Session 4: Editing & Assignment
Editing is finishing a photograph, not rescuing it. This session covers the order of operations, colour correction, contrast and the line where clarity becomes damage, making a set of images look like one photographer took them, and exporting correctly for web, WhatsApp and print.
Learning objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to do each of these without prompting.
- Edit in an order that does not undo earlier work
- Correct a colour cast using a known reference
- Use contrast, highlights and shadows rather than crushing everything
- Apply clarity and sharpening without damaging skin
- Make a set of photographs consistent with each other
- Export at the right size for web, WhatsApp and print
The taught content
Editing is finishing, not fixing
The purpose of editing is to make the photograph look like what you saw. You were there; the camera was not. It recorded a flat, slightly dull version of a scene your eye and brain had already improved — brightening the shadows, warming the sunset, ignoring the bin at the edge. Editing closes that gap.
The opposite approach — using editing to rescue a photograph that was never made properly — is the trap. No edit fixes a badly composed frame, a subject out of focus, or light that was wrong. It is far faster and better to move two metres and reshoot than to spend twenty minutes on an image that will still be mediocre afterwards.
There is also a commercial reason to be restrained. Clients recognise over-editing immediately even when they cannot name it, and heavily processed skin, oversaturated colour and crushed blacks read as amateur however technically smooth they are. The edit nobody notices is the successful one.
The order of operations
Editing has a correct order, and doing it out of sequence wastes work. Straighten and crop first, because everything after is judged relative to the frame, and cropping changes what the composition needs. Then white balance, because colour correction changes how contrast and exposure read — warming an image makes it feel brighter, so setting exposure before colour means setting it twice.
Then exposure, then contrast, then colour — saturation and vibrance — and clarity and sharpening last, because they amplify whatever is already there and are the easiest to overdo. The reason sharpening goes last is concrete: it enhances edges, so if you crop after sharpening you have sharpened pixels that are about to be thrown away, and if you brighten after sharpening you amplify noise the sharpening made visible.
In practice this means a workflow of about a minute per image once it is habitual: crop, colour, exposure, contrast, colour intensity, a little clarity, export. Doing it in this order is not pedantry — it is the difference between one pass and three.
Colour correction first
Most colour problems are a cast — everything in the frame is shifted warm or cool — and the fix is white balance, which is the temperature and tint sliders. Slide toward blue to cool an orange image, toward yellow to warm a blue one; tint handles the green-magenta shift that fluorescent and some LED lighting produce, which temperature alone cannot fix.
The reliable way to judge it is to find something that should be neutral — a white shirt, a white plate, a grey wall, the whites of someone's eyes — and adjust until that thing is actually neutral. Without a reference you are guessing, and your eye adapts to a cast within about thirty seconds, so you will convince yourself an orange image is correct if you stare at it long enough.
This is exactly why the previous session told you to put something white in product frames. A reference makes colour correction objective rather than a matter of taste, and for commercial work that matters: a customer comparing a photograph with the item in their hand will notice a cast you have stopped seeing.
Contrast, clarity and the over-editing line
Contrast is the difference between the light and dark parts of an image, and it is where most editing goes wrong. Pushing the contrast slider hard crushes the shadows to black and blows the highlights to white, losing detail at both ends. The better tool is usually the highlights and shadows sliders, which let you recover a bright sky and lift a dark face independently — a targeted adjustment rather than a blunt one.
Clarity adds contrast in the midtones, which is what makes textures pop: fabric weave, food surfaces, stone, bark. It is genuinely useful and it is the slider people abuse most. On skin it is destructive, because the midtone texture it enhances is pores and blemishes, and clarity applied to a face ages and roughens the person. Leave skin alone or reduce clarity slightly instead.
The practical discipline is the seventy per cent rule: take any slider to where you think it looks right, then pull it back about thirty per cent. Almost every beginner over-adjusts, because the eye adapts and each small increase looks correct in the moment. Coming back to an image the next day is the only reliable check, and it is worth doing for anything a client will see.
Batch consistency, export and delivery
A set of photographs from one shoot should look like one photographer took them. Nothing announces amateur work more clearly than a gallery where frame one is warm, frame two is cool, frame three is high contrast and frame four is faded. The fix is to edit one image properly, then copy those settings across the rest — most editing apps, including free ones, let you copy and paste edits or save a preset — and then adjust each frame slightly for its own exposure.
Then export sizes, which people get wrong constantly. For web and Instagram, roughly 2,048 pixels on the long edge at high JPEG quality is plenty; larger files load slowly on mobile data and the platform compresses them anyway. For print, you need resolution, not just pixels — a 6×4 inch print at 300 dots per inch needs about 1,800 by 1,200 pixels, and an A3 poster needs far more. Exporting a web-sized file for a client's banner is a common and avoidable failure.
Finally, delivery. WhatsApp compresses images aggressively and will visibly degrade a photograph you spent time on, so send finished work by email or a cloud link and let the client download the full file. Keep your originals and your edited versions separate — never overwrite a raw or an original JPEG, because you will be asked for a different crop or a larger export, and the ability to go back is the difference between a five-minute job and a reshoot.
Instructor demonstration
The instructor edits one photograph through the full order of operations on a projected screen, deliberately overshoots every slider to show the damage, then applies the settings to a set of ten frames for consistency and exports the same image at three sizes.
- 01
Open an unedited frame and resist touching anything
Describe what is wrong with it out loud first. Explain that naming the problem before editing prevents fiddling.
- 02
Straighten the horizon
Use the straighten tool. Explain that this comes first because everything after is judged relative to the frame.
- 03
Crop to improve the composition
Remove dead space and intrusions. Explain that cropping before sharpening avoids sharpening pixels you are about to throw away.
- 04
Find a neutral reference in the frame
Point out a white shirt or plate. Explain that without a reference you are guessing, and your eye adapts to a cast in about thirty seconds.
- 05
Correct the white balance
Adjust temperature until the reference is neutral, then tint for any green shift. Explain that fluorescent and some LEDs need tint, which temperature alone cannot fix.
- 06
Set the exposure
Adjust brightness now that the colour is right. Explain that warming an image makes it feel brighter, so exposure set before colour means setting it twice.
- 07
Recover highlights and lift shadows separately
Use the two sliders instead of contrast. Explain that this is a targeted adjustment where the contrast slider is a blunt one that loses detail at both ends.
- 08
Add contrast, then pull it back thirty per cent
Overshoot deliberately, then reduce. Explain the seventy per cent rule and that the eye adapts so each increase looks correct in the moment.
- 09
Push clarity to maximum on a portrait
Show the skin degrade. Explain that clarity enhances midtone texture, and on a face that texture is pores and blemishes.
- 10
Reduce clarity slightly and compare
Show the improvement. Explain that on skin the correct move is often negative, and that clarity belongs on fabric, food and stone.
- 11
Add vibrance rather than saturation
Explain that vibrance protects skin tones while saturation pushes everything, including faces, toward orange.
- 12
Sharpen last, and only a little
Explain that sharpening amplifies whatever is there, including noise, which is why it goes at the end.
- 13
Copy the settings to nine more frames
Paste the edit across the set. Explain that a gallery where every frame has a different look is the clearest mark of amateur work.
- 14
Adjust two frames individually
Correct exposure on frames that differ. Explain that consistency means a shared starting point, not identical settings regardless of the frame.
- 15
Export at 2,048 pixels for web
Show the file size. Explain that larger is wasted on Instagram, which compresses anyway, and slow on mobile data.
- 16
Export a print-sized file at 300 dpi
Calculate the pixels needed for a 6×4 print. Explain that print needs resolution, not just pixel count.
- 17
Send the web file by WhatsApp and compare
Show the compression damage. Explain that finished work goes by email or cloud link so the client receives the real file.
- 18
Show the folder structure for originals and edits
Explain that overwriting an original means a reshoot when a client asks for a different crop or a larger export.
Guided practice
Final assignment: a curated set of twelve
You shoot for one real brief — products, food, portraits or an event — select twelve frames from everything you shot, edit them consistently in the correct order, and deliver them at two export sizes with a short note on what you changed and why.
- 01Choose one brief: a product set, a plate of food, a portrait session or a church service.
- 02Shoot at least one hundred and fifty frames using composition, light and camera control from the earlier sessions.
- 03Review every frame and mark your candidates, not your favourites.
- 04Select twelve that work as a set rather than twelve that each work alone.
- 05Straighten and crop every selected frame first, before any other adjustment.
- 06Find a neutral reference in at least three frames and correct white balance against it.
- 07Set exposure after colour, not before.
- 08Use the highlights and shadows sliders rather than crushing contrast.
- 09Apply the seventy per cent rule to every contrast and clarity adjustment.
- 10Leave clarity alone or negative on any skin.
- 11Use vibrance rather than saturation where there are faces.
- 12Sharpen last and lightly.
- 13Copy your settings across all twelve frames, then adjust individual exposure where needed.
- 14Come back to the set the next day and reduce any adjustment that now looks too strong.
- 15Export all twelve at 2,048 pixels on the long edge for web delivery.
- 16Export two frames at 300 dpi sized for a 6×4 print.
- 17Write one short note per frame on what you changed and why.
- 18Deliver by email or cloud link, and keep originals and edits in separate folders.
The standard we hold you to
A curated set of twelve images selected from at least one hundred and fifty frames for one real brief, chosen to work as a set rather than individually; every frame straightened and cropped before any other edit, white balance corrected against a neutral reference in at least three frames, exposure set after colour, highlights and shadows used instead of crushed contrast, the seventy per cent rule applied to every contrast and clarity adjustment, clarity left neutral or negative on skin, vibrance used rather than saturation where faces appear, and sharpening applied last and lightly; settings copied across all twelve with individual exposure adjusted where needed and the set reviewed the next day for over-adjustment; all twelve exported at 2,048 pixels for web and two at 300 dpi for a 6×4 print; one note per frame explaining the change; delivered by email or cloud link with originals and edits kept separate.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
You edit to rescue a photograph that was never made
Fix: Reshoot instead. No edit fixes bad composition, an out-of-focus subject or wrong light, and moving two metres is faster than twenty minutes on an image that will still be mediocre.
You adjust sliders in any order
Fix: Crop, colour, exposure, contrast, colour intensity, clarity, sharpen. Warming an image makes it read brighter, so exposure set before colour means setting it twice.
You correct colour by eye with no reference
Fix: Find something that should be neutral and adjust until it is. Your eye adapts to a cast in about thirty seconds, so you will convince yourself an orange image is correct.
You crush the contrast slider
Fix: Use the highlights and shadows sliders instead. Hard contrast loses detail at both ends, while targeted sliders recover a bright sky and lift a dark face independently.
You apply clarity to faces
Fix: Leave skin alone or reduce it slightly. Clarity enhances midtone texture, and on a face that texture is pores and blemishes — it ages and roughens the person.
Every adjustment looks right while you are making it
Fix: Apply the seventy per cent rule and review the next day. The eye adapts, so each small increase looks correct in the moment, and only distance reveals the over-edit.
Your gallery looks like several photographers
Fix: Edit one frame properly and copy the settings across the set. Inconsistent colour and contrast between frames is the clearest mark of amateur work there is.
You deliver finished work over WhatsApp
Fix: Send by email or a cloud link. WhatsApp compresses aggressively and will visibly degrade a photograph you spent time on, which is what the client will judge you by.
Expert notes
The habits that separate someone who can do this from someone who does it well.
- Edit to match what you saw, not to improve on it. Your eye and brain already brightened the shadows and warmed the light on the day; editing closes the gap between the flat file and your memory of the scene.
- Correct colour before exposure, and crop before everything. Warming an image makes it read brighter, so setting exposure first means doing it twice — and the correct order turns three passes into one.
- Apply the seventy per cent rule and review the next day. Every beginner over-adjusts because the eye adapts, and coming back to an image after a night is the only reliable check on whether you went too far.
- Keep originals and edits in separate folders, always. Clients ask for a different crop, a larger export or the raw file weeks later, and the ability to go back is the difference between a five-minute job and a reshoot.
Key terms
- Order of operations
- Crop, colour, exposure, contrast, colour intensity, clarity, sharpen. Out of sequence, work is undone and repeated.
- Colour cast
- An overall warm or cool shift. Corrected with temperature and tint, judged against something neutral.
- Tint
- The green-magenta adjustment. Fixes fluorescent and some LED light, which temperature alone cannot.
- Highlights and shadows
- Targeted recovery of bright and dark areas. Better than the contrast slider, which loses detail at both ends.
- Clarity
- Midtone contrast. Excellent on fabric, food and stone; destructive on skin, where the texture it enhances is blemishes.
- Vibrance
- Saturation that protects skin tones. Preferred over saturation wherever faces appear.
- Batch editing
- Copying one edit across a set so a gallery looks like one photographer took it.
- DPI
- Dots per inch, the resolution print requires. A 6×4 print at 300 dpi needs about 1,800 by 1,200 pixels.
Homework before the next session
Edit one photograph in the correct order
Crop, colour, exposure, contrast, colour intensity, clarity, sharpen — and write down what happened when you did two of them out of sequence.
Correct one badly cast image
Find a warm or green frame, locate something neutral in it, and correct against that reference. Note how different it looks from correcting by eye.
Make ten frames consistent
Edit one properly, copy the settings to the other nine, then adjust individual exposure. Compare the set before and after.
Export one image three ways
2,048 pixels for web, 300 dpi at 6×4 for print, and send it to yourself over WhatsApp. Compare all three and note where the quality went.
Assessment rubric
How this session is marked. The certificate for Photography is awarded on the deliverable, not on attendance.
| Criterion | Passing | Excellent |
|---|---|---|
| Workflow | Images are edited. | Every frame edited in the correct order — crop, colour, exposure, contrast, colour intensity, clarity, sharpen — with the reasoning for the sequence explained. |
| Colour | Colours look reasonable. | Casts corrected against a neutral reference rather than by eye, tint used where fluorescent or LED light required it, and no frame left with an obvious shift. |
| Tonal control | Contrast is applied. | Highlights and shadows used rather than the contrast slider crushed, detail retained at both ends, and the seventy per cent rule applied with a next-day review. |
| Restraint | Edits are not extreme. | Clarity neutral or negative on skin, vibrance preferred over saturation where faces appear, sharpening last and light, and no frame that reads as over-processed. |
| Delivery | Submits edited images. | Twelve frames consistent as a set, exported at 2,048 pixels for web and 300 dpi for print, delivered by email or cloud link rather than WhatsApp, with originals and edits kept separate. |
Session questions
Which editing app should I use?+
Any app that gives you temperature, exposure, highlights, shadows, clarity and vibrance — the free versions of Snapseed and Lightroom both do, and so do most phone camera apps. The technique in this session is identical across all of them, and it matters far more than which one you pick.
How much editing is too much?+
When someone can tell you edited it. Take each slider to where it looks right, then pull back about thirty per cent, and review the image the next day — your eye adapts within about thirty seconds, so every adjustment looks correct while you are making it.
Why do my edited faces look rough?+
Clarity. It enhances midtone texture, and on skin that texture is pores and blemishes. Leave clarity alone on faces or reduce it slightly, and use vibrance rather than saturation so skin does not go orange.
What size should I export for Instagram?+
About 2,048 pixels on the long edge at high JPEG quality. Larger files load slowly on mobile data and the platform compresses them anyway, so the extra resolution is wasted. For print you need the opposite — a 6×4 at 300 dpi is roughly 1,800 by 1,200 pixels.
Should I send finished work over WhatsApp?+
No. WhatsApp compresses aggressively and will visibly degrade the photograph you spent time on, and that degraded version is what the client will judge. Send by email or a cloud link so they can download the full file.
This session is part of
Photography
2 weeks · 4 sessions · ₦30,000 · you leave with a curated photo set