Unlocking The Potential of Your Photos: Lightroom Presets
When you pick up your camera (or iPhone) and snap your first photo…
High quality Lightroom Presets are placed on your radar.
These automatic photography editing settings are touted as ‘magical,’ ‘transformative,’ and ‘the secret to stunning images’...and honestly?
They are.
Lightroom Mobile Presets can transform your work into your best photo results and a true artistic masterpiece with a thoughtfully composed, intentionally lit, and well-captured photo.
So what exactly are Lightroom Presets (xmp/dng) and Photoshop Actions?
And how are they used in the editing workflow once you download these one-click high-quality workflow boosters?
AN INTRODUCTION TO LIGHTROOM
To understand Lightroom CC Presets, let’s first talk about the best free Lightroom software that makes all this magic happen.
Adobe Lightroom (LR) is a powerful yet easy-to-use photo editing software used by professionals and everyday people who inspire you with their polished jaw-dropping portfolios and scroll-stopping Instagram blog posts.
Photographers use this all-in-one software for landscape photography to import, edit, organize, and share photos.
Lightroom’s powerful but intuitive editing capabilities allow for adjustments like white balance, tint, exposure, tonal curves, color grading, camera calibration, and more.
With Lightroom, you can enhance your photos and achieve high-quality results.
Lightroom is easily the best editing software for the modern photography professional. Bold statement?
Maybe.
But we believe in it so much that we’ve created our entire line of the best Lightroom presets to use with Lightroom!
WHAT ARE LIGHTROM PRESETS?
Think of Lightroom Presets as pre-built templates that can be easily applied to any of your photos to instantly color grade correct for brightness, contrast, blur, shadows, and many other settings that transform an image's style and “mood,” providing clarity.
(Be sure to check out our best-selling Lightroom presets).
Presets allow you to edit your photos consistently due to their simplicity and ease of use.
With the help of filter grade presets you can effortlessly enhance your images' colors and tones.
This means you will free up a lot of time, which can then be used to engage with your audience or create more content!
DO PROFESSIONALS DOWNLOAD AND USE ADOBE LIGHTROOM PRESETS?
Yes, professionals use Lightroom Presets!
One of Adobe Lightroom's most valuable feature sets is easily vintage photo editing presets.
So, what are Lightroom presets best used for? In two words, global adjustments.
This is the type of editing where the preset instantly changes the entire image’s contrast, white balance of the picture, exposure, etc.
Lightroom Presets also provide the ability to modify the Higher Dynamic Range.
This allows for adjustments in fine-tuning your images' lightest and darkest parts.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF USING LIGHTROOM (LR) PRESETS (XMP/DNG)?
Professionals and everyday content editors use them as a foundation for their edits. In photography, people benefit from a faster workflow by using Lightroom Presets.
Let’s say someone needs to make a global adjustment to correct a specific attribute in an image (maybe it’s too bright or too dark, or the colors didn’t come out as intended).
So they will usually pick a preset to achieve a specific look, then fine-tune other image elements.
WHAT ARE THE DOWNSIDES OF USING LIGHTROOM PRESET BUNDLES?
Lightroom presets provide global adjustments on an image. However, they cannot fix small flaws in the image itself.
Because of this, professionals often do not use them for making physical object edits.
Detailed edits, such as flaws in the background, or even on the subject, cannot be repaired or removed using Lightroom presets.
10 REASONS TO INVEST IN FLOURISH LIGHTROOM CLASSIC PRESETS
1. Easy to Learn
Although it might seem overwhelming to start using these “techy” professional-grade presets, they are quite easy to use, and you’ll wonder why you didn’t start using them sooner!
Choose a Flourish Preset that matches your mood. You’ll find these saved inside your Lightroom app on the List of imported custom presets in the Presets Panel.
2. Time Saver
Saving time and maintaining a steady workflow is important for becoming a better photographer or professional content editor.
Professionals say that Lightroom Presets improves their workflow and increases engagement across socials.
A preset is a time-saving template.
3. Easy to Quickly Compare & Contrast Various Filters
Lightroom has a feature allowing you to preview your various quick presets!
This can be found in the navigator box.
4. Increased Consistency For Android & iPhone Photography
You can apply the same global photo treatments to your photos with presets. This will allow your photos to have a consistent, professional look.
Pro-tip: If you routinely use your favorite preset in your content, it’ll quickly become the “signature” look part of your brand!
5. Easy to Make Adjustments and Customize for Instagram
Are you a perfectionist and seek a very specific look?
Maybe your presets are “almost” perfect, and you must make minor changes. No worries; Lightroom has got you covered.
Lightroom users can change, customize, and even save their presets.
This allows you, the user, to tap into the fullest potential of your creativity and time to make the perfect preset.
6. It Becomes the Foundation of Your Edits
Often, after you apply a preset, only minor adjustments are needed.
The adjustments may range from a quick change of contrast or layering another preset on top of the earlier one.
With so many people joining social media as influencers or as a business, the need for fast edits with maximum results has never been greater.
Lightroom Presets (for mobile and desktop devices) can deliver that in less time.
7. Batch Editing
One of the most popular features in Lightroom is batch editing.
Batch editing allows you to edit a large number of photos at the same time.
Let’s pretend you took 112 wedding photos for your client.
It would take a considerably long to edit every picture manually, but with Lightroom presets, you can apply a preset to all the pictures simultaneously.
While you may still need to add some minor fixes, these minor fixes will only take a couple of minutes and some adjustments to the settings vs. hours of editing.
8. Inexpensive Solution
With all the benefits and convenience presets provide, people may think that professional-grade presets would be expensive.
Fortunately, our presets are affordable and come with BOTH mobile (ideal for editing on the go) AND desktop (professional edits) formats!
9. Protect the Original While Editing & Creating
Yet another benefit to editing content with Lightroom.
The app does not edit the original image directly; it only edits a copy.
This means the original photo is safe and preserved from accidental whoops edits!
The file from Lightroom can also be exported as different types of files for added convenience.
10. Side-by-Side Comparisons
Many image editing apps do not provide a side-by-side comparison.
Users are often forced to open two tabs and put them side by side manually.
However, in Adobe Lightroom, this problem is solved by providing the “split modes, " allowing for a quick side-by-side glance to compare the photo before and after your preset edits.
TUTORIAL ON HOW TO USE PRESETS IN LIGHTROOM
Now you may be wondering how to use presets; only a few steps are required, making them very user-friendly.
- Select a photo and click the “edit” icon. Click Presets at the bottom column of the edit panels.
- Choose a category in the panel to access your presets. Click to apply. That’s it! Photo editing presets are also stackable, so you can layer multiple presets to achieve unlimited effects.
- To see how the preset would affect your photo, hover your mouse over it, and the picture will change as a preview (but will still not be fully applied). Deleting or removing the preset can be done by simply using the “Undo/Revert to Original” command.
PRESETS VS FILTERS
1. Preset Packs
Yes, it may seem to be a subtle difference.
But in photography, every detail is key to achieving your desired content output.
Presets can produce more consistent images.
Even if it is your first time using a preset, you can generally produce a higher-quality photo than just applying filters.
BONUS: Using presets in your business or portfolio will showcase your professionalism and earn you some respect from your fellow photographers and followers!
2. Filters
There are many filters/filter grade bundles out there right now.
From physical filters added to our camera lenses to add the desired effect, to electronic filters applied in many social media apps (such as Instagram, Snapchat, and many others).
Photographic Filters
Traditional physical filters have many use cases, from protecting the camera’s lens to allowing certain colors to pop, helping reduce reflections from objects (polarizing filters), to diffusion filters that can change the lens's focus (like a fisheye lens), etc.
Social Media Filters
These electronic filters have notable disadvantages, especially regarding consistency. In terms of consistency, this means the results on the details, (not on the filter) will differ.
For example, if you take five photos from various angles and lighting, then apply the filter, the results will become inconsistent between photos.
Some will look good, some average, and some will look bad.
But, filters from Instagram or Snapchat may be your best choice if you are in a rush and the photo is only used for personal purposes.
Lastly, never use a filter and upload it to your business account or portfolio; it does not demonstrate your true photographic abilities.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DESKTOP + MOBILE PRESETS
One of the best things about Lightroom is using their software + your presets on Desktop AND Mobile.
Mobile Presets are designed for compressed JPEG Mobile and Drone Images, whereas Desktop Presets are designed for RAW images.
Ultimately, this capability allows you to create consistency between your social and professional work (with the click of a button anywhere you go!).
How’s that for brand cohesiveness?
Elevate your editing with our Lightroom Desktop + Mobile Presets, HERE.
PHOTOSHOP VS LIGHTROOM PRESETS
Should you use Photoshop and Lightroom Presets?
Yes, you should consider using both of them together!
However, this decision will depend on your goals.
If you are seeking highly detailed photos that are heavily edited, then you should use Photoshop.
Photos of models up-close may sometimes show their imperfections which can be edited out using Photoshop to do skin smoothing, get rid of their crowfeet, or even make some body parts… more toned.
On the other hand, if you do not need a very detailed edit (i.e., for social media), Lightroom Presets should be just fine for you.
The Top 10 Best Lightroom Presets in 2023
Moody
Boho Cream
Bright & Airy
CONCLUSION
Lightroom Presets are very useful in producing quality photos with minimum effort. These tools are used by casual social media posters, professional photographers, and editors in the photography industry.
Although they may appear very similar, filters are different from presets.
Presets can provide global adjustments to the photo and are highly customizable, while filters are not.
Professionals highly recommend Adobe Lightroom Presets to use for quick overall editing.
