How to Improve Your Photo Editing Workflow in Five Practical Steps

Photographers often blame their editing software for slow turnarounds. In most cases the software is not the problem. The problem is that every image is treated as a new decision: each one is opened, adjusted from scratch, then exported with a different set of settings. A better workflow does not make your edits less personal. It removes the decisions that do not need to be made again. This tutorial works through a workflow that applies to Lightroom, Affinity Photo, Photoshop or any editor with presets and batch export.

Step 1: Import with rules, not with hope

Import settings are where a workflow starts. Set up your import to apply metadata automatically: copyright notice, creator name, and usage terms. Create a folder structure by date and job, using a consistent pattern. Rename files on import so that every image in a project has a readable name. If you shoot to two cards, decide in advance which card is the master copy, and back up both before you format anything.

Step 2: Cull ruthlessly and early

Culling is the step most photographers rush and the step that matters most. Work through the set once, flagging only the images you would show a client. Use a two-pass method: first pass rejects obvious failures such as blur, closed eyes and bad exposure; second pass picks the strongest frames from each sequence. A set of three hundred images often becomes forty or fifty. Editing those forty is far faster than editing three hundred and then deciding which ones to deliver.

• First pass: reject failures. Be quick and do not reconsider.
• Second pass: pick the best frame from each sequence.
• Final pass: choose the set you will edit, and limit it to what the client needs.

Step 3: Edit one image well, then build a base

Choose a representative image from the shoot and edit it to a finished standard. Get the exposure, white balance, tone curve and colour mix right. Then save those settings as a starting point, sometimes called a base preset or a develop preset. Apply the base to the rest of the set and adjust from there. You will still make individual decisions, but you will be starting from a consistent place. Keep the base simple: a good base should be easy to override.

Step 4: Use local adjustments deliberately

Local adjustments are where many edits go wrong. Adding a brush, a gradient or a mask to every image creates work and inconsistent results. Use local adjustments for specific needs: a face that needs lifting, a sky that needs darkening, a background that distracts. Keep a list of the three or four local adjustments you use most, and make them part of your standard routine rather than an improvised step.

Step 5: Retouch with limits

Retouching is where workflows become slow and where results can drift from reality. Decide in advance what your retouching standard is. For commercial portraits, you may need skin cleanup and blemish removal. For documentary work, you may need almost none. Use Photoshop or Affinity Photo for pixel-level retouching, and keep it to the edits the image needs. Work on duplicate layers, keep the original file untouched and record any retouching you must disclose to a client.

Step 6: Export with a template for every destination

Create an export preset for each destination: web, print, social and client proofing. Each preset should set the dimensions, file type, quality, colour profile, sharpening and metadata behaviour. Exporting the same image in four formats should take one click, not four separate sets of decisions. Name the export folder by date and destination so that a client can find the right file without help.

Step 7: Back up and archive the way you would want to be restored

A workflow is only as good as your backups. Keep at least two copies of every project, one of them off-site, and test that you can restore an image before you need to. Archive finished projects with their catalogue or edit files and any presets used. Future clients may ask for the original RAW file or a reprint, and you need to find it.

Where to start this week

Do not rebuild your whole workflow at once. Choose one stage, probably culling or export, and make it consistent for the next two shoots. Then add the base edit and presets. Retouching can be left until the process is stable. A good workflow is one that you follow when you are tired, which is the real test of any system.

Related reading

For a detailed look at library-based editing, read our Adobe Lightroom review. For pixel editing, the Adobe Photoshop review and the Affinity Photo review cover what each does well.