A Sensible Order for Color Adjustments

Sliders are fun. Over-processed photos are not. Here's the order professional retouchers work in, and it maps directly to PhotoCraft's adjustment panel.

1. White balance first (temperature)

Color casts contaminate every decision after them. Push temperature until whites look white — warm for golden-hour glow, cool for overcast flatness.

2. Exposure (brightness), gently

Recover the mood of the scene. If you need more than ±15, reconsider the crop instead.

3. Contrast for structure

Contrast adds separation between subject and background. +10 to +20 suits most photos; more than that starts crushing shadows.

4. Saturation last, sparingly

Saturation is the spice, not the meal. +15 reads as "vivid"; +40 reads as "phone filter."

5. Vignette and sharpen at the very end

Both are finishing moves. A soft vignette directs the eye; sharpen only after every other decision is locked.

The nice part: in PhotoCraft every slider stays live on its layer. Change your mind at step 5 and step 2 is still there, waiting. Try the workflow in the editor.