Alistair Campbell demonstrates how to create your own presets to get a certain look in Lightroom and save it
(Image credit: Alistair Campbell)
Lightroom presets can save you a lot of time when you’re editing photos on a regular basis. With the click of a button, you can quickly apply your most common adjustments to many images at once. Lightroom comes with ready-made presets, and there are plenty of free Lightroom presets available – but their real power is when you make your own.
Taking a great photo is only half the battle in achieving a memorable image: applying your finely tuned presets can bring out the best elements, colors and sharpness in your images, or even just be used to apply your signature style to your images.
On the right-hand side of the screen, you have all the usual sliders for editing your photos. So first edit your image to your liking. For this shot, I have taken the blues and changed their hue to create a modern, electric-blue feel; I also increased Clarity and Contrast to add punch. Once you’re happy, go to the left-hand side of the screen, where you will find the Presets panel.
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(Image credit: Alistair Campbell)
(Image credit: Alistair Campbell)
02.Name your preset
Click the + symbol to the right of the Presets header. This opens a new window. Name your preset and select the settings that you used, or just select them all. (If you have cropped your image, this will also be part of the preset). You can save your preset within a specific folder.
Once your preset is saved, it will appear on the left, under the folder you selected. Now you can apply it to any other image in the Develop Module: simply have the image highlighted at the bottom, then click the preset. (You can even Select All and apply it to hundreds of images at once!) It will not be exactly the same as your first image, but it’s still a big time-saver.
