Crop and tone a photograph with the right editing profile

1. Use Tone for image appearance and Crop for framing. You need a local still image and a clear idea of what adjustments your assignment permits. A preview is not an exported image, and RAW/HIF preview detail depends on the source.

Choose your workflows first

Open Preferences → App Defaults → Editing settings and check Editorial, Advertising, Social Media, or any mix. Editorial alone restricts the built-in editor to basic tone, white balance, crop, and sharpening, which is the simplest choice on deadline. Advertising adds color, presence, noise removal, quick mask and effects. Social Media adds filters, film grain, color and effects. Fine-tune individual tools turns any one tool on or off. Existing creative recipes are retained when you change settings; with Editorial as the only workflow, creative edits block export until reset. These choices do not certify editorial compliance.

Crop and adjust

1. Select a photograph and choose Tone. Check the filename before editing.
2. Open Crop. Choose Freeform or an aspect ratio, position the crop, and straighten/rotate as needed. Use the thirds guide to assess composition.
3. For social crop presets, use Move Image to place the image behind the fixed frame. Drag or use arrow-key nudging; Shift gives larger movement. Switch back to normal crop-frame resizing when needed.
4. Adjust exposure and the available tonal controls. Set white balance/tint and inspect highlights and shadows. Use sharpening at a meaningful zoom level.
5. Where the selected profile permits them, try a filter or selective-color setting in Filters. Judge the subject and background, not just the thumbnail.
6. For Focus Blur or Vignette, choose its Place control, then click/drag its center. Each effect has an independent center and a labeled Center reset; precise-position controls start collapsed.
7. Compare before/after and expand Adjustment History to restore a named step. A new change after undo replaces the redo branch.
8. Save the recipe through the current editor workflow and explicitly export when you need rendered pixels. Open that output and check it.

Persistence and format limits

History retains the opening state and recent steps for this photo session; changing source/photo or closing the editor resets the palette. Recipes/crop intent are different from rewriting the original image. RAW and HIF can use generated previews. HIF pixel editing can be unavailable; use the offered JPEG export copy or compatible external editor rather than assuming full-resolution 10-bit editing.

Troubleshooting

If an effect is missing, inspect the editing profile. If export reports restricted creative edits, reset tone or select a compatible profile; hiding an effect does not remove it from a recipe. If a preview looks soft, confirm its generated-preview status. For face-local adjustments see Quick Mask; for external applications and crop handoff see Workflow Packages.