Ready to use

Claire Gillo shows you how to make the most of Presets in Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic, for a speedy edit

For the photographer on the go, Lightroom is one of the most efficient and fastest ways to batch-edit your images. For something like a wedding shoot, where you’ve shot hundreds of images, Lightroom is by far the easiest way to ensure they correspond well together as a set, and are print-ready.

A Lightroom Preset is a fast and easy way to stylise your image. It’s essentially a set of pre-arranged image editing settings, which gives your image a certain look. For example, it might be that your Preset cools the image down and boosts the contrast. Many photographers create Presets for people to buy or download for free. If you like a tone and style of a particular photographer, it could be worth seeing if they have their own Presets on their website. There are many options when it comes to Presets: using the ones Lightroom provides, creating your own, or importing third-party Presets.

Lightroom also has Profiles, which are similar to Presets – but Profiles are designed for you to work on the image after you apply them. (Think of a Profile as a base.) For a speedy edit, Presets are simpler and more effective than Profiles, but if you want more control, a Profile is a better option.

One thing worth noting about Presets is you can’t stack them on top of each other. Once you have clicked on a different Preset, it changes all the settings. Although you can’t stack Profiles either, you could apply a Profile to your image and then a Preset.

While you could simply add a Preset and be done with it, to make the most out of your image it’s best to go through each image and tweak the settings, as every image will come out of the camera with different requirements.

1 Import a Preset

If you have downloaded or bought a Preset, your file will be ready to import. The file type will most likely be an .xmp (Extensible Metadata Platform). To bring it into Lightroom go to the plus sign (Lightroom Classic) or the … menu under Basic Adjustments (Lightroom CC) and click Import Presets. Select the .xmp file, and it will be added to your Preset menu.

2 Batch-editing

In Lightroom Classic you can batch-edit all of your images with the same Preset. (At present, you can’t do this in Lightroom CC.) To do this, select all the images you want to alter. Apply the Preset to the lead image on display, then click Sync. Click Synchronise in the resulting dialog box, and the effect will be applied to all the selected images.

3 Make your own Preset

To make your own Presets in Lightroom CC or LIghtroom Classic, first apply your changes to an image. Click the + Preset button (Classic) or … button (CC), and click Create Preset. Name your Preset and select where you want it to be stored in the Preset list. To save a Preset you want to share with others, right-click on the Preset and select Show in Finder (Classic) or Export (CC).