Benefits of Using Lightroom Presets

Benefits & Advantage of Using Lightroom Presets

Lightroom presets have become incredibly popular editing tools, and for a good reason! The advantages of using Lightroom Presets are endless! By allowing you to simply import settings to your photos rather than having to apply all the settings on your own, presets are a great way to get instantly better looking photos. Presets are especially helpful if you are a beginner and are unsure of what to do with all the tools available to you in Lightroom. Even if you are a professional, though, presets can be a great time-saving tool that will take your photos to the next level!

Despite these benefits that can be seen right away, some people are still skeptical of presets and whether they are something you really need to invest in. Are you one of them? If you are, then keep reading below to learn some of the fantastic benefits of using Lightroom presets to edit your photos!

1. Save Time Editing Photos

Presets allow you to apply a whole set of settings and edits to your photos in one quick click. This is much simpler than going through each photo individually and applying each individual edit. Also, when applying the presets, you can even apply them in batches or apply them as you are importing your photos so they are automatically on each photo! You don’t have to worry about clicking through hundreds of photos and applying the preset to each one. By using presets you could potentially cut your editing time down by hours!

2. Easy to Use

The tools in the Develop module in Lightroom can be intimidating! There are so many different ways you can adjust them that it can be difficult to know where to start or which ones to play with in order to get the effect you are envisioning. Lightroom presets take all the stress out of creating your photos! This is a huge perk for anyone who does not have a lot of experience with Lightroom, as it gives them a great place to start with editing their photos. All you have to do is import the preset to Lightroom (or choose one of their standard ones!) and then apply it to your photo and all the adjustments have been made! You may need to make a few minor adjustments, depending on the photo, but for the most part, the edits are already applied! Presets make editing photos easier than it has ever been.

See More:
How to Install Lightroom Presets
How to Use the Tone Curve in Lightroom
RAW vs. JPEG: What’s the Difference?

3. Great Learning Tool

If you are an amateur photographer or editor, presets can be a great tool for you to use to gain some skills! Once you have applied the preset to your photo, you will be able to see which settings were adjusted and how they were adjusted. Rather than starting from scratch and being forced to fully adjust all of the controls in the hopes that you will be able to figure out how to achieve the edit you are envisioning, the preset will show you how that person edited their photo and achieved that look. This opens the door for you to learn how the editing tools work and eventually feel confident enough to adjust the settings on your own and create your own unique look!

4. Simplify Your Photo Editing Workflow

Presets simplify your workflow as you edit your photos as they allow you to edit batches of photos and apply the exact same settings to each one, all at the same time. With the ease of editing in batches, your workflow will become much simpler while your results are also improved!

5. Achieve Complex Results

Have you ever been looking at a professional photographer’s work and loved what they were creating, but had no idea how to do that yourself? Presets can help! With a preset and just a few clicks, you will be able to transform your image into something that looks like it was made by a professional! Having a preset will allow you to achieve these complex results that would have taken you hours to do yourself, if you were able to figure out how to do it at all!

6. Create a Consistent Style or Brand

If you use a preset to edit your photos, they will become much more consistent than if you were editing them all manually. Using virtually the same settings on each photo will create consistency amongst your photos. Whether you are using a preset that you created yourself or one that you purchase, using the same or similar presets on your photos will make them all fit together and can therefore help you develop your own recognizable style and brand.

7. Generate Inspiration

While keeping your photos consistent can be important in creating your own style, you don’t want to end up in a slump! Using presets can help prevent this and provide inspiration to you by showing you ways of editing photos that you would not have thought of on your own or that you would not have known how to achieve. There are countless presets out there, and they are all super simple to use! So don’t be afraid to play around with a bunch to find one you like, or to experiment with one that might be a little different than what you have worked with before.

8. Lightroom Presets are Completely Customizable

Presets are great tools to use to get you started, but just because they have preset settings, doesn’t mean that is how you have to leave them! Not every preset will look perfect on every photo, meaning there will be adjustments you need to make, and presets provide you the freedom to do so! If there are a few settings that just aren’t quite right, you will be able to change the settings on the preset once you import it and apply it to your photo. You can also use these customization options to make the preset match your personal style and vision!

These are just a few of the benefits that come from using Lightroom presets! If you haven’t tried using presets yet, we recommend you give them a try! If you are a beginner, they are a great learning tool and will help you become more comfortable with Lightroom and the settings and editing tools it offers you. If you are a professional, they can help you simplify your workflow and make your editing sessions much more efficient. No matter what level you are, though, you will be able to achieve great results with Lightroom presets and will be able to take your photography to the next level!