My Top Portrait Editing Tips In Lightroom

Learn to edit better portraits in Lightroom - Here are the top tips for editing portraits I WISH someone had told me!
Editing portrait photos is an art, and learning how to edit portraits inside Lightroom takes time and practice. Edit along with me as I go through this portrait editing tutorial from start to finish. Whether you're looking for a beginner introduction to editing portraits, or you just want to see how professional photographers edit their portraits, this Lightroom tutorial goes in depth, teaching you how to edit a portrait step by step inside Adobe Lightroom Classic CC (But don't worry, these same techniques will apply whether you're using Lightroom CC, Lightroom CC Classic, Lightroom 5,6,7,8 or even Lightroom alternatives like CaptureOne)
Have editing questions? Leave them in the comments below!

[@SignatureEdits]

Grab the RAW file and edit along with me here! shop.signatureedits.com/portrait-editing-raw-file

[@rebazomer5635]

to be street photographer or wedding photographer this video is absolutely enough.

[@jonasraum8598]

Holding down the "alt" key while editing the tone curve enables finer adjustments and gives you better control over the result. That should solve your problem mentioned at 5:49. Great tutorial as always!

[@TheFelixhawelka]

gosh, thank you so much :D

[@BrandynMakes]

Whaaaaat!!! 😮

[@MacherTV]

What a gamechanger. Huge thanks to you!

[@rainerlein]

as well extending the editing bar itself helps a lot. I have mine quite wide as I enjoy the acuracy you get by doing it.

[@michaelreynolds6543]

hey thanks for that that little tip really helped me i shoot canon and the dreaded red tint was hard to control till now cheers dude !!!

[@aleksandrmikhailov3255]

Man, that was just amazing! Absolutely love your videos!

[@SignatureEdits]

Wow thanks so much Aleksandr!

[@user-gd3nc1xl6e]

Thanks man. Great tutorial!

[@ElmoRitter]

this was so helpful for me at the level im at. I have no complaints. It was helpful for me to watch the order of events for your edit.

[@SignatureEdits]

Glad to hear it! Thanks so much

[@seanpavan]

this is an amazing lightroom tutorial, thank you so much for sharing. It has really helped me.

[@ferdawsbaha3228]

This was very nice as a tutorial. Thank you so much :)

[@carleyschumann3856]

This was so helpful! Thank you

[@espens87]

Amazing video! and so many lightroom tips i didnt know!

[@SignatureEdits]

Happy to help! Glad you liked it Espen!

[@gracez2723]

Learned a lot from this video. Thank you!

[@SignatureEdits]

Glad to hear it! Cheers mate!

[@sandykreit1752]

Thank you, I learned a lot!!

[@SignatureEdits]

You’re so welcome Sandy!

[@juliagazewska9453]

thank you, thank you! I adore you and you channel!

[@SignatureEdits]

You are so welcome! Adoration probably undeserved but appreciated :)

[@cynthiafisher4175]

Amazing amazing amazing. Thank You!

[@SignatureEdits]

Thank you too!

[@boomerfitzpatrick9552]

love this!!

[@SignatureEdits]

Thank you!

[@amitemanuelgolan7628]

tnx learned alot

[@neerajkhattry5946]

Thank so much for this detail vedio

[@raymondhoho]

Thank you for this! :)

[@pazzoponce]

great video, thank you!

[@paharithrottle4110]

Very nicely explained ! youre a great tutor

[@SignatureEdits]

Thanks Manish!!

[@jhoneyands]

Hey man - helpful video, thank you. re the tone curve's smallness, you can drag the edge of the whole sidebar to make it bigger, and then hold option as you move the points on the curve, it slows it right down, so you can easily make small changes.

[@SignatureEdits]

Both great tips Joe! I just wish the sidebar could be made even bigger (like HALF the screen) for when I really want to dial things in :)

[@nathanmoore7120]

@@SignatureEdits or if we could use the arrow keys to make small adjustments on the tone curve.

[@brianjackson8505]

One of the clearest workflow explanations I have seen which has significantly increased my understanding of how LR works.. Is there a tutorial on using LR's new color grading wheels?

[@SignatureEdits]

That's so great to hear! Thanks Brian. Watch for the color grading tutorial today!

[@carlosnacho161]

I REALLY ENJOYED YOUR TUTORIAL! IM SUBSCRIBED NOW!

[@SignatureEdits]

Thanks for subbing! You're awesome :)

[@studyrapper425]

great info in editing

[@johananGR]

Great. thank you!

[@SignatureEdits]

You are welcome!

[@joshoooway]

I've seen you adjust the exposure using a keyboard shortcut WITHOUT clicking "exposure" first. How'd you do that? Are you using +/- keyboard shortcuts?

[@jaycole1900]

Love it. As a noobie, it helps alot

[@SignatureEdits]

Awesome!

[@dentibianchini]

Hey Man, thank you for the video, showed me a few new things! Please keep going! How would you deal with eye rings? kind regards!

[@SignatureEdits]

Hey Felix, thanks! For eye rings, I'm not sure if you mean piercings or rings in the skin under the eyes... Piercings I'd enhance with some sharpening and contrast probably. Rings under eyes, I'd smooth out, reduce contrast and clarity.. Pretty basic. If they were really bad and the edit called for it, you can try the spot removal tool to replace that section of skin with skin from elsewhere on the face, then blend the opacity between the two... Lots of options, just depends what you're trying to achieve!

[@dentibianchini]

@@SignatureEdits thanks for your answer. It was about the second thing. Rings under the eyes. I'm curious how to deal with them and still keep the natural looking

[@SignatureEdits]

@@dentibianchini Honestly, the BEST way to deal with rings under eyes is with the lighting in your photo. Softer, more diffused light from a lower angle will dramatically reduce if not eliminate the appearance of bags and rings under eyes. It's all about the lighting!

[@RavageStudio]

How do you create brush presets?

[@hannahashlynnmccormick4287]

Hi! thank you for an amazing tutorial. I wasn't able to find where you can purchase the brushes you have installed in your lightroom through your website. Do you have a link? thanks again

[@SignatureEdits]

Hey Hannah! Sorry for the delay - The adjustment brushes come with most of our preset packs for free!

[@IFAZCaptures]

Do you have a mac with m1 chips? is portraiture working with lightroom and photoshop in mac big sur? please let me know. it's a big factor for me.

[@DevonChristopherAdams]

Those brushes are amazing. Is there a way to get them, install them, etc...? I Never knew you could have brush presets in LR.

[@SignatureEdits]

Hey Devon! They are included with any of our preset packs! shop.signatureedits.com/presets Brush presets are available in Lightroom Classic, but sadly don't work in Lightroom CC... Maybe one day they'll change this. In the meantime, if you want to use them you'll need to use LR Classic :)

[@DevonChristopherAdams]

@@SignatureEdits I'm a LrC guy so perfect!

[@mariacielodagal9603]

Hello there! What tool did you use?

[@romiemiller3093]

How to remove a green cast from the subject caused by reflection off foliage without adjusting the background? I just uninstalled ON1, and I'm planning on using Lr and Ps.

[@SignatureEdits]

Watch my video on the Calibration panel, that should help a LOT!

[@lukyschwesig]

You know, I ask myself what the Tint tool is for. I feel like it takes away a little bit of reflections on the skin. Is that what it's for?

[@SignatureEdits]

Hey Lukas! Check out my camera calibration tutorial as it covers the use of tint in depth :)

[@jiggyjaytv]

which preset packs do you have, and where can i get them. Can you send me a link

[@SignatureEdits]

Hey Jiggy! They're all here: shop.signatureedits.com/presets - Right now I'm using the BYO LR Preset Toolkit, but I have and use all of these

[@DrAlanWeinstein]

What are you clicking so you can see the original and the changes as you are going along?

[@SignatureEdits]

The backslash key! Or you can just hit the reset button then COMMAND Z to undo the reset!

[@DrAlanWeinstein]

Signature Edits great if I hit reset I lose everything but I can go back to the history time line correct?

[@SignatureEdits]

@@DrAlanWeinstein If you wanted to yes, but the easiest thing would be to just hit undo (COMMAND Z on mac, CTRL Z on PC)

[@ankitabiswas4894]

How to do color manupulation in photoshop?

[@SignatureEdits]

Great idea! I'll try it in a future video

[@rokiczaaa]

What do you click to see what is sharpened etc? that strange, different view

[@SignatureEdits]

The "O" key on your keyboard should show the overlay for adjustment brushes, and holding the ALT/OPTION key while sliding the sharpening section will show you the overlay of sharpening.

[@wyk4689]

Why not use Photoshop?

[@shrishtikumar850]

Cannon=add more green to the skin, Sony=add more magenta to the skin... What about Nikon?

[@TheGeorge980]

The original at least in the face looks better

[@ekevanderzee9538]

You mention exposure and white balance. But nothing about camera profile! Then you claim camera's tint is off. Really. Look into profiles first.

[@SignatureEdits]

Camera profile is absolutely a great option to tweak in the process! Personally however I'd say your white balance and exposure are still more important. No matter what profile you opt for, if your white balance and exposure are off nothing else will fix your image :) But yes, absolutely try the different profiles. As a rule I've found canon to be more magenta - Not saying the tint is off or wrong.. It's just part of how Canon cameras interpret color and I find I normally take out a little magenta across almost every canon camera whose photos I work with.

[@EugeneLazin]

I don't like the end result. Her face ended up with too much contrast and also it's oversaturated. Looks very unrealistic and overedited.

[@SignatureEdits]

Totally fair! Everyone has a different taste and style - This is not my idea of the perfect edit either, just a demo of the different techniques you can use along the way :)

[@kamilnowak9750]

30min on one picture? Try do it on my weeding 4000pictures good luck

[@SignatureEdits]

different shoots require different editing techniques :) watch my wedding workflow tutorials for an idea on how I approach large shoots!

[@stanfordwebbie]

You say the raw file is available for download, but then make us actually sign up in order to get it. I would expect that you'd simply let your followers download it with no strings attached. You just lost a follower.

[@SignatureEdits]

Hey Bob! The file is 100% free to download. The reason you need to enter your email is to prevent spam downloads, and you can choose whether or not you want to to be contacted via email in the future. No strings involved :)

[@solomonswish]

Cancel culture is the adult version of a 5 year old taking his ball and going home. Be better Bob.