A consistent, efficient Lightroom workflow is essential for property photography. You'll often be editing 20-40 images per property, and you need to deliver within 48 hours. Speed and consistency are key.
Import and organisation
- Create a folder structure: Year → Month → Property Name
- Import with a preset applied (your standard property photography settings)
- Add keywords: property name, location, agent name, room type
- Rate images during import review (1 star = reject, 3 stars = maybe, 5 stars = select)
My standard editing workflow
For each image, I follow this order:
- Lens corrections: Enable profile corrections and remove chromatic aberration (do this first — it affects everything else)
- Transform: Straighten verticals using "Auto" or manual adjustments. Enable "Constrain Crop."
- White balance: Set to match the dominant light source. For mixed lighting, aim for a natural middle ground.
- Exposure: Adjust overall brightness. Property photos should be bright and inviting.
- Highlights: Pull down to recover window detail (-40 to -80)
- Shadows: Lift to reveal detail in dark areas (+20 to +50)
- Whites/Blacks: Fine-tune the tonal range. Set whites to just below clipping, blacks to maintain some depth.
- Clarity/Texture: Add subtle clarity (+10 to +20) for definition. Avoid overdoing it.
- Vibrance: A small boost (+10 to +15) adds life without oversaturation.
- Sharpening: Amount 40-60, Radius 1.0, Detail 25, Masking 60-80
- Noise reduction: Luminance 10-20 for clean files (higher for high-ISO shots)
Batch processing
The key to efficiency is consistency: 1. Edit one image from the shoot to your satisfaction 2. Copy the develop settings (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + C) 3. Select all similar images and paste settings (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + V) 4. Fine-tune individual images as needed (exposure, white balance)
This approach means you're making 80% of your adjustments once and applying them across the entire shoot.
Export settings
For estate agents and property portals:
- Format: JPEG
- Quality: 85-90%
- Colour space: sRGB
- Resolution: 300 DPI
- Long edge: 2000-3000px (check agent requirements)
- Sharpen for screen: Standard
For print or premium delivery:
- Format: TIFF or full-resolution JPEG
- Quality: 100%
- Colour space: Adobe RGB
- Full resolution
Key Takeaways
- Apply lens corrections first — they affect all subsequent adjustments
- Straighten verticals before adjusting exposure and colour
- Property photos should be bright and inviting — don't underexpose
- Batch process by editing one image and copying settings to similar shots
- Export at 85-90% JPEG quality in sRGB for web delivery
Progress saves automatically in your browser — no account needed.