Tutorials
This page collects member submitted tutorials and how-to articles for photographers and editors using tools like GIMP, Photoshop, Lightroom, Capture One (and could equally be applied to DxO PhotoLab, ON1 Photo RAW, Affinity Photo, and others). At the bottom you’ll find an overview of popular image editors and developer software. These step-by-step guides are minimalist, providing user-tested workflows to help improve your editing skills, without any detailed explanations.
Quick Tips and Guides
Basic Edits
Step-by-step how to for performing basic image edits in GIMP and Photoshop, including cropping, cloning, adjusting levels, resizing, zooming to fit the image in the window, creating new layers, adding borders, and using the bucket fill tool.
Export Sizing
Step-by-step how-to for exporting images from Capture One and Lightroom at specific dimensions—using the example of CAPA competitions. Learn how to set pixel dimensions like 1400 × 1050, adjust resolution, control sharpening, and export to JPEG while maintaining image quality.
High Freq. Separation
Step-by-step how to for High Frequency Separation in GIMP and Photoshop for skin retouching and fine detail editing (and yes, you can also use this for things like landscapes!). It covers importing a 16-bit image, duplicating and blurring layers to separate tone from texture, adjusting layer modes, and editing each layer independently—using tools like smudge, blur, heal, and clone for targeted corrections.
Editing and Developing Software
What is GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)
GIMP, launched in 1995, shares tools and features with Photoshop but is completely free (and open-source). GIMP largely follows Photoshop’s lead, but also introduced features like extensible plug-ins, built-in layer masks, unlimited undo, early non-destructive editing, and cross-platform support (Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD). Through plug-ins, GIMP offered content-aware fill (Resynthesizer), wavelet decompose, and frequency separation before Photoshop.
GIMP gives photographers powerful tools for editing, retouching, and enhancement. It supports exposure and color correction, cropping, sharpening, noise reduction, and healing or cloning. Advanced features include frequency separation, high-pass sharpening, dodge and burn, and compositing for tasks like exposure blending. GIMP also handles batch processing, watermarking, and export for web or print.
GIMP is free!
What is Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard for photo editing, known for its extensive toolset and professional-grade capabilities. First released in 1988, Photoshop has powerful features like smart objects, neural filters, adjustment layers, layer styles, and AI-based selection and retouching tools.
Photoshop can do nearly every editing task: tone and color correction, non-destructive retouching, compositing, frequency separation, dodging and burning, etc. The Adobe ecosystem includes tight integration with Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw. Available by subscription through Adobe Creative Cloud.
What is Capture One
Capture One is a professional RAW processing and tethered shooting application known for exceptional color handling and precise editing tools. Developed by Phase One, it has become popular with studio, portrait, and commercial photographers who need high-end control and fast workflow performance.
Capture One supports advanced color grading, skin adjustments, layers, lens corrections, highly adjustable sharpening, and excellent tethered capture. Its customizable workspace, tokens, inport/export recipies, styles, and session-based file structure is excellent for high volume editing and maintaining consistency across shoots. While not designed for compositing like Photoshop, Capture One excels at RAW conversion, skin tone editing, and batch processing.
Recent versions of Capture One have introduced powerful AI-driven tools to speed up workflow and enhance precision. These include AI Masking, which can automatically detect and isolate subjects, backgrounds, and other elements with a single click, significantly reducing time spent on manual selections. AI-based auto adjustments for exposure, contrast, and white balance now provide smarter starting points for edits. The latest update also includes improved healing and cloning tools, HDR merge, panorama stitching, and a bunch more.
Buy or Subscribe to Capture One
What is Adobe Lightroom
Adobe Lightroom is a streamlined, non-destructive photo editor and library manager designed for photographers. Lightroom was released in 2007 as a complement to Photoshop, offering simpler tools and batch processing for large volumes of images.
Lightroom supports RAW editing, exposure and color adjustments, cropping, lens corrections, and retouching with tools like heal and clone. It also includes built-in presets, AI-powered masking, and cloud syncing via Lightroom CC. Ideal for photographers who want fast editing with cataloging and sharing features built in.
Compared to Capture One, Lightroom offers a more user-friendly interface and better cloud integration, making it a great choice for mobile and travel workflows. However, Capture One provides more precise color grading, superior tethered shooting support, and a more customizable interface—especially valued by studio and commercial photographers seeking fine control and consistency.