DIGITAL DARKROOM Tweak as you tidy

George Cairns shows you how to edit images as you sort through them

As you’ve seen over the past few issues, Lightroom’s Library module enables you to organise your images so that you can find specific files more easily. This can really speed up your workflow, especially if you have a large archive of images.

You can even automatically edit your images as you import them to, say, improve their contrast. To do so, go to the Apply During Import section in the Import window. Set the Develop Settings drop-down menu to Lightroom General presets and choose Auto Tone. This preset will analyse each photo’s histogram and adjust it to create a healthier spread of tones. (We’ll look at histograms in more detail in coming issues.)

You can also manually adjust a photo’s colours and tones using the aptly named Quick Develop panel in the Library module. This enables you to quickly correct colours and increase contrast without having to drag the photo into the more complex Develop module, which we’ll start exploring next issue. You can also use the Quick Develop panel to apply presets to your photos to tweak their colours and tones with just a few clicks. Read on to find out how…