Internal Order of Adjustments for RAW development
Hey there,
currently I'm trying to improve my understanding of the RAW development pipeline in lightroom and Camera raw.
I am interested in the order of adjustments that are made to an image if I adjust the sliders. Not in the recommended order that people suggest for their workflow to be efficient, but in the order they are implemented in lightroom by adobes software engineers. In Adobes dng format documentation for developers I found that white balance is applied first to an image before it comes to exposure, contrast and so on. For all other adjustments the order is not given.
Contrast can be adjusted using the contrast slider and also using the luminosity tab in the tone curve. Since these adjustments are not linear it makes a difference in which order they are applied. I can emulate this process in photoshop if I apply two adjustment layers to a photo, 'Brightness/Contrast' and 'Curves'. If I switch their position the outcome will differ in general. So also in lightroom there must be such an order. It should be able to develop a RAW image in LR or ACR with just an accurate white balance and do all other adjustments using adjustment layers in photoshop. What needs to be the order of the layers to recreate it?
The HSL tab picks color based on the hue, but which hue? Before or after manipulating the color channels in the tone curve? Before or after split toning? Before or after applying a creative profile? Before or after the camera calibration?
You can rearange the different sections of the develop module to your liking but I am sure that doesn't affect the algorithm. Else presets were unusable.
I couldn't find any information about this topic in the internet, does anyone have some insights?
Thank you very much!
