The simplest way to edit a 360 degree photo is to handle global tone and color in Lightroom, then use Photoshop for retouching tasks such as removing the tripod or fixing seams. Because the image is an equirectangular panorama, a 2 to 1 flat picture that wraps into a sphere, you must avoid edits that break the wrap at the left and right edges or distort the top and bottom.

How to Edit 360 Degree Photos in Lightroom and Photoshop

Know What You Are Editing

A 360 photo from a dedicated camera is usually stitched into one wide frame. The poles, meaning the very top and bottom, look stretched in the flat view, and that is normal. When displayed on a sphere they return to a natural shape.

Keep the original file and work on a copy. Also keep the 2 to 1 proportion when exporting, otherwise viewers may refuse to treat the file as a full sphere.

Step by Step: Lightroom Edits

  1. Import the stitched image. If your camera maker supplies its own stitching software, finish stitching there first.
  2. Set exposure and contrast. Recover bright skies and lift dark areas. Panoramas often have a large range between sun and shade.
  3. Balance white balance and color. Check a neutral area and adjust until walls or pavement look natural.
  4. Apply noise reduction and sharpening gently. Wide, stitched images show noise in shadow areas, so a modest amount of reduction often helps.
  5. Avoid vignettes and crops. A vignette creates dark patches that look strange on a sphere, and cropping breaks the proportion.
  6. Be careful with local adjustments near the edges. Left and right edges must match, so keep any gradient from changing them unevenly.

Step by Step: Photoshop Retouching

  1. Open the edited image in Photoshop. Use the Edit In option from Lightroom to keep a linked copy.
  2. Use the spherical panorama view if available. Photoshop has tools that show a 360 image on a sphere, which lets you brush and clone with the correct perspective.
  3. Remove the tripod or stand. The ground below the camera is often the problem area. Use content aware fill, the clone stamp, or a patch cut from nearby ground.
  4. Fix seams and stitching errors. Zoom in on straight lines that cross a seam and use small clone or healing strokes to rejoin them.
  5. Remove unwanted people or objects. Work in the spherical view so edits match the surrounding perspective.
  6. Add a logo or cover for the nadir if desired. A neat circular patch at the bottom is a common finishing touch.

Saving and Sharing

  • Export a high quality JPEG and keep the 2 to 1 proportion.
  • Check that the left and right edges meet without a visible line.
  • Many platforms need special metadata to treat the file as a sphere. If the file loses it, re-add it with the camera maker software or a metadata tool, and confirm requirements on the platform you use.
  • Open the finished image in a viewer before uploading.

FAQ

Can I edit a 360 photo in Lightroom alone?

Yes, for tone and color. Lightroom does not provide a spherical view for retouching, so objects such as a tripod are better handled in Photoshop or another editor with a panorama view.

Why does the top of my 360 image look stretched?

That is how the flat equirectangular format shows the poles. It looks natural once viewed as a sphere, so judge your edits in a spherical viewer.

The Short Version

Use Lightroom for exposure, color and noise, then Photoshop for the tripod, seams and unwanted objects. Keep the 2 to 1 proportion, avoid vignettes and crops, and check the finished file in a spherical viewer.