Damien Symonds

I'm really worried about this, I fear there's clipping in her cheek.

Yes please.

If you don't care about the quality of your photos, stick to Lightroom. That's what Lightroom is for. Lots of photos, mediocre quality.

Hmmm ... is this SOOR?

Are you sure you need to? What are you working on?

Ok, so if you turn all those layers off, then turn them one again one at a time from the bottom up, is there one (or more than one) which is an obvious culprit for the banding?

This is an odd one, for sure. As Sam said, everything in your specs suggests it should run fine. Out of interest, is it the same if you're editing an image which is on the SSD? Is it the same if you push the Whites slider all the way up?

No. This is a funny one. In Photoshop, the history function makes sense, even though only unskilled editors need to use it. Things happen linearly in Photoshop. But in raw, nothing happens linearly. At any point, you can go back and re-adjust a certain slider, regardless of what other adjustments you've made since the last time you adjusted that slider. Am I making sense here? There's no need for history in raw. If you want to re-adjust something, just do so.

In Bridge, no, there's no way to view a before, except by actually reverting it (right-clicking and choosing "Clear settings"). In ACR, you use the Preview buttons at the bottom right corner of the image, exactly the same as LR. Hell no. You're using proper software now, not a toy. You have to edit like a grown-up. The purpose of raw processing is raw processing. To make a single perfect clean version of the photograph you took. Versions happen in Photoshop.

Preferences>Advanced: "General Monitor Sized Previews"

No, that's nearly square. It can't be the SOOR.

In the very foreground, vertically down from the forehead, see the repetition and little lines where you accidentally cloned some edges? You have to watch out for this stuff.

No I don't. That's why I'm worried that your screen is poor quality (as laptop screens often are). Actually, calibration can make the problem worse, ironically. But only in cases where the screen isn't great to begin with. Anyway, I'm sure your SOOR is ok. So may I see a screenshot showing your layers panel of your edit?

It is pretty much impossible to have banding in a raw file. If you're seeing banding in a raw file, it means your screen is imperfect. I see "Mac laptop" listed in your details. Is that the screen you're viewing on?

A similar situation to this, I figure.

It's not perfect, but it might be passable.

While waiting for Brian, is there anything here that helps?

Yes, prints do. But your files aren't prints, they're just files. When you get to the output stage, you'll crop to size at 300ppi (or whatever resolution your lab requires) as usual.

Please read Modules 5 and 6 of the Raw class again and again and again and again and again until they stick.

Why PPI doesn't matter.

It's fun, and I love it, but the white balance is all wrong (on the subjects) May I see one of the individual photos?

I see what you mean, but I don't see that you have any choice. I would remove it completely, then lower the opacity of that layer to where it looks most plausible (thereby restoring some of the bulge). This will also help with the texture problem. For the slight visible crease at the armpit, just some gentle cloning, I think. The Handyman Method should take care of this.

I was skeptical when I thought of this, but now that I've tried it, I think it might work? Borrowing wrap from the other side:

Ok, check when you get onto your computer tomorrow, and let me know.

Do you see any banding in the SOOR?