On this page
- Apply a profile to your image
- Set the white balance
- Fine-tune the white balance using the Temp and Tint controls
- Adjust overall image tonal scale
- Adjust the tonal scale using the histogram
- Preview highlight and shadow clipping
- Set overall color saturation
- Fine-tune the tonal scale using the Tone Curve panel
- Fine-tune image colors with HSL sliders
- Adjust the color calibration for your camera
- Work in grayscale
Note:
You’re viewing help for Photoshop Lightroom Classic (formerly Lightroom CC).
Not your version? View help for Photoshop Lightroom.
Profiles allow you to control how colors and tonality are rendered in your photos. The profiles provided in the Profile area of the Basic panel are intended to serve as a starting point or foundation for making image edits.
Applying a profile on your photo doesn't change or overwrite the value of other edit control sliders. Therefore, you can make edits to your photos as you like and then choose to apply a profile on top of your edited image.
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Use the Profile pop-up menu to quickly access Adobe profiles and the profiles that you've marked as favorite. (explained in Step 3 below).
To browse and apply other creative profiles in the Profile Browser, do any of the following:
- Choose Browse from the Profile pop-up menu.
- Click the profile browser icon
on the right.
Profile area in the Basic panel
Profile BrowserNote:
When you import photos, Adobe Color and Adobe Monochrome profiles are applied by default to color and black-and-white photos respectively.
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In Profile Browser, expand any of the profile groups to view the profiles available in that group.
To expand all the profile groups in Profile Browser, right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) any profile group and choose Expand All from the menu.
To collapse all the profile groups in Profile Browser, right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) any profile group and choose Collapse All from the menu.
Note:
In Profile Browser, use the pop-up menu above the Favorites profile groups to view the profiles as a List, as Grid thumbnails, or Large thumbnails. You can also filter the profiles to be displayed by 'type' - Color or B&W.
Favorites: Displays profiles that you've marked as favorite. See Add a profile to Favorites.
Adobe Raw profilesProfiles for raw photos
The following profile groups appear when you are editing a raw photo.
Adobe Raw: Adobe Raw profiles significantly improve color rendering and provide a good starting point for editing your raw images. Adobe Color profile─which is designed to provide a good color/tone balance for any image─is applied by default to the raw photos that you import in Lightroom Classic.
Camera Matching: Displays profiles based on the camera make/model of your raw photo. Use Camera Matching profiles if you prefer the color rendering in your raw files to match what you see on your camera’s display screen.
Legacy: Displays legacy profiles that were also provided in the earlier versions of the Lightroom app.
Creative profiles for raw and non-raw photos
Creative profiles work on any file type including raw photos, JPEGs, and TIFFs. These profiles are designed to create a certain style or effect in your photo.
Artistic: Use these profiles if you want the color rendering in your photo to be more edgy, with stronger color shifts.
B&W: Use these profiles to get optimal tone shifts required for black and white work.
Modern: Use these profiles to create unique effects that fit in with the modern photography styles.
Vintage: Use these profiles to replicate the effects of vintage photos.
Artistic profilesNote:
When you apply any of the Artistic, B&W, Modern, and Vintage profiles, Lightroom Classic provides an additional Amount slider that allows to control profile intensity. For other profiles, the Amount slider is dimmed/inactive.
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In the import dialog that appears, select the profiles that you want to import. You can also import a .zip file containing profiles.
Note:
You can import XMP presets and profiles, DCP profiles, and LCP profiles as part of a zip file. However, .lrtemplate presets can't be imported as part of a zip file.
Note:
To manually install or copy your profiles, see Manually install profiles.
To add a profile to Favorites profile group:
- When browsing the profiles in the Grid or Large view, hover on the profile thumbnail and click the star icon that appears at the upper-right corner of the thumbnail.
- When browsing the profiles in the List view, hover on the profile and click the star icon that appears next to the profile's name.
You can also access your favorite profiles from the Profiles pop-menu.
Introduced in Lightroom Classic CC 7.4 (June 2018 release)
Using the Manage Profiles option, you can show or hide various profile groups that are displayed in the Profile browser - Basic, Adobe Raw, Camera Matching, Legacy, Artistic, B&W, Modern, Vintage, or any other profiles that you've imported.
To show/hide profile groups, follow the steps below:
You can adjust the white balance of a photo to reflect the lighting conditions under which it was taken—daylight, tungsten, flash, and so on.
You can either choose a white balance preset option or click a photo area that you want to specify as a neutral color. Lightroom Classic adjusts the white balance setting, and then you can fine-tune it using the sliders provided.
Note:
White balance preset options are available only for raw and DNG photos. White balance for all photos can be edited using the sliders.
In the Basic panel of the Develop module, choose an option from the WB pop-up menu. As Shot uses the camera’s white balance settings, if they are available. Auto calculates the white balance based on the image data.
Lightroom Classic applies the white balance setting and moves the Temp and Tint sliders in the Basic panel accordingly. Use these sliders to fine-tune the color balance. See Fine-tune the white balance using the Temp and Tint controls.
Note:
If the camera’s white balance settings are not available, then the Auto option is the default.
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Auto Dismiss
Sets the White Balance Selector tool to dismiss automatically after clicking only once in the photo.
Show Loupe
Displays a close-up view and the RGB values of a sampling of pixels under the White Balance Selector.
Done
Dismisses the White Balance Selector tool, and the pointer changes to the Hand or Zoom-in tool by default.
Note:
The Navigator displays a preview of the color balance as you move the White Balance Selector over different pixels.
to
select it, or press the W key.Temp
Fine-tunes the white balance using the Kelvin color temperature scale. Move the slider to the left to make the photo appear cooler, and right to warm the photo colors.
You can also set a specific Kelvin value in the Temp text box to match the color of the ambient light. Click the current value to select the text box and enter a new value. For example, photographic tungsten lights are often balanced at 3200 Kelvin. If you shoot under photo tungsten lights and set the image temperature to 3200, your photos should appear color balanced.
One of the benefits of working with raw files is that you can adjust the color temperature as if you were changing a setting in a camera during capture, allowing a broad range of settings. When working with JPEG, TIFF, and PSD files, you work in a scale of -100 to 100 rather than the Kelvin scale. Non-raw files such as JPEG or TIFF include the temperate setting in the file, so the temperate scale is more limited.
Tint
Fine-tunes the white balance to compensate for a green or magenta tint. Move the slider to the left (negative values) to add green to the photo; move it to the right (positive values) to add magenta.
Tip: If you see a green or magenta color cast in the shadow areas after adjusting the temperature and tint, try removing it by adjusting the Shadows Tint slider in the Camera Calibration panel.
You adjust the overall image tonal scale using the tone controls in the Basic panel. As you work, keep an eye on the end points of the histogram, or use the shadow and highlight clipping previews.
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Note:
The tone controls that are available depend on whether you are working in Process Version 2012, 2010, or 2003, as noted.
Note:
You can increment the slider values by selecting the value and using the Up and Down arrow keys. Double-clicking the slider control resets the value to zero.
Exposure
(All) Sets the overall image brightness. Adjust the slider until the photo looks good and the image is the desired brightness.
Exposure values are in increments equivalent to aperture values (f‑stops) on your camera. An adjustment of +1.00 is similar to opening the aperture 1 stop. Similarly, an adjustment of –1.00 is similar to closing the aperture 1 stop.
Contrast
(All) Increases or decreases image contrast, mainly affecting midtones. When you increase contrast, the middle-to-dark image areas become darker, and the middle-to-light image areas become lighter. The image tones are inversely affected as you decrease contrast.
Highlights
(PV2012) Adjusts bright image areas. Drag to the left to darken highlights and recover “blown out” highlight details. Drag to the right to brighten highlights while minimizing clipping.
Shadows
(PV2012) Adjusts dark image areas. Drag to the left to darken shadows while minimizing clipping. Drag to the right to brighten shadows and recover shadow details.
Whites
(PV2012) Adjusts white clipping. Drag to the left to reduce clipping in highlights. Drag to the right to increase highlight clipping. (Increased clipping may be desirable for specular highlights, such as metallic surfaces.)
Blacks
(PV2012) Adjusts black clipping. Drag to the left to increase black clipping (map more shadows to pure black). Drag to the right to reduce shadow clipping.
Blacks
(PV2010 and PV2003) Specifies which image values map to black. Moving the slider to the right increases the areas that become black, sometimes creating the impression of increased image contrast. The greatest effect is in the shadows, with much less change in the midtones and highlights.
Recovery
(PV2010 and PV2003) Reduces the tones of extreme highlights and attempts to recover highlight detail lost because of camera overexposure. Lightroom Classic can recover detail in raw image files if one or two channels are clipped.
Fill Light
(PV2010 and PV2003) Lightens shadow to reveal more detail while maintaining blacks. Take care not to over apply the setting and reveal image noise.
Brightness
(PV2010 and PV2003) Adjusts image brightness, mainly affecting midtones. Adjust Brightness after setting Exposure, Recovery, and Blacks sliders. Large brightness adjustments can affect shadow or highlight clipping, so you may want to readjust the Exposure, Recovery, or Blacks slider after adjusting brightness.
A histogram is a representation of the number of pixels in a photo at each luminance percentage. A histogram that stretches from the left side of the panel to the right side indicates a photo that takes full advantage of the tonal scale. A histogram that doesn’t use the full tonal range can result in a dull image that lacks contrast. A histogram with spikes at either end indicates a photo with shadow or highlight clipping. Clipping can result in the loss of image detail.
A histogram is made up of three layers of color that represent the Red, Green, and Blue color channels. Gray appears when all three channels overlap; yellow, magenta, and cyan appear when two of the RGB channels overlap (yellow equals the Red + Green channels, magenta equals the Red + Blue channels, and cyan equals the Green + Blue channels).
In the Develop module, specific areas of the Histogram panel are related to the tone sliders in the Basic panel. You can make adjustments by dragging in the histogram. Your adjustments are reflected in the Basic panel sliders.
The area under the histogram in the Develop module displays the RGB color values for individual pixels appearing under the Hand or Zoom tool when you move it over the photo.
You can use this information to determine whether any areas of the photo are clipped, such as whether an R, G, or B value is 0% black or 100% white. If at least one channel in the clipped area has color, then you might be able to use it to recover some detail in the photo.
While working in the Reference View in the Develop module, the area under the histogram displays the RGB/LAB color values for individual pixels appearing under the Hand or Zoom tool when you move it over the Reference/Active photo.
If the dimensions of the Reference photo and the Active photo/cropped Active photo match, the readings are displayed in the following manner:
Reference/Active R [Reference value]/[Active value] G [Reference value]/[Active value] B [Reference value]/[Active value] %
- If the dimensions of the Reference and Active photos do not match, only the color value for the image you are currently hovering on is displayed. The color value for the other image is displayed as '- -'.
- If either the Reference photo or the Active is not set currently, its color value is displayed as '--'.
When you toggle the Before view of the Active photo, the color values are displayed in a similar manner for the Reference/Active (Before) photos.
Reference/Active (Before) R [Reference value]/[Active Before value] G [Reference value]/[Active Before value] B [Reference value]/[Active Before value] %
By default, RGB color values are displayed. To display the LAB color values, right-click the histogram and choose Show Lab Color Values.
For more details about the Before view, see View Before and After Photos.
You can preview tonal clipping in a photo as you work on it. Clipping is the shifting of pixel values to the highest highlight value or the lowest shadow value. Clipped areas are either completely white or completely black, and have no image detail. You can preview clipped areas as you adjust the tone sliders in the Basic panel.
Clipping indicators 
are
located at the top of the Histogram panel in the Develop module.
The black (shadow) clipping indicator is on the left, and the white
(highlight) indicator is on the right.
- Move the Blacks slider and watch the black clipping indicator. Move the Recovery or Whites sliders and watch the white clipping indicator. An indicator turns white when clipping in all channels occurs. A colored clipping indicator means one or two channels are clipped.
- To preview clipping in the photo, move the mouse over
the clipping indicator. Click the indicator to keep the preview
on.
Clipped black areas in the photo become blue, and clipped white areas become red.
- To view clipped image ares for each channel, press Alt
(Windows) or Option (Mac OS) while moving a slider in the
Basic panel of the Develop module.
For the Recovery and Whites sliders, the image turns black, and clipped areas appear white. For the Blacks slider, the image turns white and clipped areas appear black. Colored areas indicate clipping in one color channel (red, green, blue) or two color channels (cyan, magenta, yellow).
Clarity
Adds depth to an image by increasing local contrast. When using this setting, it is best to zoom in to 100% or greater. To maximize the effect, increase the setting until you see halos near the edge details of the image, and then reduce the setting slightly.
Dehaze
Controls the amount of haze in a photograph. Drag to the right to remove haze; drag to the left to add haze.
Note:
Dehaze is also available as a local adjustment. While working with the Radial Filter, Graduated Filter, or the Adjustment Brush, adjust the Dehaze slider control. For more information, see Apply local adjustments and Use the Radial Filter tool.
Vibrance
Adjusts the saturation so that clipping is minimized as colors approach full saturation, changing the saturation of all lower-saturated colors with less effect on the higher-saturated colors. Vibrance also prevents skin tones from becoming over saturated.
Saturation
Adjusts the saturation of all image colors equally from –100 (monochrome) to +100 (double the saturation).
The graph in the Tone Curve panel of the Develop module represents changes made to the tonal scale of a photo. The horizontal axis represents the original tone values (input values), with black on the left and progressively lighter values toward the right. The vertical axis represents the changed tone values (output values), with black on the bottom and lighter values progressing to white at the top. Use the tone curve to tweak the adjustments you make to a photo in the Basic panel.
If a point on the curve moves up, it becomes a lighter tone; if it moves down, it becomes darker. A straight, 45-degree line indicates no changes to the tonal scale: The original input values exactly match the output values. You may see a tone curve that isn’t straight when you first view a photo that you haven’t adjusted. This initial curve reflects default adjustments that Lightroom Classic applied to your photo during import.
The Darks and Lights sliders affect mainly the middle region of the curve. The Highlight and Shadows sliders affect mainly the ends of the tonal range.
To make adjustments to the tone curve, do any of the following:
Click on the curve and drag up or down. As you drag, the affected region is highlighted and the related slider moves. The original and new tonal values are displayed in the upper-left of the tone curve.
Drag any of the four Region sliders left or right. As you drag, the curve moves within the affected region (Highlights, Lights, Darks, Shadows). The region is highlighted in the tone curve graph. To edit curve regions, drag the split controls at the bottom of the tone curve graph.
Click to select the Targeted Adjustment tool
in the upper-left of the Tone Curve panel and then click on an area in the photo that you want to adjust. Drag or press the Up and Down Arrow keys to lighten or darken the values for all similar tones in the photo.Choose an option from the Point Curve menu: Linear, Medium Contrast, or Strong Contrast. The setting is reflected in the curve but not in the region sliders.
Note: The Point Curve menu is blank for photos imported with metadata and previously edited with the Adobe Camera Raw tone curve.
To make adjustments to individual points on the tone curve, choose an option from the Point Curve menu, click the Edit Point Curve button 
, and do any of the following:
Choose an option from the Channel pop-up menu. You can edit all three channels at once, or choose to edit the Red, Green, or Blue channel individually.
Click to add a point.
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) and choose Delete Control Point to remove a point.
Drag a point to edit it.
To return to a linear curve at any time, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) anywhere in the graph and choose Flatten Curve.
Use the HSL and Color panels in the Develop module to adjust individual color ranges in your photo. For example, if a red object looks too vivid and distracting, you can adjust it using the Saturation slider for Red. Note that all similar reds in the photo will be affected.
The adjustments you make in the HSL and Color panels produce similar results, but the two panels organize the sliders in different ways. To open a panel, click its name in the HSL/Color/B&W panel header.
The slides in these panels work on specific color ranges:
Hue
Changes the color. For example, you can change a blue sky (and all other blue objects) from cyan to purple.
Saturation
Changes the color vividness or purity of the color. For instance, you can change a blue sky from gray to highly saturated blue.
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In the HSL panel, select Hue, Saturation, Luminance, or All to display the sliders you want to work with.
Drag the sliders or enter values in the text boxes to the right of the sliders.
Click the Targeted Adjustment tool
in
the upper-left of the panel, move the pointer over an area in the
photo that you want to adjust, and then click the mouse. Drag the
pointer, or press the Up and Down Arrow keys to make the adjustment.
Note:
Beginning with Lightroom Classic CC 7.3 (April 2018 release), the Profile option has been moved from the Calibration panel to the Basic panel at the top. For more information, see Apply a profile to your image.
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Process
The process version corresponds to the version of Camera Raw in which the profile first appeared. Choose an ACR profile if you want consistent behavior with legacy photos.
Red, Green, and Blue Primary
The Hue and Saturation sliders adjust the red, green, and blue in the photo. In general, adjust the hue first, and then adjust its saturation. Moving the Hue slider to the left (negative value) is similar to a counterclockwise move on the color wheel; moving it to the right (positive value) is similar to a clockwise move. Moving the Saturation slider to the left (negative value) desaturates the color; moving it to the right (positive value) increases saturation.
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Save the adjustments as a Develop preset. See Create and apply Develop presets.
You can also customize camera profiles using the standalone DNG Profile Editor utility. The free DNG Profile Editor and documentation for it are available for download at DNG Profiles - Adobe Labs.
Note:
Leave the Camera Calibration panel sliders set to 0 when adjusting camera profiles with the DNG Profile Editor.
You can save new camera raw defaults for each camera model. Change preference options to determine whether the camera serial number and ISO settings are included in the defaults.
In Presets preferences, you can choose Reset Default Develop Settings to revert to the original settings.
Black & White Mix in the B&W panel converts color images to monochrome grayscale images, providing control over how individual colors convert to gray tones.
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In the HSL/Color/B&W panel, darken or lighten the gray tones that represent colors in the original photo.
Drag the individual color sliders to adjust the gray tone for all similar colors in the original photo.
Click Auto to set a grayscale mix that maximizes the distribution of gray tones. Auto often produces excellent results that can be used as a starting point for tweaking gray tones using the sliders.
Click the Targeted Adjustment tool
in
the upper-left of the B&W panel, move the pointer over an area
of the photo you want to adjust, and click the mouse. Drag the tool,
or press the Up and Down Arrow keys, to lighten or darken the grays
for all similarly colored areas of the original photo.
Note:
To apply grayscale mix automatically when converting photos to grayscale, select the Apply Auto Mix When First Converting To Black And White in the Presets area of the Preferences dialog box.
Use the sliders in the Split Toning panel to color a grayscale photo. You can add one color throughout the tonal range, such as a sepia effect, or create a split tone effect in which a different color is applied to the shadows and the highlights. The extreme shadows and highlights remain black and white.
You can also apply special effects, such as a cross-processed look, to a color photo.
Grayscale mode images from Photoshop have no color data, but you can make tonal adjustments to them in Lightroom Classic using the tone adjustments in the Basic panel or Tone Curve panel. You can also apply color toning effects using the options in the Split Toning panel. Lightroom Classic handles the photo as an RGB image and exports it as RGB.
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