RAW edit " Order Of Operations ": After being involved in a recent Math Puzzle regarding " Order Of Operations " it occurred to me that I should reevaluate my order of operations in...

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

After being involved in a recent Math Puzzle regarding " Order Of Operations " it occurred to me that I should reevaluate my order of operations in editing a RAW file... A simple google gave me this list in order from top to bottom... What do you all think ? Maybe I have been doing things backwards ?

The new recommended order will be:
1. AI Denoise.
2. Content-Aware Remove/Heal/Spot.
3. Lens Profile Corrections (CA & Lens Profile if available)
4. Transform Panel.
5. Crop.
6. Profile.
7. Global Adjustments.
8. Local Adjustments.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

MrBob wrote:

After being involved in a recent Math Puzzle regar... (show quote)

I'd reverse 7 and 8

R.G. Loc: Scotland

I agree with getting any lens corrections, levelling, cropping and cloning done early. Sharpening and denoise should be done together and there's an argument for not doing sharpening too early - it can affect how brushes work.

I see AI denoise as being required only when the noise is extreme. As a general rule denoise should be done minimally, and if your AI denoise doesn't have that option I would advise against using it (unless you're completely unconcerned about holding on to a natural look).

With some editors, cloning over areas where a brush has already been used can lead to strange effects like stuff showing through a clone patch even when opacity is 100%, so leaving local adjustments till late on is a good idea. Where global adjustments are concerned I leave any Clarity adjustments to the end and I use it minimally. Too much Clarity will kill a natural look at least as quickly as too much saturation or contrast, and if you add contrast after applying Clarity it can result in diffuse haloing.

Nalu Loc: Southern Arizona

Good discussion. always of interest to me. my steps:

open in acr, white balance, manage whites and blacks, add clarity 10%. open in photoshop, crop to composition, apply topaz denoise (usually auto), image cleanup as necessary (always in layers), final color adjustment either in photoshop or acr, again always as layers. flatten image, save as tiff. if posting on net, resave as appropriate jpg.

will live to hear other approaches.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

Nalu wrote:

Good discussion. always of interest to me. my steps:

open in acr, white balance, manage whites and blacks, add clarity 10%. open in photoshop, crop to composition, apply topaz denoise (usually auto), image cleanup as necessary (always in layers), final color adjustment either in photoshop or acr, again always as layers. flatten image, save as tiff. if posting on net, resave as appropriate jpg.

will live to hear other approaches.

Your approach is pretty much what I used to do in ACR... Now, I am in ON1 and prob. overthinking this...

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

MrBob wrote:

...
1. AI Denoise.
2. Content-Aware Remove/Heal/Spot.
3. Lens Profile Corrections (CA & Lens Profile if available)
4. Transform Panel.
5. Crop.
6. Profile.
7. Global Adjustments.
8. Local Adjustments.

It depends on the image. If the exposure has problems I deal with them first because they tend to be hardest to correct and if they can't be corrected there's no point in going further.

The next thing to be done is whatever needs it most.

I don't think there's one order fits all (although postprocessing steps are not necessarily commutative).

Nalu Loc: Southern Arizona

MrBob wrote:

Your approach is pretty much what I used to do in ACR... Now, I am in ON1 and prob. overthinking this...

You may be right, but i am always thinking i am missing some secret.

lorvey Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

I wouldn't trust doing everything google tells you. Doing Denoise first doesn't make sense to me. Some of the actions listed after the denoise action can add noise to the image. I think denoise should be done closer to the end of the list, especially after cropping. JMO.

a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

lorvey wrote:

I wouldn't trust doing everything google tells you. Doing Denoise first doesn't make sense to me. Some of the actions listed after the denoise action can add noise to the image. I think denoise should be done closer to the end of the list, especially after cropping. JMO.

I'm very new to thinking about this so I don't have a favorite sequence of edit types. However, I would leave Denise and super-resolution and that sort of thing to last. I want to work with what is there rather than what some AI thinks is there. I think I usually leave sharpening to late in the process, too, and for the same reasons.

I tend to crop first since I don't want to waste effort or computer speed on the parts of the image that don't matter to me. I also suspect that cropping first will help visualize the colors, saturation, etc. better.

Since I often don't have a long enough lens for the birds which are my favorite subjects, cropping is an important part of the process for me. YMMV.

Just my 2¢.

photoman43

Nalu wrote:

Good discussion. always of interest to me. my steps:

open in acr, white balance, manage whites and blacks, add clarity 10%. open in photoshop, crop to composition, apply topaz denoise (usually auto), image cleanup as necessary (always in layers), final color adjustment either in photoshop or acr, again always as layers. flatten image, save as tiff. if posting on net, resave as appropriate jpg.

will live to hear other approaches.

My processing workflow depends a lot on what I have been shooting. A typical "nature" shoot might have 500-1000 images taken in the same conditions with about the same subjects. I start with a batch processing where I adjust white balance, apply some contrast and clear view and maybe adjust shadows, highlights, etc to a group of images or to all taken like 500-1000. This step could include some minimal sharpening if needed to the whole batch.

Then I do other needed global and local adjustments usually on a single image or a small batch. I do not crop or apply noise reduction or sharpening until I am exporting the final image as a jpeg or tiff. I do the above in DXO PL7 Elite edition which has various noise reduction options I can use.

If needed I take a single image into NIK Collection for additional processing.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

lorvey wrote:

I wouldn't trust doing everything google tells you. Doing Denoise first doesn't make sense to me. Some of the actions listed after the denoise action can add noise to the image. I think denoise should be done closer to the end of the list, especially after cropping. JMO.

That really is one of the reasons for the post.... I always thought you deal with noise and sharpening near the end.

pnbarne

I generally crop first. If I can’t get a composition I like I am done with the image.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Most "experts" say do denoise first and sharpening last and I do that. I do all my early processing in ACR on a Smart Object layer. I start with the Auto button and do corrections as necessary. White Balance first Clarity last. Save as a tif file. Crop and do what I call fun stuff, blur background, apply filters etc. Crop to 8x10 and save as jpg.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

Curmudgeon wrote:

Most "experts" say do denoise first and sharpening last and I do that. I do all my early processing in ACR on a Smart Object layer. I start with the Auto button and do corrections as necessary. White Balance first Clarity last. Save as a tif file. Crop and do what I call fun stuff, blur background, apply filters etc. Crop to 8x10 and save as jpg.

Yeah, that sounds good... Thanks.

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

Well ACR (and I assume all raw editors) rebuild the image from scratch after each change to create the preview you see on the screen. The changes are applied in the optimal order so the order in which you apply them does’t matter. By the way, the previews are created only to the resolution and color space required for the monitor to save time and space. In Lightroom the previews are stored with the catalog and when it is exported or sent to Photoshop they are rendered to the resolution and color space specified which is why the export of a number of images takes such a large amount of processing time.