[[RawTherapee]] ### Basics 1. Open the raw photo. RawTherapee automatically makes it look like your camera's output. If you're happy with the result, you're done. Else read on. 2. Click on the [](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/File:Color-circles.png) Color tab and expanding the [White Balance](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/White_Balance "White Balance") tool by right-clicking on it (or use the w [keyboard shortcut](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Keyboard_Shortcuts "Keyboard Shortcuts")). RawTherapee will start with the white balance used by your camera. Most white balance adjustments involve ==moving the Temperature and Tint sliders==, or using the [](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/File:Color-picker.png) ==Spot White-Balance Picker on a colorless (neutral gray) patch==. Adjust to taste. 3. Next, fix the exposure by going to the [](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/File:Exposure.png) ==Exposure tab==, expanding the [Exposure](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Exposure "Exposure") tool and adjusting it to taste. ==For now, just use the Exposure Compensation and Saturation sliders==. 4. ==If your image is noisy==, switch to the [](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/File:Detail.png) Detail tab, zoom to 100% either using the [](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/File:Magnifier-1to1.png) button or using the z keyboard shortcut, because the effects of the tools in this tab are only visible in the zoomed-to-100% preview (and of course in the saved image), and enable the [Noise Reduction](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Noise_Reduction "Noise Reduction") tool by clicking on the power button [](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/File:Power-on-small.png) leaving the settings at their default values for now. RawTherapee has automatically removed color (chrominance) noise. Luminance noise is removed [manually](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Noise_Reduction#Usage "Noise Reduction"), though leave it for now as luminance noise generally lends a pleasing, grainy, film-like look. As a general rule, when using noise reduction don't use sharpening. Zoom back out to see the whole image either using the [](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/File:Magnifier-fit.png) button or using the f keyboard shortcut key. 5. Now you decided you want to fix the [geometry](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Lens/Geometry "Lens/Geometry") and composition of your photo. - First make the horizon level, or correct the things which should be vertical such as street lamps or building edges. To easily do this, press the "s" key on your keyboard (the same as clicking the [](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/File:Rotate-straighten.png) button), and click-and-drag a line along the horizon or along the edge of a building over the preview. Your image will rotate accordingly and you will automatically be taken into the [](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/File:Transform.png) Transform tab. - To crop the photo, press the c shortcut key on your keyboard (or use the [](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/File:Crop.png) button) and click-and-drag a crop over the preview; you will notice that the [Crop](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Crop "Crop") tool becomes automatically enabled. There is no need to "apply" a crop - it takes effect the moment you draw it. You can zoom to fit the crop area by using the f keyboard shortcut, or ⎇ Alt+f if you want to fit the whole image. You may want to set the Crop "Guide type" to "none" if it's a problem. - Finally, you want to downscale the photo, because who wants to upload a 10MB JPEG to your social network. Enable the [Resize](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Resize "Resize") tool and the [Post-Resize Sharpening](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Resize#Post-Resize_Sharpening "Resize") sub-tool, and leave them at the default settings. The resizing effect is only applied to the saved image, not to the preview, so you won't see any change in the preview as you enable these tools. 6. You're all set, let's [save](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Saving "Saving") it straight away. Click the [](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/File:Save.png) Save Current Image button (located below the lower left corner of the preview area), or use the ^ Ctrl+s keyboard shortcut. Save it as a JPG file using default settings (quality at "92", subsampling at "balanced"). These are good all-round settings. Choose a folder where you want it saved to, and after a few seconds your file will be ready in the folder you selected. If you close RawTherapee, the settings you used will be stored in a [PP3 sidecar file](https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Sidecar_Files_-_Processing_Profiles "Sidecar Files - Processing Profiles") next to the raw file, so that you can re-open the raw photo in the future and retain the tool settings you used. Now that you went through basic photo adjustment and are familiar with the steps, let's recap the steps but with more advanced details.