I want to create a guide for photo editing that may be useful to newcomers to still photography. If any experts here want to contribute, PM me with your text and suggestions and I will edit the post accordingly. The brief is to answer questions on the subject and include it in the guide.
I hope you will want to help.
What is RAW and why you need it.
Do youshoot in RAW format but you're unsure how to edit your files effectively? This guide shows how to process raw images so you to feel more confident in the software of your choice.

Please remember, this guide is not software specific. All good editing apps have the same functionality, just the look of the interface will be different.

What is RAW?
It is the generalised term for image data that hasn’t been mucked about with significantly, in camera. There are different image file names like RAW (Generic), DNG (Adobe), CR2 & CRW (Canon), RAF (Fuji), DCR (Kodak) that probably won’t open so you can see the image in your computer, without the right software.

After the shutter clicks in your camera, the processor takes the data from the sensor and after some essential adjustments, 2 basic things can happen.

1/ If you set the camera to create a RAW file, it formats that data and saves it as a file on the SD card.

2/ If you also set the camera to produce the well known file format called JPG, another set of processing takes place like compression, colour adjustment and enhancements. This makes the image look good and drastically reduces the file size. A JPG image will lose a great deal of valuable information and it can severely limit post processing options.

You may wonder why the RAW data can’t be used as the final image? It can, but it will look terrible, compared with the JPG. Typically the image will have poor colour and appear fuzzy. It needs to be appreciated that image data is not all about what you see, and this is the crucial advantage with RAW. It can be fine tuned by a knowledgeable person, way beyond what is possible with JPG. Be aware that any image file can be worked on using a RAW editor.

Imagine a friend mentions a story they read, about your favourite genre. The book is like a RAW file. The friend summarises the tale so you get a clear understanding of the story. This is like a JPG.  When you read the book, you discover so much more than you were told. The difference with RAW.

Tools to manipulate RAW.
The following explanation of the available tools can be applied to simple image editor functions, if they exist in the app. Be aware that one slider might be affected by a later one so slight tweaks and re-tweaks are likely.

Profile.
Colour is the default setting for this guide. However, monochrome is an option if that is the result you want. There may be custom options and an example might be Artistic where the colours have a strong cast. B&W will have parts of the grey scale blacker than normal. There may be other profiles to explore, though generally not very useful.

White balance
If your camera white balance was set to bright sunlight, but the shot was taken at sunset, the colour temperature of the light will adversely alter the colouring of the image. The reds will be washed out.

There will be a Temperature slider that ranges from blue (cold) through to yellow (warm). A slight tweak can cool or warm the colour temperature which looks like a colour cast.

Another slider called Tint ranges from green through to magenta. This looks like another colour cast.

The skill here is to introduce a subtle adjustment that corrects for the wrong colour temperature setting on camera.

Exposure.
Switch on the Histogram so you can see the distribution of the exposure. The curve should start with Black at one end and white at the other. You may be able to adjust this directly in the Histogram window. There will be a central point you can slide to control the image exposure for the shadow region.

This slider ranges from black through to white. If you over exposed, counteract by sliding towards black and vice-versa. Remember, exposure, contrast and shadows will change each other.

Contrast.
This slider is usually moved to reduce contrast. An image with low contrast will look greyish, washed out and soft. Raising contrast is tempting but it is harsh and exaggerates noise. Remember, exposure, contrast and shadows will change each other.

Highlights.
This slider is usually moved to reduce highlights. Lowering highlights a lot tends to make clouds distinct and attractive. A blown out RAW might still be salvaged, but not the JPG.

Shadows.
This slider is usually moved to reduce the darkness of shadows and may be the most useful of the simple controls. A RAW with black for shadow might still be salvaged, but not the JPG.

Whites.
This slider is usually moved slightly, one way or the other to reduce or boost the white content. There is a maximum value of white which the image is capable of, typically blown out, so the slider will be moved towards darker, from that level. It can seem to lighten or darken the whole image. It isn’t like shadows, exposure or contrast though.

Blacks.
This slider is usually moved slightly, one way or the other to reduce or boost the black content. There is a maximum value of black which the image is capable of and will be the blackest part of the image, so the slider will be moved towards lighter, from that level. It can seem to lighten or darken the whole image. It isn’t like shadows, exposure or contrast though.

Clarity.
This slider appears to sharpen an image. Typically it is moved slightly towards sharper. It increases contrast at the extreme edges of colour changes creating the illusion of sharpness. A slight movement, if at all, is considered enough. Noise will be sharpened with the tool and quickly become noticeable.

Vibrance.
This slider adjusts the colour brightness and used sparingly, is the preferred tool to use to bring out the colour, rather than saturation. Vibrance also prevents skin tones from becoming oversaturated.

Saturation.
Makes colours purer and stronger. A red will become redder, not necessarily brighter. It is the least desired tool to use, unless you want a gaudy colour effect.

Advanced tools.
To be continued.

Hi AlansDronePics, thanks for sharing this informative post. Hope this can help our co-pilots here. Thanks for your support.

Thanks for sharing it

I just 'cut and pasted' your excellent tutorial for future reference.

Thanks AlansDronePics

Good info Alan

Thanks for putting this together, much clearer then articles you can read on line.

Took the opportunity to snap some more WW2 bunkers on the island, this afternoon.
The first JPG from a RAW shows the value of a drone to get into places nothing else can reach.
The second shows the original JPG and the new JPG created from a RAW. In addition, some junk, white boat and van, some pallets and white window frames had to be edited out from the shot using the usual editing tools, not the RAW tools.
Sometimes a photo has to be improved by post processing before it is worth keeping. The tools used were content aware patch and spot removal.
Hope this encourages the newcomer to photo editing to get stuck in and save shots you might otherwise reject.