Should I adjust Lightroom's Basic panel or Tone Curve first when setting contrast?
Asked 6/27/2018
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In Lightroom 6.14, I often see tutorials recommend making Basic panel adjustments first (exposure, whites, blacks, highlights, shadows, etc.) and then adding contrast with the Tone Curve. But when I do that on RAW files, applying a Tone Curve preset like Medium Contrast or Strong Contrast often makes the image too dark overall, and I end up going back to the Basic panel to reopen the shadows.
Is there a better order of operations for setting contrast? Should the Tone Curve come before the Basic panel, or should I mainly use one set of controls and avoid overlapping adjustments? I'm especially interested in a practical workflow for balancing exposure and contrast without constantly reworking earlier steps.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
1
My approach is a bit different from the mentioned above and I have own reason about. I start from bottom to the top.
- Lens corrections, this correct distortion and give me view of the end picture (before crop if applicable).
- Then I apply Transform to get (again) the end view in sense of size and objects location
- Next is Details. I prefer to set details and noise reduction before I touch the Whites, Blacks. IMHO this give me more precise picture of what I need to do with sharpness and noise. If I apply significant changes in dark areas maybe I return again to this point.
- Then is Tone Curve. I apply only if I see need for it.
- And after all above I apply Basic.
- Next are HSL, Split Toning, Effects ... (not in this particular order)
In some cases as point 0.5 I touch Camera Calibration but mostly on landscape type images
This workflow help me have (in most of the cases) well balanced (in sense of blacks and whites) image.
Originally by user34947. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user34947
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
There isn’t one required order in Lightroom. Basic panel and Tone Curve overlap, so it’s normal to revisit earlier sliders after curve changes.
A practical approach from the community is:
- Do lens corrections/transform first so you’re judging the final framing and geometry.
- Set overall exposure early.
- Use whites and blacks to establish endpoints.
- Use highlights and shadows for recovery/detail.
- Apply Tone Curve only if the image still needs a more custom contrast shape.
- Fine-tune Basic again afterward if needed.
Why your preset curves look darker: Lightroom’s contrast curve presets usually add an S-curve, which increases separation in tones and can deepen midtones/shadows, so the image may appear darker overall.
So, don’t think of this as either/or. Use the Basic panel for broad tonal placement and recovery, and the Tone Curve for refining contrast. If curve presets are too strong, use a gentler curve or skip them. The best workflow is the one that gets you to the result efficiently, even if that means making a second pass in Basic.
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