Post-processing sequence

[beegdaddy]

Hi there

Just wanted to find out what would be the most appropriate sequence to squeeze the best image out of a photo (in terms of sharpness, colour, noise levels etc).

I tend to shoot my kids in relatively low-light (indoors - ISO 400/800 @ 1/30 or 1/60 without flash, which turns out quite grainy most of the time).

The steps that I think should be in are:

Image Size and Composition
a. Resizing
b. Cropping

Colours
a. White Balance
b. Levels (Contrast, Brightness etc)

Image Quality
a. Noise reduction
b. Sharpening

My current sequence is as follows:

1. White Balance
2. Levels
3. Cropping (composition)
4. Noise Reduction
5. Resizing (some say putting resizing as the first step can reduce noise due to pixel binning)
6. Sharpening (most articles recommend this as the final step)

If you know of any other steps that should be taken, kindly share as well.

Comments / sharing of your own PP experience much appreciated.

[jonneymendoza]

i tend to just apply auto levels on mine but recently stopped using PP altogether as i want to learn to take great pics out of the camera. relying heavily on PP is not good imo.

[stillinamerica]

It is an interesting question. I always sharpen at the end, which is what you seem to do. My very last tak is to dodge and burn the edges...left to the very end. good luck