Now that you’ve shot your photographs in RAW, you may be wondering how to edit them. I use Photoshop and its built in RAW editor and I highly recommend it. It is really easy to use and enables you to make drastic changes to your image with just a few clicks of your mouse.

A very underexposed RAW image, edited with Photoshop’s RAW editor.

RAW Editor Tools:

I use the “Basic” tab the majority of the time, as I find this is all I need.

Adjust white balance/colours:

The Auto setting is pretty good at setting the correct white balance but there are other options in this drop down menu, so try them out and see which one is best for your image. Use the ‘Temperature’ and ‘Tint’ sliders under the drop down menu to fine tune your white balance.

You can also use the eye dropper tool on a part of the image that is meant to be white and Photoshop will adjust the white balance according to this selection.

Adjust Exposure:

Use the Exposure slider to make your photographs brighter or darker. This is a useful tool and can really save your images if they are under or over exposed.

Adjust Highlights and Shadows:

Use these sliders to increase or decrease the appearance of highlights or shadows in your images. You can also raise or lower the shadows and highlights to potentially recover some visual details which had been lost to either over or under exposure.

Adjust Clarity:

Use the Clarity slider to increase the appearance of sharpness of your photographs. Clarity adds micro contrasts to your image, which makes it appear sharper.

Once you have made your changes, click ‘Open Image’ and you will be able to make any further changes in Photoshop and then save as normal.