# Lightroom Presets Do You Use Them?



## smoke665 (Aug 27, 2016)

New to LR, and still exploring all the features and have some questions on presets 

Do you use them and why?
Suggestions on the best ones to use?


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## Dave442 (Aug 27, 2016)

If your new to LR then it is worthwhile to select a preset and then take a look at the settings it changed.

Presets can speed up doing things. The only ones I use generally make a change to only one or two things that I do to many photos. 

The best ones to use are ones you have made, the rest can often feel like someone else's vision of your image.


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## The_Traveler (Aug 27, 2016)

Rarely to never. 
I change edits according to images and I like to start at the bottom.


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## SnappingShark (Aug 27, 2016)

I use one - It just adds clarity, applied lens corrections and removes abberation and then sharpens to 70 and adds 40 to the luminance slider as I like that as a basis point.
After that, I'll work my way down the panels manually from top to bottom, and then use the heal/clone to do whatever else I need to do.


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## smoke665 (Aug 28, 2016)

Dave442 said:


> If your new to LR then it is worthwhile to select a preset and then take a look at the settings it changed.
> 
> Presets can speed up doing things. The only ones I use generally make a change to only one or two things that I do to many photos.
> 
> The best ones to use are ones you have made, the rest can often feel like someone else's vision of your image.



Thanks, I've already set some of my own, but was hoping there might be some worthwhile ones out there to save some time.


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## donny1963 (Aug 28, 2016)

smoke665 said:


> New to LR, and still exploring all the features and have some questions on presets
> 
> Do you use them and why?
> Suggestions on the best ones to use?


Yes LightRoom Presets are great and they save you a to of time, i have some that i share, i created some nice Rich Tone B&W lightroom presets that you might like.. you can get them here..
portservices


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## randymckown (Sep 2, 2016)

I'm starting to release Lightroom presets for free .. just my way of contributing to the community  You will want to keep checking back though because I plan on releasing new presets on a regular basis until it becomes a massive collection ... all free to use .. Free Lightroom Presets


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## JustBen (Sep 14, 2016)

I never use them. Every photo is different and it makes no sense for me to apply a preset i created for a completely different photo.


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## PersistentNomad (Sep 14, 2016)

I rarely use them, generally only for bringing something to b&w that has some tonality, and even then I continue to edit after application. I am thinking of making some of my own to improve my workflow, mostly to crop images to standard sizes for easy framing.


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## zombiesniper (Sep 14, 2016)

Never use them. 
Prefer adjust each image.


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## SquarePeg (Sep 14, 2016)

I don't have LR but I do use a few favorite presets from the Topaz plug ins that I use with PSE.   Mostly for landscapes.


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## smoke665 (Sep 14, 2016)

I've used presets in PSP, but they were pretty much you like it or you don't. In LR and PS I like the ability to further edit presets or actions to build on the image.


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## bhop (Sep 22, 2016)

Never use Lightroom's presets, but I use VSCO presets in Lightroom


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## greatchimney (Oct 14, 2016)

Sometimes. I have some that I have made myself for certain photos that have the same base and lighting. It doesn't end with that though. I often tweak it a little bit more and do adjustments.
If you're looking for presets, there are some pretty nice ones here though I've never tried them myself.

Best Free and Paid Adobe Lightroom Presets


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## ronlane (Oct 14, 2016)

Very seldom do I use LR presets. I have done a few using the B&W filters (including the one of my Avatar)

Most of the time, I use PS and MacPhun but I also have the Nik collection that I can use too.


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## MarkWok (Jan 15, 2017)

Where would I be able to get my hands on a cheap copy of Lightroom?


Sent from my iPhone using ThePhotoForum.com mobile app


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## donny1963 (Jan 15, 2017)

There is only one way to get Adobe Lightroom, Though adobe and it's cheap, you can get both Lightroom & photoshop as a photography package for only $9.99 a month,, you generally lease it..

www.adobe.com/*CreativeCloud*‎


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## donny1963 (Jan 15, 2017)

smoke665 said:


> New to LR, and still exploring all the features and have some questions on presets
> 
> Do you use them and why?
> Suggestions on the best ones to use?


they are times where you can't always use the lighroom presets, it all depends on the condition of your image to begin with..
But presets can help you in some situations.. it all depends, if your raw images are good from the start then the presets will work well..


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## Derrel (Jan 15, 2017)

YES, I use dozens of Lightroom presets. They are the strength of the app. I use them allllllll the time. They are a fundamamental basic part of the app. I leave the preview on, and scroll down, and look at how different ones will modify the image.  The B&W Color Filter effects are commonly used. I've built up a big set of custom presets. I use seven basic vignettes, as well as some color toning tweeks.


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## zombiesniper (Jan 15, 2017)

It's great that you use them but disagreeing with my post that I don't use them makes no sense. I still don't use them.


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## Derrel (Jan 15, 2017)

zombiesniper said:


> It's great that you use them but disagreeing with my post that I don't use them makes no sense. I still don't use them.




I SELDOM use the disagree option. YOUR post was my 29th "disagree" in about 16,000 ratings I have given. Does that tell you something?

 I do not mean to offend you. But your "*Prefer adjust each image.*" rationale is what got the Disagree X from me.

I've spent a ton of  time trying to help you over the past two weeks. I vehemently oppose  advocating NEVER using Lightroom presets and adjusting EACH IMAGE, one at a time.. And *I do not like the disagree "X"....but sometimes, I will use it. Like 29 times in 16,316 post ratings given*.


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## zombiesniper (Jan 15, 2017)

Not offended.
But I have just not found anything I need a preset for so I son't use them. Especially since when I made that post 100% of my photos were wildlife. 

I appreciate the studio help you and others have given but still up to this point when done in the studio I only have at max 10 photos to edit.
Will I ever use them? Don't know. In the studio maybe.
Will I ever use them for wildlife? Not likely. I can't control a single thing about the scene so I doubt I'll ever find a cut and paste solution.


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## smoke665 (Jan 15, 2017)

@zombiesniper I've made a diligent effort to learn all that PS and LR can offer. Presets can be anything from simple to complex. IE: I've learned there certain adjustments that always look better with "my" camera. Rather than do that adjustment every time I import I use my preset. There are also many presets that while they may not get you exactly what you want, they get you close so that rather than tweaking everything just a few quick adjustments brings you to a final image. No offense but it sounds like you're reinventing the wheel on every image. In reality I would guess that there are some basic adjustments you make on every image that could be saved as a preset.


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## Rick50 (Jan 15, 2017)

I use presets a lot. Lets say I go out and shoot a scene and end up with a fair amount of photo's. I'll edit one and save the edit as a preset and then apply to the remaining similar photo's as a base point or starting point. It saves time. Plus I have other presets for particular tasks like sharpening that get used a lot.


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## table1349 (Jan 15, 2017)

There are two ways to work in this world, harder, or smarter. I choose to work smarter. I'll let you guess whether I use presets or not.


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## donny1963 (Jan 21, 2017)

presets are a time safter, i do many wedding shoots, and on average wedding shoot i take about 1500 pictures or more..
now of course i got about 50 shots in the church, then another 100 out side, then the rest at the reception at a different location.
So each place my images are going to have different light balance , light settings some with just fill flash some with the flash is the main light.

So lets say i start working with the shots in the church, the light balance is going to be the same, the light situation will be as well, so all my images will have similar exposures , what i do is edit the first picture and save what adjustments i did to that picture in a pre-set, then each time i move on to the next image i first apply the pre-set to get the next image i'm working on to be similar at least to what i want then if needed make more adjustments.

This saves me the time to have to manually set each image with the settings, i even do them as a batch processing  then move on to the next set where the lighting and situation would be different and so i manually edit the fist one and then save that preset and apply them to all the other image that where taken in that location.. it's so much a life saver,   this cuts down my post- production time by 80% or more.

When you have to edit like 1000 or more images your going to want to use presets, even editing just 200 pictures, why do the same adjustments to 199 of your pictures that you just did to your first picture, that makes no sense..

Donny


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## OGsPhotography (Jan 22, 2017)

Are we talking about using the " Previous Button" now for batch processing, thats a seperate function to adjustment brush presets.

I dont use them ( either form) but that is probably due to not having a need and or the knowledge to need them.


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## smoke665 (Jan 22, 2017)

@donny1963 I was referring to presets that would be used on a more recurring basis, but the flexibility of the preset is such that your use works as well. I am curious though as to why you save your initial settings as a preset rather than selecting all the photos in the group and using the Synch Button. Wouldn't that accomplish what you want with even less effort?

@OGsPhotography  I guess presets could include batch type processing but my OP was more on those which adjust the sliders to a preset point.


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## Rick50 (Jan 22, 2017)

smoke665 said:


> @donny1963 I was referring to presets that would be used on a more recurring basis, but the flexibility of the preset is such that your use works as well. I am curious though as to why you save your initial settings as a preset rather than selecting all the photos in the group and using the Synch Button. Wouldn't that accomplish what you want with even less effort?
> 
> @OGsPhotography  I guess presets could include batch type processing but my OP was more on those which adjust the sliders to a preset point.


I prefer the preset method as it allows me to skip photo's as I go but both methods achieve the same thing.


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