Editing Photos 101:How to Edit in Lightroom

laptop ipad gadgets work editing

With everyone carrying a cell phone in today’s world, more and more people are snapping photos…of, well, everything. Today’s phones offer cameras that can take great quality photos. 

But have you ever wondered how that one friend of yours always has the perfect photo or how the professionals get such stellar photographs?

It all comes down to the editing done on a photo after the picture was taken. Lightroom is a popular photo editing program used by professional photographers, bloggers and home photographers alike. 

Read on to learn how to edit in Lightroom to make your photos look like a pro took them.

Lightroom Features

You can get Lightroom in many different forms. There is a free app to use on your phone. There is an online version. The paid version offers users even more options to tweak those photos. 

Lightroom not only allows users to edit photos but also has many other features to the program. Let’s take a closer look. 

Photo Organization

One feature of Lightroom that goes beyond photo editing is the photo organization feature. Ever sat and scrolled hundreds and hundreds of photos to find that one picture? You will love the capabilities for photo organizing offered here. 

Photos get saved in the Library module when you import them to the program. Then you can use keywords and create folders to organize photos. You can use their search function to find them again once you have them organized. 

It also has a facial recognition feature that allows you to find photos of certain people. 

Modules in Lightroom

Beyond the Library module used for organizing photos, you can also take advantage of the many other modules. These include:

  • Develop
  • Map
  • Book
  • Slideshow
  • Print
  • Web

The module used for actual photo editing is Develop. Let’s take a closer look at what you can do with your photos in the Develop module. 

Editing Photos

It’s always best to start with a good image and one that has not been cropped or is of poor quality. Having said that, these photo editing tools have the ability to take an average photo and turn it into something the pros would like.

You can use the free Lightroom app on your phone or access Adobe’s free photo editor online to begin your photo editing. Most photo editing programs, including the ones mentioned, allow you to work with several features on the photo. These tools include:

  • Brightness
  • Contrast
  • Saturation
  • Structure
  • Warmth
  • Highlights
  • Shadows 
  • Sharpness

Each can make big changes in a photo. One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is to over-edit their photos. Start slowly and see what each feature does to your photos. 

For each, there is a slider that allows you to adjust. Start by sliding both to the left and the right to see how it impacts your photo. This will help you to visually understand which direction you need to go with your photo. 

Many professionals recommend starting with contrast, then looking at brightness and then going to saturation and ambiance. 

Lightroom also allows you to download or set presets. These are pre-established photo edits. You can click on the photo and then on the preset and it will be applied to the photo without you having to do individual tweaks. 

How to Edit In Lightroom to Create the Perfect Photos

Learn how to edit in Lightroom to create photos that look like a professional took them. By playing with the different features, you will have professional-looking photos in no time. For other tutorials, be sure to visit our blog often.