Lightroom CC Presets

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Suarez85

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Marc
Edit My Images
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Hi,

Looking for advide on Lightroom CC presets. Do any of you use them and if so, where do you go to download them?
 
If I like a set and think I can use them yes I pay for them from the site etc
 
I had loads once. Too many to use in fact. I had no idea where to start, I just clicked through them all looking for the effect - and they were mainly so over the top that I ended up tweaking them anyway. I also ended up with a set of images which were wildly different from one another as I wanged a different preset on each one.

VSCO's film emulation presets are well regarded if you like that kind of thing but otherwise I wouldn't bother.
 
I'll be honest and say doing your own over-the-top processing to one's images is probably part of the learning process of Lightroom and its ilk. As Simon says, wanging (great word btw) a preset on is all a bit binary, whereas moving sliders according to the image in front of you is probably where you want to end up - and you have to experiment with what works and what doesn't to get there.

Having said that, using both presets and the likes of Nik to create specific looks can be useful, especially the former as you can deconstruct it back down again to see how to do it. I now find that if I'm spending more than a few moments on an image in Lightroom it probably means I've messed up the actual photography somehow (which is common) :)
 
I did think that the presets were a bit of a waste of time to be honest. I am going to start to 'batch edit' instead of using presets where I will group them into scenes taken, where exposure, highlights, shadows, etc are the same and then fine tweak the details from there. Will save a little time :)
 
I'll backtrack a bit.. I tend to produce a small number of images from a shoot and can spend a long time on a single image, especially if preparing it for a big print.

Presets probably come in to their own when you have a lot of images to deliver, e.g. a wedding. I'd still create my own.

Personal & family snaps rarely get more than a quick tweak.
 
I really don't see the point of presets. Their output depends largely on the image itself, so whilst the maker of the preset may find it p,easing to his/her image it may look crap on another.

I've never found a preset that works so usually end up doing my own thing. The same goes for presets found in plugins like on1 and Nik
 
I use presets but all my own. Very handy for applying general settings to a large number of images for example. I always work that way to get the style I use on all images and then as I'm going back through them to straighten etc I'll tweak to suit the individual images. I'll also then add gradient filters etc as needed.
 
I have looked at them and not bought as I feel they're a waste of money. I always like to have Lens Correction ticked and Remove Chromatic Aberration ticked too and call this Lens Corrections and apply it on import where I don't want any processing done.

If I want some processing after the import I have Basic which is Contrast +10, Highlights -25, Shadows +25, Whites +5, Blacks -10, Clarity -15, Vibrance +20, Sharpen +70 and Vignette -15 in addition to the Lens Corrections.

In practice, the light changes on a daily basis and sometimes these settings are great and often they need some attention so the first photo will be processed and I will often highlight all the images and press the Sync button to copy the settings to all the other images. Or, where the light changes (photo taken in the shade for example) I will often use the Previous button to copy the settings from the last photo that was looked at.
 
I didn't even know you could buy presets.

Suarez85 said:
I did think that the presets were a bit of a waste of time to be honest. I am going to start to 'batch edit' instead of using presets where I will group them into scenes taken, where exposure, highlights, shadows, etc are the same and then fine tweak the details from there. Will save a little time :)
Click to expand...

I have my own presets that I apply to all raw images as a batch, just basic stuff like contrast, basic sharpening and NR. I then look at each in turn and apply any necessary tweaks if only straightening, WB and the like and then either open as JPEG's or save as the same as I like to do some final adjustments using the JPEG tools such as cloning and erasing or spot healing. Most of my shots take less than a minute in either raw or JPEG processors.

I can't really see myself relying any presets beyond giving me a base to start from but I suppose presets that go further could save time if you're shooting and processing large numbers of shots. I rarely process more than 100 to 150 or so at a time.
 
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As someone who is learning the ropes, it'd be interesting for me to know for people who have very clear and consistent "styles" in their images (@sunnyside_up is one of the more obvious and brilliant examples - sorry for calling you out, Beth) - whether they use presets or whether they make changes by "eye". I'm suspecting an element of both, although they probably benefit just as much from having a consistent quality of light in their shots as well?
 
pjm1 said:
As someone who is learning the ropes, it'd be interesting for me to know for people who have very clear and consistent "styles" in their images (@sunnyside_up is one of the more obvious and brilliant examples - sorry for calling you out, Beth) - whether they use presets or whether they make changes by "eye". I'm suspecting an element of both, although they probably benefit just as much from having a consistent quality of light in their shots as well?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the shout out, Paul. :)

I do have a preset that I use, that I made, based primarily on curves, with a few other bits thrown in. I use it as a starting point for pretty much everything. My lighting style is pretty consistent, so I know that my homemade preset can work 9/10 times straight out of the box. I use this to create the overall 'feel' to the image, once I have performed other edits that may need doing, be it in LR, PS or both. Of course, it doesn't work for everything, but I've set up a few now that I know that works when I use A light setup or B light setup. Am also discovering that it also has a lot to do with what background I'm shooting on as well.

The biggest mistake anyone can make regarding presets (that you purchase / download online) as a ready to use item is actually using it 'ready to use'. If you use these 3rd party presets, which there's nothing wrong with that, you need to make sure you understand what components make up the preset, what they do, and how to alter them to suit.

That's my two cents... :)
 
The only Lightroom presets that I use regularly are a small collection I made myself for different b/w conversions (Yellow, orange, red filters, etc.)

Apart from that I can't really think of a situation where I'd want to 'cookie cutter' the image processing.
 
I've been using RNI presets for a little while. An alternative to VSCO. I tend to use them as a base then make odd tweaks here and there.

I wouldn't call them a simple one click option. They don't overcook the image either IMO. With the Fuji files, and also those from the M8, I find they work really well and personally I like the output.

Rebecca Lily does some gorgeous presets here: http://www.rebeccalily.com/products/
I've seen these used by some photographers and think they look great.
 
It can be a minefield Marc. Over a few years I have built up quite a few but you do need to be able to reverse engineer them really to get your head around what they're actually doing. Very handy when you're processing lots of photo's together.

It's easier to recreate things when you can control the lighting. Quite tricky when you have a range of lighting to get that consistency throughout, VSCO presets are great for this. They start off with an engineered camera profile which is at the heart of it and so are a little different than a home made recipe.
 
I use my own presets but then flock between PS and LR usually when editing as I find it offered a better contrast of both worlds
 
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