What Are Lightroom Presets (Everything You Need to Know)

From the moment you decide to pursue photography, Lightroom Presets are placed on your radar. These photography tools are marketed as ‘magical’, ‘transformative’, and ‘the secret to beautiful imagery’...and honestly? They are. When used in tandem with a thoughtfully composed, lit, and captured photo, Lightroom Presets can elevate your work to a true piece of art. 

So what exactly are Lightroom Presets? And how do they play into the modern photography professional’s workflow? 

To understand Lightroom Presets, let’s begin with the software that makes them possible.  Adobe Lightroom (LR) is a powerful yet intuitive photo editing software that is used by the professionals who inspire you with their polished portfolios and scroll-stopping Instagram posts. 

Photographers can use this all-in-one software to import, edit, organize, and share their photos. Lightroom’s streamlined editing capabilities allow for adjustments like white balance, tint, exposure, tonal curves, color grading, camera calibration, and much more.

Lightroom is truly the best editing software for the modern photography professional. Big statement? Maybe. But we believe in it so much that we created a whole line of presets to use within its walls. 

A preset is a saved group of photo-editing settings in Adobe Lightroom that transforms your images with just a click of the preset. You then have the flexibility to adjust the settings that best fit the image you are editing.

Where in Lightroom can you find "presets"? Once you have an image loaded into Lightroom, go to the Develop mode. Once in Develop Mode click on Presets in the left hand panel. If you have loaded presets into Lightroom you will find them there! 

One of the best things about Lightroom is you can use 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). How’s that for brand cohesiveness? 

Elevate your editing with our Lightroom Desktop + Mobile Presets, HERE

1. Speed Up Your Workflow. We polled the users in our Facebook Group and over 75% of them said the presets save them 90 seconds or more per image edited. Investing in Lightroom Presets will absolutely save you time and speed up your workflow. 

In fact, you can apply our Presets to all the images from a photoshoot upon importing them into Lightroom. From there, make minor adjustments and send the gallery to your clients. 

2. Consistency. As noted above, you can apply the same Preset to all of the photos from a shoot which will lead to an elevated and polished final gallery. In order to stand out as an artist, it’s important for your body of work to feel cohesive and like it has a “signature” quality. Presets allow you to do that with minimal work on your end. 

3. Effortless to Use. Between the simplicity of Adobe Lightroom itself and Refined Co’s ever growing library of resources you’ll ditch the frustration of trying to make your photos look the way you envision once and for all. Editing is only the beginning. We take user feedback to tailor resources to the needs of amateur and professional photographers alike.

Are you ready to showcase your creativity with Lightroom Presets and Editing Tools that save time and elevate your look with timeless beauty? Shop Refined Co Presets, today!