A Brief Guide To Lightroom Presets

Everything you need to know to get started with Lightroom Presets in less than 5 minutes. 

Have you ever spent time jealously staring at someone else’s Instagram feed wondering how they keep their color palette so consistent and how they make all the photos look so good together? 

Well, we want to let you into a little secret – this is not something they can do with just their cameras and Instagram filters alone. The likelihood is that they are using Presets on an amazing tool called Lightroom. 

And, we have some good news for you – today, we are going to teach you everything you need to know to successfully use Lightroom and get your feeds looking flawless. 

What is Lightroom?

Let’s start with the basics – what is Lightroom? 

Lightroom is a photo editing tool that was created by the team at Adobe. Lightroom allows the user to make minor manipulations to the photos, as well as, changing their tones, white balance, and much more. 

Some of the features offered by Lightroom include: 

• Wed-eye correction
• White balance
• Tone curve
• Tone
• HSL
• Adjustment brushing
• Color grading
• Presence
• Lens correction
• Spot removal
• Transformation
• Detail addition
• Presets
• Graduated filters
• Radical filters
• Calibration manipulation

Lightroom is available as an individual monthly subscription or as a monthly subscription bundle including other tools from Adobe such as Adobe Photoshop. 

How is Lightroom Different from Photoshop?

Lightroom was designed to help photographers take their photos from raw images and polish them off to create finished products. The adjustments that can be made in lightroom are very minor and do not involve manipulating a lot of the image. 

The most manipulation Lightroom offers is red-eye and spot removal. Lightroom instagram presets are compatible Lightroom mobile and all Lightroom versions.

Photoshop on the other hand offers nearly unlimited photo manipulation. Photoshop can be used to add things to the image that was not there originally. The Photoshop tool is one of the most advanced on the market and for this reason, its name has become synonymous with the act of manipulating images. 

What are Lightroom Presets?

Lightroom allows you to edit your photo using 8 different categories. Each of those categories has multiple sliders and options that allow you to edit the photo in a near-infinite amount of ways. 

You will use these sliders to create your own filter to put over the photo. This can be time-consuming if you do not know a lot about the science behind color theory and photo manipulation. 

A Preset is a premade filter that you can select and it will change all the sliders for you. Lightroom comes with a few pre-made Presets, but you can also purchase Presets, like these boho Presets, online. 

The benefit of using a Preset is that your images will have a consistent look. You will also be able to save yourself a huge amount of time when you are editing your photos. 

3 Things You Should Know About Lightroom Presets

Before we leave you, here are three essential things you need to know about Lightroom Presets 

#1 – How to Download a Preset on Mobile

Here is a quick guide to buying and installing Presets to Lightroom on the mobile app: 

1. Purchase the Preset you wish to use
2. Download Preset Files (.dng files)
3. Save each file to camera roll
4. Download and Open Lightroom App
5. Create a new album and name it after the Preset, then import the .dng files into the album
6. Open the first photo in the album and there will be three small dots in the corner of the image. Click on the dots and then select “create Preset”, then give the Preset its corresponding name.
7. Enjoy the Preset.

If you buy a pack of Presets, you will have to go through this process for each Preset individually. 

#2 How to Download a Preset on a Computer

To download a present on your computer the process is much simpler: 

1. Purchase the Preset you wish to use
2. 2. Download Preset Files (.xmp files)
3. Open Lightroom, go to Preferences, select the Preset tab, then select Show Lightroom Develop Presets
4. Copy and paste the Presets into this Settings folder
5. Then restart Lightroom
6. Enjoy the Preset

#3 – Don’t Be Afraid to Retune a Preset That You Purchase

If a Preset is not working perfectly for you then you are well within your rights to finetune it a little bit. 

Just remember to save your new version of the Preset and save it under a different name to save you the confusion in the long run.