Presets are simply a collection of settings from the Develop tab in Lightroom than are saved and can be used later for additional images. These settings can include exposure, shadow and highlight adjustments, lens corrections and temperature changes. It’s incredibly simple to create a new preset and very useful for batch editing work.
The first thing we need to do is find an image we want to edit and change the values under the ‘Develop’ tab to suit our needs. Here I am creating a high contrast black and white preset so I have increased the contrast, decreased the exposure slightly and added a little more depth to the highlights. I have also added some clarity to give the image a sharper look.
Once you are happy with the settings, and you’re ready to create your preset, scroll up on the left-hand pane where you will see a drop-down menu called ‘Presets’. On the header bar, you will see a plus sign. Once this is clicked it will let you create, import or manage your presets. In this instance we want to create a new preset.
This is the New Develop Preset menu – from here, you can choose what settings you would like to copy from the image that is currently open in the develop tab. I am keeping most options switched on but I have turned a few off such as effects – I don’t want the preset to copy any post-stop vignette I apply to images. I also don’t want the preset to copy ant transformation settings as these are individual to each photograph. You will also notice that I have named my preset; it’s a good idea to give each custom preset an accurate name.
Once your preset has been created, you will find it under the ‘Presets’ drop down. Because I have opted to put my custom made preset under a ‘Joe’s Preset’s’ tab, this is where it will appear for me, however if no custom tab has been selected then your preset will appear further down the list.
You will see here that I have now applied my custom preset to another image but simply selecting it from the ‘Presets’ pane. From here, you can tweak the image as usual by using the various sliders and options in the Develop module. This will not affect the preset.
IDI 