EDITING RECIPE — in this order

WHITE BALANCE FIRST
  Before anything else. Tap the eyedropper on something you know is white or grey in the frame. Everything downstream depends on this being right.
  Why: Indoor window light swings warm or blue depending on the hour and the wall colour. Correcting it later never quite works.

EXPOSURE
  Lift until the product reads clearly, usually +0.2 to +0.5. Stop before the highlights flatten.
  Why: Phone cameras underexpose handmade goods against pale backgrounds. Slightly brighter always sells better.

HIGHLIGHTS DOWN, SHADOWS UP
  Highlights −15 to −25. Shadows +10 to +20. Small moves.
  Why: Recovers the detail in a glaze, a glass edge or a fold without making the photo look processed.

CONTRAST, A LITTLE
  +5 to +10, no more.
  Why: Most over-edited maker photos are over-contrasted. It makes texture disappear.

SATURATION — LEAVE IT ALONE
  Do not touch the global saturation slider. If a colour is off, adjust that single colour in the HSL panel.
  Why: Global saturation is the number one reason a product arrives and the buyer says it looked different online. That message costs you a refund and a review.

SHARPEN LAST
  +10 to +20 on the detail shots only. Leave the others.
  Why: Sharpening a soft photo does not rescue it, it just makes the softness crunchy.

Edit one photo properly, save those settings as a preset, then paste them onto everything shot in the same session. Consistency across a listing beats a perfect single image.

NEVER
  · Filters with names
  · Anything that adds a vignette
  · Background removal that leaves a white halo
  · Straightening by eye — use the grid