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All enhancements should be made AFTER cropping and framing. You wouldn't want a cut-off vignette because you applied it to your photo before a 2:1 crop.
I'd check that vignette thing (and I will check Lightroom as well!) but I was under the impression that with Lr (and I think Aperture) the vignette is applied after cropping. So if you vignette a square image, and the crop it to 4:3 the vignette is then applied to the new format. However, I will check that to be sure...
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I was asking my question with one thing and only one thing in mind. the quality of the end result--the details. IN other words, what I mean is once a photo has been worked on or not, the minute it is changed from raw to jpg or from dsp to jpeg there is a loss in quality due to compression. Since there are many things which can be done to a photo which will assist in this loss of quality (since not every plugin, every editing feature is lossless) then every time things are done (added, subtracted, altered in whatever way) then there is a possibility of loss of quality. It was with this in mind that I had asked my question--best steps (as a rule of thumb only) to to have the least loss of quality.
thanks for helping btw.
Sorry about that... missing the point of the question.
I think the 1st thing is to keep the image in a RAW or RAW-like state. So, for Lightroom that means using its DNG format.
Also keep in mind that while RAW may have preserve the details, it's not necessarily the "best" image. It can be a bit flat, and almost always needs a bit of sharpening. These are features of the RAW format that come about from recording the detail.
As well, just looking at the image involves some loss of "quality". Printers can not record all the colours that a RAW file can, and depending on the image may not be able to reproduce all the details. Monitors can not show all the colours that a RAW file can record.
What I'm saying is photographers have to selectively edit 'details' out of the in order to get the "best" image. The "best" image will likely be different depending on the size it comes out as, whether it's a print or meant just for web use (reflected light
vs transmitted light).
And to answer your question (though I did mention this in 1st post
).... I tend to go through the editing workflow in Lr's recommended order. Which is - to start at the top of developing panel and work my way down. Though, I do go back and forth a fair bit. So I may change the exposure after I've played with the curves, etc etc. One thing I do often is to put a grey card into the frame of one of the images if I'm spending time in one location. WB becomes a cinch since I just use the eyedropper on the grey card and then I may make a minor adjustment, and then synch the rest of the images from the set. In fact I rarely set WB by eye... I always start with the eyedropper.
I often don't crop until I'm printing since I most often use 11x14 and 16x20 prints. I often vignette to nearly the point of being visible. I figure if I can almost see it, as a professional, then it will be less noticeable to the general public. I get the occasional comment from another photographer who may suggest I back off a little bit. But if they're suggesting just a "little bit" I'm about where I want to be. Photographers don't tend to buy photography, so I'm not worried if they can see the vignette... they're not a customer. If we (a photographer and I) swap prints I may pull back the vignette slightly for them.
