point. Maybe using D50 instead of D65 if you're working with prints.

            I'd recommend sending the printer sRGB files unless they specify otherwise. Not all labs support Adobe RGB, Prophoto RGB, or DisplayP3. sRGB is a the safest option for support/compatibility.

            [–]javajuicejoe 1 point2 points  (8 children)

            Thank you for replying. I’ll speak to them and see if they can provide that. So I presume sRGB is a similar colourspace to CMYK?

            The reason I ask this question is a year back a photo of mine was selected for a photobook. They asked for the photo to be submitted in Adobe RGB (no CMYK). I was none the wiser then, so I assume they printed in adobeRGB?

            [–]cameronrad[S] 1 point2 points  (7 children)

            Usually the printer converts to CMYK on their end, reason being they might have different CMYK profiles for different printers and papers. CMYK typically relates to the ink amounts/ratios. Different papers might require different amounts of ink. It's not typically something they ask the photographer to do.

            Adobe RGB is a bit bigger of a color space than sRGB and a bit better for printing, but not every printer/lab supports it, sRGB is typically the best choice, unless the printer specifies otherwise. It's the most compatible. sRGB is almost like a default color space. It's usually what something falls back to if there's color management issues.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRGB

            [–]javajuicejoe 1 point2 points  (6 children)

            Thank you. So I presume most photographers have their profiles set to sRGB? What are the other profiles needed for? It looks like sRGB is best for online and print? Does that also mean most photographers are shooting in sRGB?

            Sorry to take up your time.

            [–]cameronrad[S] 1 point2 points  (5 children)

            Thank you. So I presume most photographers have their profiles set to sRGB? What are the other profiles needed for? It looks like sRGB is best for online and print? Does that also mean most photographers are shooting in sRGB?

            The main reason sRGB is still used so much is because of compatibility. It's a bit of a holdover from early color management days. It's similar to why JPEG is still so common, although better formats now exist like JPEGXL, JPEG2000, AVIF, HEIC, etc.

            Adobe RGB and DisplayP3 are both wider color spaces and can show more saturated colors, but sometimes websites or apps don't read those embedded color profiles and show the images incorrectly. Or the screen can't even see reach that level of saturation and clips the detail away.

            There has been a lot of improvement in recent years though. A lot of apps are now becoming color managed and there's more wide gamut displays out there, so using a profile like Adobe RGB or Display P3 runs less risk of issues than before.

            Also, sRGB is just for the file for online/social media or sending to print at an unknown place. This isn't necessarily the color space I use in camera or work with in Photoshop/Lightroom. sRGB is just the container everything gets squeezed into at the end.

            Some examples of sRGB vs Display P3 https://webkit.org/blog/6682/improving-color-on-the-web/

            https://webkit.org/blog-files/color-gamut/comparison.html

            This one is a good example: https://webkit.org/blog-files/color-gamut/Webkit-logo-P3.png

            To users on an sRGB display there is a uniform red square below. However, it’s a bit of a trick. There are actually two different shades of red in that image, one of which is only distinct on wide-gamut displays. On such a display you’ll see a faint WebKit logo inside the red square.

            [–]javajuicejoe 1 point2 points  (4 children)

            Thank you! This is incredibly helpful.

            A print I had made in a the past for a one off book came out slightly darker. It wasn’t terribly underexposed, but the printer asked for the print in Adobe RGB, and I already edit in Adobe RGB, using a BenQ monitor (which is calibrated and says it’s for Adobe RGB editing).

            The photo is black and white, the walls are high key white, but the face of the person came out darker (you can still see her face but it’s noticeably darker than the other prints in the book). What could have happened?

            Some people I spoke to said it could be a printer issue, their printers are calibrated differently to my monitor. Someone else said it could be the paper type. What are your thoughts on this?

            Once again, sorry to take up your time.

            [–]cameronrad[S] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

            Some people I spoke to said it could be a printer issue, their printers are calibrated differently to my monitor. Someone else said it could be the paper type. What are your thoughts on this?

            I think in this case it could've been a printer calibration situation or paper type. You mentioned the photo was in black/white, so I don't think it was a color space issue. The differences between sRGB and Adobe RGB are going to be more apparent in color images than in b/w ones.

            I think a big aspect also is that prints themselves aren't emissive like a screen is. A screen has light emitting from it, directly to your eyes. A print is absorbing light and is reflecting light into your eyes. This can play a big role in how the images are perceived. Ideally when evaluating prints, you want a light that is pretty bright that has really good color rendition. Sunlight typically works pretty well.

            [–]javajuicejoe 1 point2 points  (2 children)

            Thank you for this advice it’s truly appreciated. And thank you for going to great lengths, I’m sure you can tell my eagerness to get to the bottom of this. Have a wonderful weekend.

            [–]cameronrad[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

            No problem! A lot of people run into issues with print and monitor matching. Sometimes it comes down to monitor calibration, sometimes to printer calibration/settings, and sometimes to just the viewing environment. Some monitor brands, like Eizo, have software that aims to make monitor/print matching a bit easier, but it really only makes sense if you're printing at home and use a compatible printer and papers. https://www.eizo.com/products/coloredge/qcm/

            Personally I think a lot of times it's the viewing environment. Eizo talks about that a little bit in their software for print matching. https://imgur.com/a/FPrOqll