What Lens & Geometry is for
Choose Develop → Lens & Geometry for lens correction and composition. These six cards distinguish the camera's orientation, optical faults, coloured fringes, perspective and the final crop. Correct distortion and perspective before making a tight final crop, since both can reveal empty edges.
Orientation
Watch Orientation · 0:41
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- Orientation · see the starting imageOrientation rotates or mirrors the complete photograph.
- Rotate the image clockwiseRotation changes the complete frame; it does not straighten a tilted horizon.
- Rotate it halfway aroundA 180° rotation is useful for an upside-down capture.
- Mirror the image horizontallyLook at the placement of the cup and notebook; left and right exchange.
- Return to camera orientationAutodetect follows the file’s orientation metadata.
What it does. Sets a whole-frame rotation or mirror transformation. Use it for an incorrect camera orientation tag, a scan saved sideways or an intentional mirror image. Use Crop & straighten for a small horizon correction.
| Choice | Visible result |
|---|---|
| As shot | Follows the camera's orientation tag. |
| Unrotated | Uses the file's original pixel order without that rotation. |
| Rotate 90° left / Rotate 90° right | Turns the original pixel order by a quarter turn in the named direction. |
| Rotate 180° | Turns the original pixel order upside down. |
| Flip horizontally | Mirrors left and right. Text becomes backwards. |
| Flip vertically | Mirrors top and bottom. |
| Rotate 90° right + flip horizontally / vertically | Combines a quarter turn with the indicated mirror transformation. |
Try it. If a portrait is sideways, compare As shot with the needed quarter turn. Selecting a rotation twice does not keep adding turns: each choice describes a fixed orientation. Original crop ratio follows the selected orientation.
Watch for. A mirror flip changes handedness, signage and the composition. It is not the same as rotating a photo.
Lens corrections
Watch Lens corrections · 1:01
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- Lens corrections · see the starting imageCompare the frame and dark corners with optical correction disabled.
- Use the camera’s embedded correctionThe RAW contains lens metadata. Watch the framing and curved edges.
- Compare the Lensfun profileLensfun offers separate correction choices and a manual framing scale.
- Apply distortion correction aloneSeparate shape correction from corner brightness and colour alignment.
- Apply all available correctionsAll requests distortion, chromatic aberration and vignetting correction.
- Adjust the correction scaleScale changes the framing to help avoid empty borders after correction.
- Bypass only this toolCompare the same photograph at the same zoom. The settings are retained.
- Restore the lens correctionChoose the correct profile or metadata for the actual camera and lens.
What it does. Compensates for known optical faults using camera-embedded correction data or a matching lens profile. It can straighten bowed lines, lift optical corner shading and align colour channels at the edges.
| Control | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Camera/lens identification | Shows the match found from the file's metadata and whether it is available in the database. |
| Lens search | Filters compatible lens choices by part of a maker or model name. Typing only searches; click a result or press Enter to apply a match. |
| Restore the file's lens | Returns a manually selected match to the lens identified by the photo. Clear or Escape cancels a search. |
| Correction data → Camera data | Uses correction information supplied in the file when the camera provides it. |
| Correction data → Lens database | Uses the selected database profile. Choose the correct model; a similar lens name can have different distortion. |
| Corrections → Distortion | Corrects bowed straight lines, such as a barrel-shaped horizon or pincushion edges. |
| Corrections → Vignetting | Compensates for optical darkening towards the corners. This is separate from the creative Vignette effect. |
| Corrections → Chromatic aberration | Applies profile-based channel alignment to coloured edge displacement. |
| Scale | Zooms the corrected image to hide uncovered edges. Increasing scale costs some framing; inspect the corners. |
Try it. On a photograph of architecture, toggle distortion while watching a straight edge near the border. Check corner brightness with vignetting correction. Finish by adjusting Scale only as much as necessary.
Watch for. Corner brightening can make shadow noise more visible. A missing or wrong lens profile will not become accurate by increasing its strength. Use Transform for perspective convergence; distortion correction addresses optical bending.
Chromatic aberration
Watch Chromatic aberration · 0:45
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- Chromatic aberration · see the starting imageThis RAW-only correction aligns colour channels before other edits.
- Inspect thin branches at 200%Look for colour fringes along high-contrast edges.
- Enable RAW chromatic aberration correctionThe effect can be subtle. Watch coloured edge alignment, not overall contrast.
- Try avoiding broad colour shiftsThis option protects the overall colour balance while correcting fringes.
- Compare with this correction bypassedKeep the same zoom and look at the same boundaries.
- Restore the correctionLens profile correction and Defringe address related but different problems.
What it does. Corrects colour-channel misalignment in Bayer RAW sensor data. This is a sensor-stage correction, distinct from the lens-profile correction and the Defringe cleanup below.
| Control | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Effect switch | Applies or bypasses the RAW correction while you compare a high-contrast edge. |
| Avoid colour shift | Limits unwanted changes in areas that did not have a fringe. |
Try it. Inspect a tree branch against a bright sky near a frame edge at 100%. Compare the coloured displacement before and after correction, with Avoid colour shift enabled.
Watch for. This tool has no effect on X-Trans RAWs, linear DNGs or JPEG/PNG/TIFF images. Use a matching Lens corrections profile or Defringe for those inputs. A saturated purple halo can need Defringe even after channel alignment.
Defringe
Watch Defringe · 0:58
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- Defringe · see the starting imageDefringe reduces coloured edge contamination in the rendered image.
- Inspect at 100%Use the same zoom to compare real detail; Fit can hide small changes.
- Choose the width of fringes to examineRadius sets the neighbourhood around affected edges.
- Lower the threshold to catch more fringesA low threshold is more aggressive and can remove real small colour details.
- Compare a different detection methodDetection methods estimate fringe colour differently. Inspect the same edge.
- Bypass only this toolCompare the same photograph at the same zoom. The settings are retained.
- Restore the adjustmentJudge the change before combining it with other tools.
- Reset and compare the starting stateOnly this tool returns to its starting state. Other edits stay.
What it does. Reduces anomalous colour around strong edges, especially purple/green fringing. It works on developed colour, making it useful when RAW-specific chromatic-aberration correction does not apply.
| Control | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Method | Chooses how fringe colour is assessed. A global assessment is a useful first comparison; a local assessment examines the surrounding area more closely when fringe strength varies. A static threshold uses the selected threshold directly. |
| Radius | Sets the neighbourhood around an edge examined for fringes. Use a size that covers the coloured border without needlessly including nearby real colour. |
| Threshold | Sets how strong a colour anomaly must be to count as fringe. A more permissive threshold can remove more colour, including legitimate small coloured detail. |
Try it. Zoom to 100%, start with a small affected edge and increase Radius only enough to cover the fringe. Adjust Threshold while checking a nearby genuine coloured object too. Use the switch to make sure the apparent improvement is not simply loss of colour everywhere near edges.
Watch for. Overcorrection can desaturate thin purple flowers, coloured lettering or small bright details. Defringe cannot reconstruct a completely clipped edge.
Transform
Watch Transform · 0:51
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- Transform · see the starting imageTransform adjusts perspective; use straight structures to judge the correction.
- Change vertical perspectiveThe top and bottom change relative width. Watch the room’s vertical lines.
- Change horizontal perspectiveThe left and right change relative scale. Empty edges may need a crop.
- Refine the vertical correctionKeep enough framing room before committing to a final crop.
- Bypass only this toolCompare the same photograph at the same zoom. The settings are retained.
- Restore the adjustmentJudge the change before combining it with other tools.
- Reset and compare the starting stateOnly this tool returns to its starting state. Other edits stay.
What it does. Corrects perspective manually. Use it when parallel real-world lines appear to converge because the camera was tilted up/down or pointed across the subject.
| Control | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Vertical perspective | Changes top-versus-bottom convergence. Use it for leaning building sides in an upward-looking photograph. |
| Horizontal perspective | Changes left-versus-right convergence. Use it for a rectangular wall photographed from one side. |
| Tool Reset | Restores this perspective tool while preserving rotation. The wider Reset geometry action is in Crop & straighten. |
Try it. Use vertical building edges as a reference and make a small correction towards parallel. Check the subject's proportions before removing every trace of convergence; a perfectly rectangular facade can look unnaturally stretched from an extreme viewpoint.
Watch for. Perspective correction stretches and resamples pixels. It can expose empty corners. Use Crop edges in the crop toolbar to control how these are trimmed.
Crop & straighten
Watch Crop & straighten · 0:51
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- Crop & straighten · see the starting imageCrop changes composition; straightening rotates the image inside that frame.
- Open Crop & straightenThe border handles and guides now belong to the crop tool.
- Choose a square compositionThe aspect ratio constrains the frame without stretching the photograph.
- Make a tighter frameDrag the frame corner inwards and keep the subject within the composition.
- Adjust the horizon angleStraighten rotates the image. Watch for empty corners and lost edge content.
- Keep the crop and inspect the resultDone leaves the crop tool with the new composition applied.
- Reset and compare the starting stateThe source pixels are retained. Reset restores the frame; geometry has its own reset.
What it does. Chooses the kept part of the photograph and provides the single toolbar for rotation, automatic perspective and drawn guides. Open it from this card or the Crop button, or press R.
| Control | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Frame edges and corners | Drag to crop. With a locked ratio, the frame keeps that shape at the photo boundaries. A completed drag is one Undo step. |
| Free | Allows any crop proportions. |
| Original | Locks the ratio to the photo's selected orientation. |
| 1:1, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9, 7:5 | Locks to the named width-to-height proportion. 1:1 is square; 16:9 is wide. This sets shape, not export pixel dimensions. |
| Swap landscape and portrait | Exchanges the ratio's long and short directions and fits a frame in one undoable step. |
| Straighten | Rotates the picture for a level horizon. The slider covers −10° to +10°; click the angle to enter up to ±45°. Shift-drag is finer; double-click resets rotation. |
| Draw level line | Drag along a horizon or upright edge that should be straight. Releasing the line applies the correction. Click the mode again to cancel it. |
| Composition grid → Thirds / Golden / Diagonals / None | Displays a composition aid inside the frame. It does not appear in the export. |
| Auto level | Detects clear horizontal/vertical edges and proposes a correction. If it cannot find reliable lines, the image stays unchanged and Draw level line opens. |
| Auto perspective → Vertical / Horizontal / Full | Fits the named direction, or both. Full needs reliable lines in both directions. |
| Draw perspective guides | Draw two edges that should be vertical or two that should be horizontal. Add the other pair to correct both directions. |
| Apply guides | Applies correction from the completed guide lines. |
| Clear guides | Discards the drawn guides so you can redraw them. |
| Cancel guides | Leaves guide mode without applying a new correction. |
| Crop edges → Off | Keeps the full transformed frame, including any empty corners. |
| Crop edges → Largest | Trims to the largest usable area after rotation/perspective. |
| Crop edges → Original | Trims empty corners while keeping the original aspect ratio. This is an automatic-edge policy, separate from drawing a manual composition crop. |
| Precise crop edges → Left / Top / Right / Bottom | Sets the crop boundaries numerically as fractions of the full frame. Left/Top 0 and Right/Bottom 1 describe the whole frame. Right and Bottom are edge positions, not width and height. |
| Reset crop frame | Restores the full frame and Free ratio while keeping rotation and perspective. |
| Reset geometry | Restores rotation and perspective while keeping the crop frame and other edits. |
| Done / Escape | Leaves the tool and keeps completed changes. An unfinished drag is cancelled when the tool closes during that gesture. |
Try it. Level a horizon first, correct perspective if needed, choose how empty corners are trimmed, then compose the final crop. Check both Fit and the edges of the frame. Use a drawn line when Auto level has no reliable straight structure to analyse.
Watch for. Auto perspective is not a universal composition assistant: trees, faces and curved architecture may supply misleading lines. A locked ratio does not promise a particular print size or resolution; set those when exporting.