[wulf]

Typically:

1. If necessary, rotate the image to level horizontals / verticals. I generally crop to my intended ratio at this stage (eg. 4:3, 3:2, etc).

2. Duplicate the base layer. Use the levels tool to give an approximate white balance improvement (either just using the grey point selector or perhaps getting more involved).

3. Make another duplicate layer. Use the curves tool to adjust contrast and colour balance.

4. Resize if required and apply custom high pass sharpening.

It does depend on the image though - for example, I might decide to turn it monochrome by separating and remixing the channels, in which case I'll skip all the colour adjustment, or use my favourite recipe to create a richly saturated effect like velvia film (using the channel mixer), which would come before adjusting the curves.

In most cases, I am just applying a bit of polish rather than making drastic alterations to the content of the picture.

Wulf