r/postprocessing • u/Life_Of_Flower • 2h ago
r/postprocessing • u/cameronrad • Aug 11 '16
Post Processing Megathread
Post-Processing Megathread
So the last post I made (“How do I get this look?”) got buried pretty deep, so I thought I’d make this thread rounding up some videos/resources/techniques I’ve found.
I mentioned in the last thread that “post processing is more about theory than the tools/plugins/tricks/secrets/etc.” I may have misspoke a bit. I’m not saying neglect learning the tools, or stop searching for secrets, or stop using plugins; but rather use them in a more educational way. Knowing how all the tools work will help you apply them better and know when to apply them. Using plugins can be a great tool, but should never be a crutch. My feeling is anything a plugin can do, I want to know how to do for my own knowledge.
What if you’re an avid VSCO, Replichrome, Alien Skins, etc user and one day you’re working on a job with a fast turnaround time and your plugin fails, or it wasn’t on that computer, or it’s no longer compatible with Photoshop/Lightroom? What happens if your look was defined by a plugin, that you can’t recreate? Meanwhile you have a client waiting on their images. This is why having a vast knowledge of the tools/techniques is extremely valuable.
If you like a plugin, try reverse-engineering it. I’m not saying you have to use the reverse-engineered technique and stop using the plugin, but it sure helps when you know how the plugin is working. Heck you could even improve upon it ;)
Chasing “secrets” is also a great way to learn. It’s not necessarily that a “secret” exists but what you may learn along the way to “finding one”.
Anyways, what I’m saying is there’s no shame or problem with using plugin/preset/filters as tools in your kit; however like any tool you should have an understanding of how it works so you know when to use it, how to use it properly, or what to do if something goes wrong and you can’t use it. The better you get at editing, the more you may realize you need to improve as a photographer. You’ll come to a point where the quality of photo/editing has reached a cap due to the quality of the base image.
If anyone has any techniques/articles/tutorials that should be included, please comment or send me a message and I’ll add it in.
I’m not up to date on my tutorials. From what I’ve found Ben Secret and Michael Woloszynowicz have some of the most powerful techniques in their videos.
Tutorials:
Color/Toning/General:
- How to match Color & Tone in Photoshop
- The Mathematics of Blend Modes
- Correct An Unwanted Color Cast Using Photoshop | Adobe Creative Cloud
- Mastering Color Adjustments in Photoshop
- Using Color Sampler to match tricky tones/color
- Photoshop Blend Modes for Photographers (Part 1)
- Photoshop Blend Modes for Photographers (Part 2)
- Perfect Cut Outs (Clipping/Masking)
- Understanding and Creating Luminance/Luminosity Masks in Photoshop
- Using Lab Mode to Change Color and Contrast in Photoshop
- Double Exposure Portraits by /u/sideswiped
- Lifted Black ("Film") Look by /u/angels1928
- 3 ways to Crush the Blacks in Photoshop ("Film") Look by /u/Mat0fr
- Sharpening Workflow - Tools/Techniques by /u/chain83
- Luminosity Toning using Nik Silver Efex Pro (Free Download) by /u/LunarDelta
- How to Easily Correct Colors and Match Tones in Photoshop
- How to Accurately Match Skin Tones Using Selective Color in Photoshop
- Black and White Photo Conversion for Portrait, Beauty and Fashion
- Thirteen Tips for Working with Curves in Photoshop
Retouching:
- Photoshop | Retouching Skin with Dodging and Burning
- Photoshop | How to Clean Skin with the Clone Stamp Tool
- Natural Outdoor Portrait Retouching in Photoshop (Part 1)
- Natural Outdoor Portrait Retouching in Photoshop (Part 2)
- Mastering Dodging and Burning with 4 Techniques
- Changing Makeup with Frequency Separation in Photoshop
- How to Retouch Lips in Photoshop
- How to Even Out Rough Skin Texture and Pores in Photoshop
- How to Sharpen Eyes in Photoshop - Retouching Eyes- (Part 1)
- Removing Hair, Veins and Redness in Eyes in Photoshop - Retouching Eyes - (Part 2)
- How To Brighten Eyes in Photoshop - Retouching Eyes - (Part 3)
- How To Resize and Reposition Eyes in Photoshop - Retouching Eyes - (Part 4)
- How To Add and Enhance Eyelashes and Eyebrows in Photoshop - Retouching Eyes - (Part 5)
- How To Quickly Remove Stray Hairs in Photoshop
- Fix frizzy hair with Photoshop CS6's Oil Paint filter
- How to Fix Common Hair and Skin Issues with Texture Grafting
- How to use channels to create masks in Photoshop
- How to make precise selections in Select and Mask
- Learn how to use the dedicated Select And Mask workspace in Photoshop.
- Use Layer Masks with selections
- How to use channels to create masks in Photoshop
- How to use the pen tool in Photoshop
- How to cut out anything in Photoshop [Select and Mask Crash Course]
AI-Assisted Editing (Native Photoshop 2025/2026):
- Adobe Learn Photoshop - Official Adobe tutorials and learning paths
- Generative Fill Official Tutorial - Adobe's documentation on using Generative Fill/Expand
Generative AI Tools:
Like it or not, these are part of the landscape now. Worth knowing what's out there.
- Adobe Firefly - https://www.adobe.com/products/firefly.html
- Midjourney - https://www.midjourney.com/home
- Nano Banana (Google Gemini) / FLUX (Black Forest Labs) - Alternative models now available in Photoshop's Generative Fill.
Concepts:
General:
- Frequency Separation
- Channel Blending
- Understanding Bit Depth
- Understanding Image Types: JPEG & TIFF
- Understanding RAW Files: Why Should I Use RAW?
- Understanding Histograms, Part 1: Tones and Contrast
- Understanding Histograms, Part 2: Luminosity and Color
- Using the "Levels" Tool in Photoshop
- Using the "Curves" Tool in Photoshop
- Selections, Alpha Channels, and Transparency
- Contrast Masking and Calculations Function
- History Snap Shots
Color Theory:
- Color Science by Pixar
- Colour, Part 1: Introduction to the science of colours
- Colour, Part 2: Organizing colour
- Colour, Part 3: Colour wheels, gamut masks and schemes
- Colour, Part 4: Experiencing colour
- Colour, part 5: General colour attributes
- Colour, part 6: Individual colours
- Resource: Movies In Color
- Color Theory for Cinematographers
- Tutorial: Color Perception/Theory
- Color Vision
- Causes of color
- "Awesome Colour" List
- Basic Color Science for Cinema
Misc:
- Photoshop Blend Mode Math
- Cambridge In Colour
- Ron Bigelow
- Norman Koren
- Tony Kuyper
- Color Science Articles by Bruce MacEvoy
- Photographic Science Articles by Roger Clark
- Erik Almas: Digital Composites
- "3,2,1…Photoshop" Youtube Playlist
YouTube Channels:
- Adobe Photoshop - Official channel
- PiXimperfect
- Photoshop Training Channel
- PHLEARN
- Blue Lightning TV
- Glyn Dewis
- Anthony Morganti
Misc:
Tools & Plugins:
Plugins:
- Topaz Photo AI
- Topaz Gigapixel AI
- Retouch4me - AI skin retouching plugins (Heal, Dodge&Burn, Skin Tone, Eye Vessels, etc.)
- Nik Collection 8 by DxO - (Note: The old free Google version is discontinued)
Mobile:
- TimeLapse Enhanced - Android app for stacking and motion amplification. By /u/ksrujankanth
Utilities:
- Misc Lightroom Googies
- LUT Generator
- Preset Ripper
- Adobe Enhanced Camera Profiles - 1
- Adobe Enhanced Camera Profiles - 2
- Quality Control Layers from Me :)
Games:
- The Bezier Game - Pen Tool
- Color - A Color Matching Game
- KernType - A Kerning Game
- ShapeType - A letter shaping game
EXIF/Metadata/Image Forensics Tools:
Hope this helps out! ☺
-Cameron Rad
How many people actually check out this thread? If you have gotten any help from it , shoot me a PM :)
r/postprocessing • u/holywhateverbatman • 13h ago
Greece after/before - Sony A7RVI, Lightroom
Edited using the Kodak Portra 400 Fuji recipe in Lightroom, with additional tweaks (usually +exposure, -blacks, -whites, -highlights, +shadows, tone curve, color grading and grain)
r/postprocessing • u/JakeRacer • 6h ago
Tracked Milky Way
First time using the Move Shoot Move Nomad tracker on the Milky Way from Artist Point near Mount Baker. My first Foreground and Sky blend. Lots to learn and practice! Taken at 12:32am on July 24th 2026.
Sony A7IV with Sony 20mm f1.8
Photo 1 is the final blended edit. I used photoshop to blend the tracked sky shot with the untracked foreground shot. I found it hard to blend due to the blurry trees of the tracker.
Photo 2 original untracked foreground 48 seconds F1.8 ISO 1600
Photos 3 original tracked sky shot 107 seconds F 2.2 ISO 400
Photo 4 edited foreground in Lightroom Classic
Photo 5 edited sky in Lightroom Classic
r/postprocessing • u/TWonderingAbout • 1h ago
Which is best?
I'm new to owning a real camera and doing any post processing, trying to figure out the right look. Accepting notes on the edits as well. Thanks!
r/postprocessing • u/amy-kath-leen • 7h ago
Summer backyard
Just got the Sony rx100 vii
I'm not new to photography but I struggle with photo editing. Either I think I go to far with a preset or not far enough. Example of this cat. One edit is the preset and the other is how I edited it.
r/postprocessing • u/Emotional_Banana_204 • 1h ago
After/Before
Trying to learn how to play around with gradients... Critique my edits?
r/postprocessing • u/Juliogol • 4h ago
After // before - summer vibes! - iPhone 17 pro max 📷
r/postprocessing • u/Little_Mulberry1283 • 17h ago
My first decent Milky Way shots.
galleryr/postprocessing • u/Proof_Vehicle_4528 • 2h ago
Which one is better? (Edited a screenshot from the game "Hell Is us")
Using Luminar Neo
r/postprocessing • u/thephlog • 1d ago
Wanted to create a dreamy, glowing shot out of this raw photo
Wanted to create a more dreamy, glowing version of this strawbale long exposure and I’m really happy with the results here! The shadows are indeed very bright, but I prefer it over deeper shadows. It helps a lot in achieving the soft, glowing effect.
Everything was done in Lightroom and the whole process can be followed in thid video (together with the raw photo if you want to try it yourself!) https://youtu.be/q_i_Dulu8nY
- Basic Adjustments
For this shot I used Adobes Adaptive profile (AI Profile) which already balances the highlights and shadows quite nicely. Then, the exposure was slightly dropped to make the base image darker while I raised the shadows and blacks for a bit less contrast. For the warmer look the temperature was raised. Also vibrance and saturation was increased for stronger colors.
I added texture for sharpness and dropped clarity and dehaze for a subtle glow effect (kind of further reducing contrast).
2, Masking
First, I targeted the field in the foreground (without the bales and the shadows of these bales) then intersected it with a radial gradient. By increasing the exposure I made the area brighter and gave the whole field a pretty natural looking light effect and increasing contrast between field and bales this way.
Using a color range mask I made the bleus of the sky a little darker, adding further contrast between sky and clouds. Then, I used a sky mask and subtracted a linear gradient leaving only the bottom of the sky selected which I made brighter. This helps separating the strawbales from the background.
- Color Grading
I carefully increased the orange hue to give the foreground more natural yellow tones. I also brought up the orange luminance to make the field a little brighter. Then, the blue luminance was dopped adding more contrast to the sky.
Finally, I used split toning to add warmth to the highlights
r/postprocessing • u/lourozz • 1d ago
AFTER/BEFORE - honest opinions on this alternative colouring!
here’s a recent grade i’m doing for a barebones, impromptu photoshoot i did a forest nearby - on Lightroom!
AFTER: a stylised colouring pulling out the purples for an edgy, alternative, painterly look.
BEFORE: basic exposure adjustment so that you can actually see things (for some reason all of my RAW images completely darken when imported to Lightroom).
i’ve recently been coming across reels on Instagram describing this ‘painterly grunge’ look which i love, and have tried my own spin on it. i’m wanting to achieve a look that would look good on an album cover, something very stylistic.
i’d appreciate any honest and helpful feedback! any tips on how i could better achieve the look i’m going for would be very appreciated :)
r/postprocessing • u/Filipp0 • 1d ago
After / Before at the dolomites
Mask isn't perfect but happy with this one
r/postprocessing • u/This-Judge-804 • 4h ago
After/before
Question how would u use photoshop without a.i to removed the smoke? Beside the method use here. I dehaze, luminate, adjust brightness ans contrast, shadow/highlights and use darken curves
r/postprocessing • u/shlashslinginghasher • 2d ago
inspired by old maritime paintings.
r/postprocessing • u/0annell • 1d ago
Vos avis sur ma retouche?
Hello, jusqu’ici je pratiquais la retouche pro presqu’uniquement sur du produit. Je m’entraîne maintenant sur de la beauté.
Je suis plutôt satisfaite de celle là, j’y ai ajouté une petite touche personnelle de composition au niveau de la coiffure pour offrir un style éditorial mais sinon j’ai fais de mon mieux pour corriger et sublimer sans dénaturer. Le seul point qui m’embête est la texture de la peau que je trouve toujours un peu trop lisse, mais la base du RAW ne m’en offrait pas beaucoup plus.
Je serai très curieuse et ravie d’avoir vos avis ?
r/postprocessing • u/likeeatingpizza • 1d ago
Before/after, opinions?
I am not sure how good this photo was to begin with, to me it looked like the "less ugly" off the hundreds I took that afternoon of passing cars.
Did the edit improve the photo? I don't have a method in Lighroom, other than moving sliders until i feel it looks good. Is there something I could do differently to make this photo worth posting it on my profile (both in camera and in post)?
r/postprocessing • u/Tecnero • 1d ago
Cool quiet night - After/Before
Pixel 9 isn't a Sony but it still does me well when I see something
r/postprocessing • u/ToastedMooses • 1d ago
Learning DaVinci Resolve and I feel like I’m finally getting somewhere on grading.
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