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Best Lightroom Portrait Presets in 2021 (6 Gorgeous Picks)

29 Sep

The post Best Lightroom Portrait Presets in 2021 (6 Gorgeous Picks) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Matt Murray.

Finding the best Lightroom portrait presets can be a challenge for many photographers. With so many preset packs available in the marketplace, how do you find the right ones to suit your style?

In this article, I recommend some of my favorite Lightroom presets for portraits in 2021.

A quick note: When testing different preset packs, I loaded each option into Adobe Lightroom Classic. Then, to demonstrate each preset, I used the same RAW image taken on my Fujifilm X-T4 with the XF 56mm f/1.2 lens. I created multiple virtual copies in Lightroom, then had fun playing around with all of the presets and settings!

1. Brixton Film presets

First up for the portrait photographer is the Brixton Film preset bundle. These presets are brought to you by The Luxe Lens, a website that sells dozens of presets, Photoshop actions, LUTs, overlays, and much more. The names of each collection in the Brixton Film bundle evoke the type of mood they portray: Bold & Vibrant, Yesteryears, Earthy Moods, Film Essentials, and Love Story, to name just a few.

In particular, the Brixton Film Cinematic collection caught my eye, and I was instantly impressed when I applied the black and white Light and Lifted preset for a classic monochrome look:

Brixton Film presets — Brixton Film collection: *Light and Lifted*

There were a number of interesting color choices in this collection, but my next choice was the Teal and Berry preset, thanks to its eye-popping hues. It gave the portrait a completely unique look:

Another gorgeous collection from the Britxon Film stable is Oak & Ivy. This collection contains 25 film presets, 8 layer presets, and 62 tools presets, designed to bring out the organic colors of nature in your images. My favorite from this collection is Muted Forest, which did a great job of mixing earthy colors with clean skintones (see the image below). All of the Brixton Film presets were fun to use, instantly transforming my RAW file into a beautiful final product.

2. Mastin Labs

Mastin Labs are the market leaders for portrait and wedding photography presets, and it’s easy to see why.

These presets were first created over a decade ago by photographer and color scientist Kirk Mastin. After painstakingly scanning many different types of film, Mastin Labs developed a series of presets to give the classic look of your favorite film emulsions to digital images.

Mastin Labs claims to have the most authentic film emulation presets on the market, and many of their preset bundles reference names of classic film stocks, such as Portra Original, Fuji Original, and Fuji Everyday.

Full disclaimer: I’m a huge Mastin Labs fan. I’ve bought all three of the classic film packs I just mentioned, but while writing this article, I decided to use two new preset packs for the first time: Ilford and Portra Pushed.

Installation is a breeze; just download the presets, quit Lightroom, run the installer, and get ready to roll. Using the presets is simple with Mastin’s easy, three-step workflow: apply the preset, adjust the exposure, then adjust the white balance and tint.

Mastin Labs portrait presets — Mastin Labs Ilford: *Pan F* *with green filter*

Mastin Labs: Ilford Original pack

The Ilford Original pack contains three highly customizable presets that mimic classic British black and white film emulsions: Pan F, HP5, and Delta 3200.

Pan F gives you a high contrast look with low grain, the ever-popular HP5 delivers medium contrast and grain, and Delta 3200 gives your images glowing highlights and the chunkiest grain in the pack. Each emulsion gives you two further choices – 35mm or 120, with the latter giving you more subtle and smoother grain.

As with all Mastin presets, the Tone Profile section provides various combinations for making the highlights and shadows hard or soft in your image. It’s often hard to know which one you’d prefer without a bit of testing.

What I love most about the Ilford presets is the next two sections: B&W Filter and Paper. For decades, photographers have been using colored filters to control contrast and mood in their black and white photos. The clever people at Mastin Labs allow you to consider these creative effects by three different filter options: red, green, and yellow.

Next up are three paper types that mimic the effect of the image printed in the darkroom on warm-tone, cool-tone, or neutral paper. I really love these choices; I have a lot of fun playing around with them!

Mastin Labs: Portra Pushed pack

I’m a big fan of the Mastin Labs Portra Original pack, which is ideal for giving clean, warm tones and glowing skin to portraits. With this in mind, I was more than a little intrigued by the Portra Pushed pack. I’d heard it gave a wonderfully dark and moody look to images, but would it meet my expectations?

Note: You may be wondering why this pack is called Portra “Pushed;” pushed is a borrowed term from film development. A roll of film generally has a recommended ISO (e.g., 400), and you typically match it with the ISO dial on your camera.

If you set the ISO on your camera to 800 despite an ISO 400 recommendation, however, you are underexposing the film by one stop, so you’d typically ask for the film to be pushed in development one stop. In other words, you’d ask the lab to develop the film for longer to make up for the underexposure. Why would you want to do this? There are a couple of different reasons, but one is that the process typically gives color film more contrast and saturation.

The Portra Pushed presets mimic this effect with intense, moodier colors and boosted saturation. The pack has a choice of three different film looks – Portra 160, Portra 400, and Portra 800 – and with each, you can apply the one-stop or two-stop push look.

This pack may not have the B&W filter and paper options of the Ilford pack, but it does include a tone profile, a toolkit with auto white balance and lens correction, and a choice of 35mm and 120 grain.

I was impressed by the clean and consistent look of the Portra Pushed presets. They gave a high-contrast, moodier look to images than the Portra presets and really brought out the earthy tones.

3. Julia & Gil

For the last seven years, Julia & Gil have been photographing people in love all over the world. Not only are they skilled photographers, but it’s clear they’ve learned a thing or two about editing photos along the way.

Julia & Gil offer three stunning sets of presets: wedding, portrait and mobile. I took the wedding and portrait presets for a spin in Lightroom and was impressed by what I saw.

The Wedding collection is designed to add soft colors and “a little magic” to wedding photos. Julia & Gil are fans of soft tones, creamy whites, beautiful skin tones, and natural colors, as you can see from the image below. The collection is perfect for all lighting situations.

Best Lightroom portrait presets Julia & Gil — Julia & Gil Wedding: *Classic*

The Portrait collection is made up of eight presets for couple and portrait shoots. They are billed as “the modern answer to creating that popular film look” and are designed to add soft colors to your photos. As you can see from the Cream preset below, this collection gives a soft, dreamy look which I really love.

Both preset packs offer a range of tools, including colors down, colors up, a range of options for grain, three different sets of tones, vignette tools, and several ways to warm up your images. In just a click or two, Julia & Gil presets give a wonderfully unique look!

4. @rwpho Portrait Lightroom presets

@rwpho Portrait Lightroom presets are brought to you by Filtergrade, an online marketplace offering a range of resources for photographers and videographers, including actions, presets, LUTs, overlays, and templates.

Created by photographer Reed Walchle, the @rwpho presets are focused on adding warm, complementary, orange and teal tones to your images while keeping natural-looking skin. The presets shift the overall palette toward complementary colors to make photos stand out, adding character and depth. They seem to work especially well on pictures where the subject is well lit compared to the background.

There’s only a handful of presets in this pack, but sometimes less is more. I really liked the tones of both the Joyce Warm and Elena Cupcakes presets. All in all, the presets were easy to apply and gave great results instantly.

5. Etchd Portrait presets

The next set of Lightroom portrait presets come from award-winning portrait, landscape, and travel photographer Matt Horspool, better known by his Instagram handle, @etchd.

Matt is incredibly well traveled, having backpacked across 48 countries on all seven continents. His images and articles have been published by National Geographic, Australian Photography Magazine, The Australian, and Olympus Passion.

Etchd Portrait Presets Volume 1 contains 15 timeless and beautifully refined presets that “soften and breathe life into your portraits.” The presets come with a detailed, 37-page, step-by-step installation and application guide. I really like the information in the second part of this guide – Matt gives you a detailed description of each preset, along with information on what to adjust in your images. For example, there are tips on suggested adjustments to the RGB tone curve, white balance, and split toning.

Many of the preset names are a nod to Matt’s travels: Roadtrip, USA, India, and the preset I used for the image below, Verona. The latter preset comes with two versions, and the one I’ve used has a built-in Radial Filter. (The guide also gives step-by-step instructions on how to apply Radial Filters to your portraits.)

6. dPS

Last but certainly not least are the comprehensive range of portrait presets by our very own Digital Photography School team. The dPS preset bundle consists of three packs, each containing 101 presets: 101 Lightroom Presets, 101 Landscape Lightroom Presets, and 101 Lightroom Portrait Presets.

dPS portrait presets — dPS Portrait Presets: *Art Series 50s*

For this article, I tried out some of the portrait presets created by Rachel Devine. These give you countless image-enhancing options, and included in the pack are the Art Series, Black and White, Film Series, Traditional Series, and a Touch-Up Kit featuring 37 brushes.

I really love the look of all the Art Series presets, but perhaps my favorite was Art Series 50s, which gave my images a classic vintage appearance. Another fantastic preset is Found, which has a beautiful, warm effect reminiscent of film stocks such as Kodak Gold.

What are the best Lightroom portrait presets in 2021?

The best portrait presets for Lightroom will differ from user to user. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which look and feel suits the images you take!

I love using all of the preset packs recommended above; they’re simple and give incredible results.

So which preset is your favorite? Tells us in the comments below.

Best Lightroom portrait presets: FAQs

Should I use Lightroom presets for my portraits?

Lightroom presets are a fantastic way to get a consistent look in your portrait photo shoots.

Which Lightroom presets should I buy for portraits?

That depends on your photographic style and your budget. Take a look at the images above and visit the websites featured to find the presets best suited for your images.

Are Lightroom presets easy to use?

Most of the presets featured here are very easy to use. You can transform images in one or two clicks.

Do professional photographers use presets?

Yes, many professional portrait and wedding photographers use off-the-shelf presets.

The post Best Lightroom Portrait Presets in 2021 (6 Gorgeous Picks) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Matt Murray.

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13 Best Cinematic Lightroom Presets (in 2021)

02 Sep

The post 13 Best Cinematic Lightroom Presets (in 2021) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

Are you looking for the best cinematic Lightroom presets on the market today? In this article, you’ll find a roundup of my favorite presets, all offering gorgeous cinematic edits.

Some of these picks are very specific, emulating the cinematic style of a well-known director; others are more generic and are designed for a wide range of photographic needs.

I’ve also included a handful of free options, and even the paid presets sometimes come with freebies – so no matter your budget, there’s a preset pack here for you.

Let’s get started.

1. Cinematic Lightroom Presets (by Northlandscapes)

This 15-preset pack will help you create cinematic and moody landscapes using different color schemes, from neon carrot to steel grey. Jan Erik Waider used Blade Runner 2049 as a major point of inspiration to develop this bundle, which is why these presets work great for a dystopian look.

Unfortunately, the Cinematic Lightroom Presets pack won’t work with older versions of the program. You’ll need Lightroom Classic v.10, LR v.4, or ACR for Photoshop v.13 or higher. For smartphone editors, note that you can download and install the presets on your computer, then sync them with Lightroom Mobile on your phone.

2. Cyberpunk 2.0

Want to give your images an urban and futuristic atmosphere? Cyberpunk 2.0 is the way to go. With these presets’ saturated blues and magentas, you can turn any city night scene into a sci-fi movie.

You do have the option to purchase the Artistic Collection, which includes Cyberpunk 2.0 plus several other preset bundles; that way, you’ll get a better price than buying each pack individually.

Of course, while Cyberpunk 2.0 may have been developed for city scenes with neon lights, you can achieve some very interesting results by experimenting with non-urban shots. The presets are compatible with Lightroom 3.0 or higher and can be used on RAW files as well as PSDs, TIFFs, and JPEGs.

3. Cinematic Lightroom Presets (by Artorius)

From Historic/Action Drama and Fantasy/Dreamy to War Movie and 60’s Western, this Cinematic Lightroom Presets bundle comes with 10 premium presets to fit many styles.

The presets are compatible with Lightroom 4.1 or higher. Note that you can apply the presets to RAW or JPEG images, which is perfect for beginners aiming to create a variety of styles with a single click.

4. Stranger Things Cinematic Preset

Yes, it’s just a single preset, but if you’re a fan of the TV series Stranger Things, you’re going to love this one, plus – bonus! – it’s free. For those of you who are not familiar with the series, don’t worry; suffice it to say that the Stranger Things Cinematic Preset will give you a very cool 80s look for your photos.

Also, if you’re more of a hands-on type of person, you can watch the tutorial and learn how to achieve this look step by step. Otherwise, you can grab this preset for free, though you will need to opt-in to a mailing list with your name and email. You’ll receive the preset as a freebie (and you can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time).

5. BZ Cinematic Presets

Visual artist Brian Zuckerman has made films and videos for music bands and weddings – and drawing on these experiences, he created a collection of Lightroom presets that’s sold in two volumes.

Volume I includes 10 presets, ranging from Surreal, Nightmare, and Dream to Harmonize and Golden Seconds.

Volume II includes 11 presets, featuring Hollow, Romance Novel, and more.

All in all, you’ll get plenty of moods to play with, and you should have no problem finding the style that fits your photos.

6. Looks Like Film Presets

These two Looks Like Film freebies were developed with Meridian, a brand that sells quality Lightroom presets for every need. As you can see from the examples above, the presets are warm, earthy, and pretty darn stunning, perfect for any cinematic editor’s kit.

As with most freebies out there, you will need to subscribe to a newsletter for access. However, you can unsubscribe at any time, and the newsletter is mostly designed to direct you to their shop so you can familiarize yourself with products designed by talented artists.

7. Movie Effect

Here’s another free Lightroom preset, this one inspired by the big screen. Note: If you like Movie Effect and you’re interested in more of these presets, you can always purchase the complete Movie Effect Lightroom Presets pack designed by Creativetacos.

The Movie Effect bundle includes 11 LR template files, 1 Camera Raw Photoshop Action, 11 DNG files, and 11 Camera Raw XMP files. This means that you can use them as Lightroom presets or Photoshop actions depending on your preferred workflow.

Each preset is editable, so you can always use these as a starting point, but then adjust the look for a more personalized result.

8. Hong Kong Retro Movie Style Presets

Inspired by the works of Wong Kar-wai and Hong Kong’s 80s movies, the Hong Kong Retro Movie Style preset pack will give your images a warm retro look.

The pack includes 8 files compatible with Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic, 8 DNG files to use in Lightroom Mobile, and 8 files for Photoshop and Camera Raw. It doesn’t matter which program you choose or how you like to edit; these presets will work anywhere, any time!

9. Cinematic Vibes

JJFarquitectos designed the Cinematic Vibes Presets, drawing inspiration from a range of styles; as such, these presets should work on landscapes, urban travel, lifestyle images, and more.

The pack has 72 presets for Lightroom and Photoshop, and while the bundle is paid, you can grab the Cinematic Vibes 01 Preset for free. If you like it, find it’s compatible with your software, etc., then you can purchase the whole bundle.

10. Free Cinematic Lightroom Presets

Usually, free Lightroom presets are single products that invite you to buy a bigger bundle. But in this case, the freebie includes 10 cinematic presets, perfect for any photographer after a cinematic look on a budget.

The Free Cinematic Lightroom Presets are compatible with all Lightroom versions and can be used with Lightroom Mobile, too. Each preset is a one-click solution, though you can always use them as a starting point to further personalize the final look.

11. Wes-Anderson-Inspired Lightroom Presets

Wes Anderson is famous for his use of color, and this Lightroom preset bundle takes inspiration from his movies to give your photos a quirky retro look with an amazing color palette.

Presets inspired by The Royal Tenenbaums pump up the yellows and oranges, while The Grand Budapest Hotel presets are more pastel. In total, you’ll get 30 presets that you can customize to fit your images.

As the developer says, “Don’t forget your flat, symmetrical composition for full-on Wes style!”

12. Super 8 Lightroom Mobile Presets

Instead of emulating a big cinematic production, why not go for a home movie look? That’s what the Super 8 Lightroom Preset pack is all about, which mimics the classic Super 8 movie film format.

(Of course, the Super 8 format has been used for professional filming, too, but it’s traditionally known for the revolution it created in amateur films.)

Note: The five presets are designed for Lightroom Mobile. And the creator does often organizes special sales, so you can buy three bundles and pay for two (generally speaking, the more you buy, the more you save!). Just something to consider if you like their work.

13. Mobile Lightroom Premium Presets

As you may know, Lightroom Mobile has a limited free version, and it also has a full version that you can access with a Lightroom subscription.

But did you also know that the full Lightroom Mobile, aside from giving you access to the entire suite of Lightroom tools, also includes a library of premium presets? These include Adobe’s Cinematic collection with 10 different looks.

You can purchase a Lightroom subscription starting at $ 9.99 USD per month, and there’s a 7-day free trial plus a 14-day cancellation period if you’re not satisfied.

How to choose the perfect cinematic preset pack

As you can see, the term “cinematic” covers a huge variety of styles, so to really find what you’re looking for, you need to be more specific.

Here’s my recommendation: Start by defining what type of film you have in mind. This can be a specific genre like horror or indie. Another approach could be to choose a country or a time frame – for example, the Hollywood movies from the 80s or French cinema from the 30s.

Finally, if you have something particular in mind, don’t hesitate to look for it by the director’s name or even the name of the movie. As you can see from the suggestions above, some developers work on presets for a very specific niche.

An important thing to keep in mind is that presets modify the existing information from your original photo. So the effect will look different on each image, and it won’t necessarily end up like the developer’s examples. When possible, choose a preset that starts out with images that are similar to yours in light and color.

The best cinematic Lightroom presets: final words

I hope you enjoyed my selection of the best cinematic Lightroom presets. I tried to cover a wide range of styles so that all of you could find at least one or two options that fit your needs.

So grab a preset collection and start creating some stunning cinematic edits!

Now over to you:

Do you have any favorite cinematic presets that didn’t make the list? Share them in the comments below!

The post 13 Best Cinematic Lightroom Presets (in 2021) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

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Where Are My Lightroom Photos, Presets, and Catalogs Stored? (2021)

30 Jun

The post Where Are My Lightroom Photos, Presets, and Catalogs Stored? (2021) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Helen Bradley.

Are you struggling to determine where Lightroom stores your photos? Looking for your Lightroom catalogs? Need to identify the location of your presets?

In this article, I’m going to share quick, easy ways to determine where Lightroom has stored all of these items – photos, catalogs, presets, and more.

And by the end, you’ll know exactly where to find your files.

Let’s dive right in.

where are my Lightroom photos, presets, and catalogs stored?

Where is my Lightroom catalog stored?

To find the storage location of your current Lightroom catalog, simply select Edit (Lightroom, if you’re on a Mac), then tap Catalog Settings:

Lightroom will display where your catalog is stored:

view the location your catalog is stored

To open your catalog’s location, click Show:

You’ll be taken to your catalog folder. And if you look inside, you’ll see your .lrcat files, which contain your catalog data.

You can also find the location of your catalog by right-clicking on the Lightroom title bar, then selecting Show Catalog location:

select Show Catalog Location to see where your Lightroom catalog is stored

Your catalog file will pop open (though note that you’ll be one level deeper in the folder hierarchy compared to the previous method).

Where are my Lightroom presets stored?

There are two simple methods of finding your Lightroom presets; the first will take you to the folder containing all of your presets, while the second will take you to the location of an individual preset.

Method 1

To find where your Lightroom presets are stored, select Edit>Preferences (Lightroom>Preferences if you’re on a Mac):

select the Preferences option in Lightroom

The Preferences window will open. Select the Presets tab:

Finally, select the Show Lightroom Develop Presets button (depending on your version of Lightroom, this might instead say Show Lightroom Presets Folder):

hit the Show Lightroom Develop Presets button to see where your presets are stored

And you’ll immediately be taken to your preset storage location.

Note: You’ll need to click to see each individual preset folder:

Method 2

To find the location of an individual preset, here’s what you do:

First, open the Lightroom Develop module:

Then navigate to your Presets panel on the left-hand side:

Right-click on a preset, then select Show in Explorer:

Lightroom will instantly open the preset in its corresponding folder:

see your presets in the preset storage location

And you’ll be able to see many of your other presets, as well.

This is useful for situations when you’ve created your own preset and want to share it with others. You simply need to find the preset file, then share it!

Where are my Lightroom photos stored?

Lightroom is a catalog program, which means that it doesn’t actually store your images – instead, it simply records where your images are stored on your computer, then stores your edits in the corresponding catalog.

In other words, the images you import into Lightroom are located exactly where you chose to store them on your hard drive, USB drive, etc., and not in your Lightroom catalog.

So to find the location of a photo, simply right-click on its thumbnail, and select Show in Explorer (or Show in Finder for Mac users):

The relevant folder will appear with your image selected.

You can also see where an image exists inside Lightroom by right-clicking on that image, then selecting Go to Folder in Library:

clicking Go to Folder in Library to see where a Lightroom photo is stored

This will switch you over to the Library module and select the folder in which your image is stored:

your storage location for a particular photo

(Note that the selected folder corresponds to the actual hard drive location of your file.)

Why are my images stored in that location?

When you import photos into Lightroom, you’re given three broad options:

Copy, Move, or Add.

You can copy the photos, which creates a copy of each file in the selected location but leaves the originals alone. Then, when you ask Lightroom to show the location of the images, it will display the location of the copies.

You can move the photos, which deletes the originals and copies the files into your new selected location.

Or you can add the photos, which leaves the originals in place and makes no copy of the files; instead, Lightroom just records where you’ve stored your images. In this case, the images will stay where you initially stored them.

Where are Lightroom backups stored?

When you back up your Lightroom catalog, the actual catalog is backed up, but not your photos.

By default, the backup of your catalog is stored in the same location as your Lightroom catalog (in a folder called Backups).

However, if you want the exact backup location, or you’re struggling to find your backup folder, simply select Edit>Catalog Settings (or Lightroom>Catalog Settings on a Mac):

Then switch the Back up catalog option to When Lightroom next exits:

force Lightroom to back up when it exits

That way, the next time you exit Lightroom, you’ll see your backup folder location:

view the location of your Lightroom backups

And you can also change the backup location if you like (by selecting a different folder).

Lightroom photos, presets, and catalog storage: conclusion

Hopefully, you now know the exact location of your Lightroom files.

So you should be ready to do anything you might need – such as move catalogs, find photos, and more.

Good luck!

The post Where Are My Lightroom Photos, Presets, and Catalogs Stored? (2021) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Helen Bradley.

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The Best Lightroom Presets in 2021 (13 Beautiful Options)

17 Jun

The post The Best Lightroom Presets in 2021 (13 Beautiful Options) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

If you’re looking for the best Lightroom presets, you’ve come to the right place. Given the number of available options, it’s easy to get overwhelmed – or even worse, buy a pack of presets that you’ll never use.

To help you navigate the wide market of Lightroom presets, we’ve put together a selection of the best quality packs (to fit many different needs).

So read on to discover the 13 best preset packs in 2021!

1. Landscape and Travel Photography Presets

Best Lightroom presets landscape and travel photography presets

Fine art photographer Jan Erik Waider offers a bundle of eight Lightroom presets packs, designed for different landscapes. Some target physical locations, such as polar or forest landscapes. Others offer a specific aesthetic, such as cinematic or dark and dramatic.

These professional presets allow customization so you can “develop a repeatable personal style.” In addition to the eight preset packs, the bundle includes a surprise pack and will give you access to all future preset releases.

Of course, if you’re not interested in the entire bundle, you can also also purchase the packs individually.

2. Night Leaks

This free pack of presets from Presetlove.com will add vibrancy to your urban night photography. It’s part of the Night bundle, which includes more than 300 free presets.

Night Leaks work best on night scenes where there’s artificial lighting, such as street lights. They’re designed to give you a colorful and vibrant effect with clear tonal contrast.

3. Golden Hour Presets

These Golden Hour Lightroom presets are perfect for portrait photographers who organize outdoor sessions. We all know that golden hour offers beautiful light for your photos. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to schedule your clients around that time.

KatherineDream offers 15 Lightroom presets for mobile and desktop that will give your photos those beautiful, warm, golden hour tones. And on her Etsy shop, KatherineDream offers multiple other packs (and often puts her presets on sale!).

4. All in One Lightroom Preset Bundle

The All In One Lightroom Preset Bundle is perfect for beginner photographers. If you don’t have a field of specialization and you’re still figuring out your style, you’ll find 90 helpful presets to choose from.

The Bundle includes presets for everything: beach shooting, indoor photography, food photos, portrait photos, black and white photos, and moody photos. In other words, the All In One Bundle offers everything a beginner could need – and it even comes with a handy how-to guide!

5. Boho Wedding

If you’re a wedding photographer, then you know how important it is to have an automated workflow that delivers consistent results.

This Boho Wedding preset bundle offers ten one-click presets; they’re easy to adjust, plus they come with an installation guide PDF and video. And they create a creamy warm tone that improves the overall ambiance of your pictures.

6. Winter Wonderland Preset Collection

Most winter presets only add a cool tone to your images – but the Winter Wonderland Collection offers a uniquely well-rounded solution for a winter look.

This bundle offers 32 presets and 5 brushes to create snowy and winter images, no matter the weather forecast. All the presets are customizable, and an instruction guide and video tutorial are included in the download.

7. The Crush Pack

Unlike other presets that are based on subject matter or mood, the Crush Pack is designed for light. Each preset is tailored to a specific lighting scenario so that you always know which to apply.

Whether it is soft or hard light, backlight or flash, there’s a preset to improve your picture, delivering a “bold and vivid style that maintains the skin tone.” You can buy the Crush Pack on its own, or bundled with the Retouching Toolkit for a special discounted price.

8. 20 Free Lightroom Presets Collection

This is a starter pack from BeArt-Presets, and includes 20 presets that can be applied to all types of photographs, from food to portraits.

The download includes two sets of presets: one set for mobile and one set for desktop. And once you determine which preset styles you’re after, there’s a shop with more specialized presets for sale.

9. Free Lightroom Presets for Street Photography

Free street photography Lightroom presets

These presets are designed for a grungy look that creates contrasty, detailed images and is especially suited for urban photography.

You’ll be able to choose between color, black and white, and three different tones to “make your images jump off the screen.”

10. Color Pop

If you’re looking for a pack of Lightroom presets to make your images stand out, the Color Pop presets are exactly what you need. You get 20 different presets designed to boost the color of any photograph and make your images look vibrant and fresh.

The files come in three different formats for maximum compatibility. And if you’re impressed and you want more, PhotographyPla.net also offers a bundle with all 1000 of their presets.

11. Free HDR Lightroom Presets

This free preset pack offers ten Lightroom presets designed to adjust the light balance and color tones while boosting saturation, luminosity, and contrast. You can find the preset that matches your style and subject and apply it with just one click.

And if you like what you see, Fix the Photo has a store with a wide variety of LR presets, PS actions, LUTs, overlays, and more.

12. Nathan Elson’s 2020 Lightroom Presets

Nathan Elson is a professional photographer who specializes in portrait, fashion, commercial, and architecture photography; his very defined style inspired this preset collection.

The download includes six color profiles and ten custom-built presets that “create cinematic images to push your photography to the next level.”

13. Prolost Graduated Presets

Designed for complete beginners, the Prolost preset pack includes over 600 presets for you to choose from.

Each effect comes in different intensities; that way, you only need to hover over each preset to preview different results. If you like an effect, you click to apply. And because the pack already comes with plenty of variations, no customization is required.

How do you pick the right presets?

There isn’t one perfect preset that will fit every photograph. There are, however, presets that will be more fitting for your workflow. So given the many choices available on the market, how do you choose?

First of all, look at the quality of the work from the creator and what they’re offering. Any adjustment can technically be turned into a preset, so you’ll run into a lot of useless downloads. Some websites or blogs offer a freebie to get you on their mailing list or make you subscribe, but all you receive is a single preset that moves a slider slightly to one side.

So make sure you get your presets from a professional and check that they offer something more complex than what would be achievable by a beginner.

Another thing that you should consider is the type of photography you do. Make sure it matches the “before” image from the preset preview. This will ensure you get results similar to what you’re expecting. Otherwise, the effect might look great on the sample picture but won’t work on your own shots.

Finally, try to find presets that are customizable. This will allow you to create your own style instead of just replicating someone else’s. It will also make your presets more versatile, so you can use them on a wider variety of pictures.

Are presets worth it?

In my opinion, yes. Because they automate a part of your work, presets will save you a lot of time. Also, presets are a good way to keep your style consistent. This is very important for gaining followers, and it lets your clients know what they can expect from you far in advance.

Also, remember: If you want the benefits of presets but feel like none of the presets I’ve suggested fit your vision, you don’t have to use third-party presets. You can always make presets of your own!

The best Lightroom presets: conclusion

Now you know some of the best Lightroom presets available in 2021! Make sure you get the presets that will fit your type of photography and style – and have fun!

Now over to you:

Have you tried presets in the past? Do you have a favorite preset or preset pack? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Best Lightroom presets FAQs

Is it worth buying presets for Lightroom?

Yes. Many professionals offer high-quality presets that are a great investment; they’ll help you achieve the look that you want in your photos.

Do professional photographers use presets?

Yes. Some professionals create their own presets to save time when editing. Others use presets from professional retouchers. Photography and photo-editing are two separate skills and can be performed by two different professionals.

Can you use Lightroom presets for free?

Some of them are free, yes. Others cost money. Before downloading a preset, I recommend checking the preset terms and conditions.

Can I create my own presets?

Yes. A preset automates a set of image adjustments. Any Lightroom post-processing that you do can be saved as a preset and used in other photographs.

Can I use Lightroom presets on the mobile version?

Any preset that you have in Lightroom can be synced across devices. That way, you can download the best Lightroom presets and use them on your computer and your phone.

The post The Best Lightroom Presets in 2021 (13 Beautiful Options) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

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How to Create Your Own Lightroom Presets (2021)

02 Jun

The post How to Create Your Own Lightroom Presets (2021) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Andrew S. Gibson.

How can you create and save presets in Lightroom?

In this article, I’m going to take you through the simple process, step by step. By the time you’re done, you’ll be able to confidently make presets of your own – and I’ll even show you how to make and apply import presets for high-quality, lightning-fast edits.

Let’s dive right in.

When should you create and apply Lightroom presets?

There are mundane edits in Lightroom that you should carry out on almost every photo.

And you can save time by creating presets that perform these jobs automatically upon import. That way, you don’t have to do editing later.

In other words: I highly recommend you apply presets to pretty much every photo you take.

(You can also apply presets during the editing process, but you’ll want to use these more sparingly.)

The fact is that RAW photos need edits to look good. And presets will help you do those edits faster than a standard editing workflow. Look at this unedited RAW file:

RAW image without a Lightroom preset — A straight-out-of-camera RAW file from an EOS 5D Mark II. This is the sort of image you’ll see when you import images into Lightroom without applying a Develop preset.

And look at it after applying a simple preset:

image with a Lightroom preset aplied — The same photo, but with the Profile set to *Landscape*, lens corrections applied, chromatic aberrations removed, and white balance set to *Auto*. This is what you would see after importing the photo into Lightroom if you applied an import preset similar to the one I show you how to make in this article. The biggest benefit is that it saves you time.

That’s what I’m going to teach you how to do in the next section:

Create a simple preset that you can apply upon importing. But note that you can use these instructions to create a preset of any type, whether you plan to apply it on import or not.

How to prepare a useful Lightroom preset: step by step

Now let’s take a look at the simple instructions for making a useful Lightroom preset:

Step 1: Open a photo in the Develop module

Start by selecting the photo you plan to use as your preset base. Open it in the Lightroom Develop module.

Hit the Reset button to zero out any existing settings:

(You may find it helpful to make a Virtual Copy of the photo first so you don’t undo any edits you have already made.)

Step 2: Set your Profile in the Basic panel

Next, you’ll need to pick a Profile. Think of this as a starting point or base layer, on top of which you’ll make all your edits.

So head up to the Basic panel and click to open the Profile fly-out menu:

Lightroom’s default Profile is Adobe Color, and this is where I often leave my photos – but if you’re a frequent landscape photographer, you might try Adobe Landscape, portrait photographers might try Adobe Portrait, and black and white photographers might try Adobe Monochrome. Really, it’s all about experimenting. Test out a few options and see what you like!

Remember that you can always change these settings after applying the preset if you decide they don’t work for a particular shot.

(Also, note that your Profile options may vary depending on your camera, so if you can’t find one of the options I suggested, don’t worry; you probably have other cool Profiles to try out instead.)

If you shoot a number of different genres or in a number of different styles, or if you simply like several profiles, you might consider creating a preset for each one!

Step 3: Apply profile corrections and remove chromatic aberration

Most shots suffer from slight issues due to lens aberrations. The specifics depend on your lens, which is why Lightroom comes with profiles for a huge number of lenses:

Lightroom's lens profiles — Just a few of the *many* lens profiles included in Lightroom.

So head down to the Lens Corrections panel and check Enable Profile Corrections:

If Lightroom offers a profile matching your lens’s make and model – and it almost certainly will! – the profile corrections will be applied automatically.

I’d also recommend checking Remove Chromatic Aberration, which will get rid of unwanted fringing and is always a good idea.

Step 4: Make sure the Basic panel is ready to go

Now it’s time to look at the Basic panel. Make sure the white balance is set to As Shot:

And make sure all the other sliders are zeroed:

zeroing the sliders how to create your own Lightroom presets

If you’re a fan of Lightroom’s automatic settings, you can hit the Auto button. This will automatically set the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks, along with the vibrance and saturation. I don’t do this myself, but if it’s helpful to you, then go ahead and try it!

Also, if you shoot a mix of color and black and white, consider creating one preset for color photos and a second preset for black and white shots. Simply set the Treatment to Black and White:

Creating a preset in Lightroom

Now it’s time to actually make a Lightroom preset. The process is extremely simple:

Step 1: Click the Create Preset option

Make sure you’re in the Develop module, then click the Plus icon next to the Presets panel:

And select Create Preset:

Step 2: Determine which settings should be a part of your preset

The New Develop Preset window should come up:

Give your preset a name and select a folder to save it in:

Then select the settings you’d like to save as your preset. Hitting Check All works fine if you’re creating the preset I discussed above – though if you’ve decided to create a more targeted editing preset, you may want to only check certain boxes.

Step 3: Hit Create

Finally, once you’re ready to save your preset, press Create:

And that’s it! It’s a simple process that doesn’t take very long and can save you a lot of time when importing or editing your photos.

Applying presets upon import

To apply the preset you just created upon importing your photos, launch the Import window:

Then head over to the Apply During Import panel and set the Develop Settings menu to the appropriate preset:

(This is where creating several presets helps saves time, as you can pick the best preset for the photos you are importing.)

Then, when you click the Import button, Lightroom applies the settings from your selected preset!

Adding copyright info

While you’re in the Import window, it’s worth setting up another preset to automatically add copyright information to photo metadata upon import.

So go to the Metadata menu in the Apply During Import panel and select New.

Lightroom will open the New Metadata Preset window, where you can add information such as your name and copyright details:

So give the preset a name, then click the Check Filled button (so the relevant boxes are checked as you go along):

Under IPTC Copyright, set Copyright Status to Copyrighted and fill in the other fields appropriately (my entries are shown below).

Under IPTC Creator, add your name, website, email address, and any other appropriate details. Personally, I leave out my address – I move around a lot so it’s constantly changing (plus identity theft is a risk).

Click Done when you’re finished. Then, when you import photos, simply select the preset from the Metadata menu:

How to create your own Lightroom presets: your turn

Hopefully, you’re now ready to create Lightroom presets of your own (and you have some ideas for useful presets).

That way, you can save time and speed up your workflow!

Now over to you:

What kind of presets do you plan to create? How do you plan to use them on your photos? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The Mastering Lightroom Collection

My Mastering Lightroom ebooks will help you get the most out of Lightroom. They cover every aspect of the software – from the Library module to creating beautiful images in the Develop module. Click the link to learn more or buy!

The post How to Create Your Own Lightroom Presets (2021) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Andrew S. Gibson.

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Ultimate Guide to Using Lightroom Presets in Photoshop

27 Mar

Ansel Adams once said, “you don’t take a photograph, you make it.” Fortunately, with tools like Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, producing that perfect image is a much less daunting task nowadays. Still, it can be hard to keep up with all the updates and changes. Have you ever fallen in love with a preset that you want to use in Continue Reading
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Nik celebrates its 25th anniversary with new presets in Nik Collection 3 by DxO

19 Nov

Nik Software, now part of the DxO family, has existed for an impressive 25 years. To celebrate this major milestone, DxO has announced Nik Collection 3 by DxO version 3.3, which adds a fitting 25 new presets for Color Efex Pro and Silver Efex Pro.

The update adds Classic Portraiture, Light and Bright, Wildlife Photography and Street Photography preset collections. Classic Portraiture is the largest of the bunch, adding 10 presets for Color Efex Pro and Silver Efex Pro. New presets include High Key Bright (seen below), Hint of Color, Hollywood Glamour, and Warm and Soft.

The Nik Collection by DxO version 3.3 update adds 25 new presets, including 10 specifically for portraiture. You can see High Key Bright here, with the effect applied to the right portion of the image. Image credit: Andrey Zvyagintsev. As seen on the Nik Collection by DxO website.

The Light and Bright collection includes five presets for Color Efex Pro. Wildlife Photography also includes five new presets for Color Efex Pro, such as Cool Evening, which is seen below. Unlike Light and Bright and Wildlife Photography, the five new Street Photography presets are all available in Silver Efex Pro.

Cool Evening, before (left) and after (right) comparison. Image credit: Casey Allen. As seen on Nik Collection by DxO’s website. The Cool Evening preset is available as part of the new Wildlife Photography collection in Nik Collection by DxO version 3.3.

The Nik Collection by DxO includes eight plugins. In addition to the expanded Color Efex Pro and Silver Efex Pro plugins, the plugin suite also includes Analog Efex Pro, Dfine, HDR Efex Pro, Viveza, Sharpener Pro and Perspective Flex. You can see an overview of the collection below. If you’d like to read about the new features introduced when Nik Collection 3 launched in June, you can refer to our original coverage.

For any users who purchased the Nik Collection 3 after June of this year, the new version is available as a free upgrade. The Nik Collection by DxO is compatible with Windows and macOS (including the latest macOS release, Big Sur) and can be used with Adobe Lightroom Classic, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Customers ineligible for the free upgrade can upgrade for $ 79. New users can purchase the Nik Collection by DxO for $ 149. To purchase the software or download the available free trial.

Overview of Nik’s first 25 years. Image credit: Nik by DxO. Click to enlarge.

Looking back at Nik’s 25 years, the company was founded as Nik Multimedia in 1995. Five years later, Nik Color Efex Pro, Nik Sharpener Pro and Dfine were released. The company’s iconic U Point technology was first released in 2005. The next year, Nik Multimedia became Nik Software. In 2007, Nik’s Viveza plugin gained Control Points and Silver Efex Pro and HDR Efex Pro were released. In 2012, Google purchased Nik Software and rebranded the plugin collection. In 2017, DxO purchased the Google Nik Collection and Nik Software’s proprietary U Point technology. As we know, earlier this year, Nik Collection 3 by DxO was launched with a new geometric correction plugin, Perspective Flex.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Custom Lightroom Presets for Autumn

10 Nov

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A New Adobe Lightroom Update Just Deleted Customers’ Photos and Presets

24 Aug

The post A New Adobe Lightroom Update Just Deleted Customers’ Photos and Presets appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Last week, Adobe released Lightroom 5.4.0, a routine update meant for the iPad and iPhone Lightroom app.

But it soon became clear that the update was far more than users bargained for when customers who installed Lightroom 5.4.0 found that their photos and presets had disappeared.

Lightroom users immediately reported their situation on forums, explaining the data loss and asking Adobe for help.

One user wrote, “After the automatic update to Lightroom mobile 5.4…my whole library is lost.” Another wrote, “I can’t believe I lost 2+ years of edits due to the Lightroom mobile update.”

Note that presets were also affected; a Redditor explained how, upon launching Lightroom, “Not only were most of my photos gone, but also hundreds of my presets, some of which I worked on for the past couple of years.”

Adobe soon issued Lightroom 5.4.1, as well as an official response:

“Some customers who updated to Lightroom 5.4.0 on iPhone and iPad may be missing photos and/or presets. This affected customers using Lightroom mobile without a subscription to the Adobe cloud. It also affected Lightroom cloud customers with photos and presets that had not yet synced to the Adobe cloud.

A new version of Lightroom mobile (5.4.1) for iOS and iPadOS has now been released that prevents this issue from affecting additional customers.

Installing version 5.4.1 will not restore missing photos or presets for customers affected by the problem introduced in 5.4.0.

We know that some customers have photos and presets that are not recoverable. We know how frustrating and upsetting this will be to people affected and we sincerely apologize.

Some customers affected by this issue might be able to use iPhone and iPad backups to recover photos and presets.“

Many users were understandably upset upon learning that their photos and presets were unrecoverable. It seems that much of the data is gone forever, though a few users did manage to regain some or all of their missing data via device backups.

While it’s deeply frustrating that Adobe would make such a mistake, this error hammers home the importance of having multiple backups of your photos at all times. I recommend having at least three, including at least one physical backup (e.g., an external hard drive), as well as a cloud-based backup. And, once you have the backups, you must update them regularly; it’s the only way to ensure that your precious images stay safe!

Now over to you:

Were any of you affected by this Lightroom update? If so, were you able to recover your images? And for those who weren’t affected, do you plan to change your image backup practices? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post A New Adobe Lightroom Update Just Deleted Customers’ Photos and Presets appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

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Lightroom CC update for iOS, iPadOS permanently deletes photos and presets for some users

20 Aug

After updating to Lightroom version 5.4 on iOS and iPadOS, numerous users found that photos and editing presets that had not yet been synced to the cloud were missing. Worse yet, Adobe has confirmed that affected users and Adobe itself will be unable to retrieve the missing data.

After reports of lost photos spread around the web on places such as our own forums, Reddit and Adobe’s own forums, Adobe representative Rikk Flohr published a response on the afternoon of August 18. It reads:

‘We are aware that some customers who updated to Lightroom 5.4.0 on iPhone and iPad may be missing photos and presets that were not synced to the Lightroom cloud.

A new version of Lightroom mobile (5.4.1) for iOS and iPad OS has now been released that prevents this issue from affecting additional customers.

Installing version 5.4.1 will not restore missing photos or presets for customers affected by the problem introduced in 5.4.0.

We know that some customers have photos and presets that are not recoverable. We sincerely apologize to any customers who have been affected by this issue.

If you are affected by this issue, please refer to the information in this forum thread.’

Adobe has not issued any additional comments about the incident, nor has it disclosed an estimate of how many users were affected by the issue ahead of the release of Lightroom 5.4.1. When we contacted Adobe this morning, a representative said they have no further statements at this time.

In a thread originally started by Lightroom user Mohamad Alif Eqnur on Adobe’s forums, numerous users chimed in with their own experiences of lost photos, including multiple users who shared that they had lost purchased presets.

Affected customers are understandably very upset, especially given that Adobe’s fix only acts to prevent the issue from happening to additional customers, rather than offering users a solution to restore missing photos and presets.

When issues like this occur, and if it can happen to a giant in the industry like Adobe it can happen to any company, it stands as a reminder that it’s critical to have multiple backups of your images. Further, it’s a good idea to save edits of your photos as sidecar files, so even if a catalog becomes corrupted, you will retain your edit data. These sidecar files can even be read by Adobe Bridge.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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