Adobe Lightroom Essentials Course

Take a complete Lightroom workflow—from import and organization to color correction, grading, and export—through a six-image Datsun example.

Choose your image, correct exposure and contrast with light and tone panels, grade the photo with a theme, export a small jpeg, and share with the starting Lightroom hashtag.

Explore how raw format captures more information than a JPEG and why shooting RAW in Lightroom offers greater control over exposure, tone, and detail.

Learn to undo and reset edits in Lightroom, including full and partial resets, using shortcuts (command/ctrl R, option/alt, backslash) while preserving the original image non-destructively via cloud syncing.

Master adjusting exposure, contrast, highlights, whites, blacks, and shadows in the Lightroom light panel to shape tone. Practice with grid mode, shortcuts, and quick resets on sample images.

Practice light correction in Lightroom using the light panel, balance sky and foreground, and export before-and-after JPGs from your own image or free sites for assignment submission.

Explore auto temperature and white balance in Lightroom, compare jpg and raw file behavior, and learn how Kelvin, presets, and tone adjustments shape color with auto as a starting point.

Learn to remove color casts in Lightroom with the white balance eyedropper, using gray card or 18% gray for consistent white balance across shoots, including magenta, green, and blue casts.

Copy and paste color settings, including white balance, across multiple Lightroom images by selecting them, choosing edit settings to copy only color, then pasting.

Compare vibrance and saturation in Lightroom, noting how vibrance protects skin tones and avoids oversaturation while boosting color. Use vibrance sparingly for balanced color and observe adjustments on raw images.

Harness the color mixer's target adjustment in Lightroom to edit hues, saturations, and luminance directly on artwork; click, drag, and hover to select colors and fine-tune sky, foliage, and tones.

Discover Lightroom remixes to view originals and edits, explore as-shot versus final results, and share or remix others' work using color mixer and tone curves.

Learn how to share your Lightroom work for remixes by uploading both the original and edited versions, enabling remixing, and sharing a remix link for class projects.

Import photos from camera or SD card, select JPG or RAW, then quickly find and organize with all photos, by date, recently added, and recent edits.

Organize photos in Lightroom using albums and folders, create albums during import, and use drag-and-drop or the lazy way with search filters like recently added and by date.

Learn two ways to delete images in Lightroom: remove from an album or delete from all photos, with a 60-day restore window, cloud syncing, and a permanent deletion option.

Pause syncing in Lightroom to manage uploads while importing and tidying photos, delete blurry or unwanted shots, and selectively reenable cloud backup after edits.

Learn to use Lightroom's comparison view to pair two images, compare details, and edit them in parallel to match exposure, color, and white balance.

Master flagging and filtering in Lightroom using Z and X shortcuts to keep or discard photos, then organize selected shots into an album.

Master metadata in Lightroom by using the Info panel to add copyright and contact details. Automate this on import or apply it in bulk to multiple images.

Explore how Adobe Sensei enables AI search in Lightroom to find items like red cars, birds, and buildings without tagging, and quickly refine results by date or similarity.

Export Instagram images with Lightroom using custom dimensions and JPEGs, set the width to 1080 or less for portrait or landscape, and keep metadata to copyright only.

Learn cropping, rotating, and flipping in lightroom using overlays like the rule of thirds, aspect-ratio lock, and non-destructive edits to improve composition.

Learn to crop multiple images with Lightroom using aspect ratios for social media and frames, from 1x1 squares to 9x16 stories, and match 4x6, 5x4, and 10x8 frames.

Learn to crop multiple images at once by copying a single crop and pasting it to others in grid view, using edit settings to copy only the crop.

Learn to create and combine multiple radial and linear masks in Lightroom, adjust feathering and exposure, invert and delete masks for focused subject and background edits.

Explore how to use the brush mask in Lightroom to selectively paint and invert the mask, adjust exposure, and emphasize food details with precise size, flow, and feather settings.

Practice brush masking in Lightroom on a food image, apply overall edits, then add and remove masks, and share before/after exports to the assignment with proper credits.

Master the Select Subject mask in Lightroom powered by Adobe Sensei to isolate subjects and adjust white balance and exposure for expressive edits.

Learn to use Lightroom's select background feature to isolate the subject. Then add a second mask with the brush to fine-tune edges and exposure, and combine masks for precise control.

Learn to select the sky in Lightroom using masking, refine with a ground mask and a radial mask, and apply dehaze, color adjustments, and a warm sun effect.

Learn to select a cloudy sky with landscape in Lightroom, edit and invert the sky, then remix the image and share before/after results while crediting the photographer.

Replace the sky by round-tripping from Lightroom to Photoshop and back. Learn how Photoshop handles sky replacement when Lightroom cannot do it alone.

Learn how to isolate a single person in Lightroom using masking and subject selection, enable People View, and fine tune skin tones and background to emphasize the bride.

Learn to smooth skin in wedding photos with Lightroom using masking, texture, clarity, and noise reduction, while balancing color temperature and light for natural results.

Experiment with skin smoothing and texture on two portraits in Lightroom, tweaking texture, contrast, clarity, saturation, and temperature. Share before and after edits with credited photographers.

Learn to selectively change eye color, lip color, and hair color in Lightroom using masking, hue, saturation, and colorize for natural portrait edits.

Engage in the class project to change color in Lightroom by editing two portrait images—one subtle, one extreme—sharing before/after shots, credits, and social posts, all within Lightroom Essentials.