Performing basic image edits using the Basic panel
The Basic panel allows us to make some simple adjustments to a photograph. We can adjust the exposure and contrast, highlights and shadows, intensity of colors, and more. The adjustments in the Basic panel can be applied to all types of images - not just the .dng file we’re working with.
While we edit a photo, we have the option of viewing the image in before-and-after mode, which makes it so we can compare the image after editing it to how it looked previously. We’ll turn this option on before making changes to the photo, then we’ll make some basic adjustments to the image using the sliders in the Basic panel.
With the before-and-after view, we can see that the colors are more vibrant in the adjusted version of the photo, and the details stand out more.
Saving adjustments as a preset using the Presets panel
The Presets panel in the left panel dock provides many premade image adjustments we can apply to our photos. These presets bundle all the individual adjustments needed to achieve a specific look and feel for a photo, saving us the work of needing to make all the changes ourselves. Presets can be helpful when we want to quickly make some changes to a photo’s appearance.
If we have a number of photos that we want to apply the same adjustments to (like a group of photos taken using the same lighting), we can save those adjustments as a preset that we can apply to multiple images easily, or reuse at a later date.
Let’s save the adjustments we just made as a preset, so we can use them again on any other pictures from this set that we may want to edit. Once they’re saved, let’s apply the preset to the image two-cats.jpg, which was taken in the same room at roughly the same time of day as jack.dng.
The same adjustments we applied to jack.dng are now applied to two-cats.jpg, giving us a photo with more intense colors and sharper details.
For more information about using the Develop module to edit photographs, read the Adobe Help article Editing in the Develop module in Lightroom Classic.
Next section: Exporting edited photos