Lightroom Presets Explained And The Best Places To Download Some

If you’re looking to improve your photography skills, Lightroom Presets can be a great way to do so. They allow you to experiment with a range of styles in your photos with just a few clicks. Presets can also help you keep your style consistent across multiple photoshoots by applying uniform changes to your images. This article will discuss where to find Lightroom Presets and how to install them.

What are Lightroom Presets?

Lightroom Presets are a set of editing instructions that you can apply to your photos with just a few clicks. They are used to achieve various looks, from vintage to black and white, and they can help you save time by not having to edit each photo manually.

Using Presets to Create Style

Presets are available for all versions of Adobe Lightroom. The format of the preset file can be different between the CC and Classic application versions, but once installed, they function the same.

In Lightroom Classic, installed Presets are listed in the left panel. In Lightroom (CC), the Presets are accessed by clicking the Presets button on the edit panel. And finally, in Lightroom Mobile, Presets are shown by pressing the Presets button in the right icon menu.

For installing Presets in each application, see the sections below – Installing Presets in Lightroom (CC), Installing Presets in Lightroom Classic, and Installing Presets in Lightroom Mobile.

If you want to take a deep dive into Lightroom Presets, you can read through Adobe’s online help manual.

How to Install Lightroom Presets in Lightroom (CC)

In Adobe Lightroom (CC) version 1.3 or later, it’s very easy to install Presets. These instructions work the same on Mac and Windows desktop machines. If you are using the Mobile version, see the instructions below.

Steps to install a Preset in Lightroom CC –

1. Download the preset files to your computer. The files will be in either xmp, lrtemplate, or zip file format. You can import the zip files directly, but extracting the files from the zip archive is safer and only installs what you need.
2. Open Lightroom CC and select the edit icon in the right menu. The edit icon looks like three sliders.
3. At the top of the edit screen, you will see a button labeled Presets. Click this button to access the Presets panel.
4. Click three dots at the top of the panel between the + and the x to get to the settings panel.
5. In the dropdown menu, select Import Presets.
6. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the presets, select the preset files you want to use, and press the Import button.
7. The imported Presets will be listed in the Presets panel.

How to Install Lightroom Presets in Lightroom Classic

Installing Presets in Lightroom Classic version 7.3 or later is very similar to the CC version.

Steps to install a Preset in Lightroom Classic –

1. Download the preset files to your computer. The files will be in either xmp, lrtemplate, or zip file format. You can import the zip files directly, but extracting the files from the zip archive is safer and only installs what you need.
2. Open Lightroom Classic and enter the Develop module by clicking on Develop or pressing the “d” key.
3. In the left panel, you will see a section labeled Presets. Click the plus (‘+’) to the label’s right.
4. Select “Import Presets…” from the dropdown panel.
5. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the Presets, select the preset files you want to use, and press the Import button.
6. The imported Presets will be listed in the Presets panel.

How to install Lightroom Mobile Presets

Lightroom Mobile does not support importing Presets. There are ways to do it, but they are not very easy. The easiest way to get Presets into Lightroom Mobile is to install the preset using Lightroom CC and let Creative Cloud sync the preset over to the mobile app.

One advantage the Lightroom CC and Mobile have over Lightroom Classic is the Recommended Presets tab. LIghtroom’s intelligent search will try to match your image with its library of presets. Lightroom will suggest interesting looks for your image. It’s a great way to experiment with your photo’s look.

Where to Find Lightroom Presets

Even though Lightroom comes preloaded with dozens of Presets, it’s worthwhile going out and looking at effects developed by other creatives. There are so many great looks that are specific to every photography topic, from landscape to infant photography. When you start to develop your photographic “style”, it helps to experiment with Presets from other photographers.

When it comes to finding Lightroom Presets, there are so many places that you can look. One option is to purchase them from a website or online store. This is a great option if you know exactly what you’re looking for and you’re willing to spend a bit of money to get it. Another benefit is that when you buy a preset, or preset pack, the author will almost always help you get it installed or troubleshoot issues with their product.

Some of my favorite places to find Lightroom Presets are –

• Envato Elements
• Etsy
• Adobe Creative Cloud

Once you find or purchase the Preset, you will download a Preset file or a zip archive. These files are meant to be installed via the installation tools in Lightroom. The previous sections covered installing in Lightroom and Lightroom Classic.

Sometimes instead of a Preset, you will receive a source image (dng) file. If this is the case then the Lightroom edit settings are encapsulated in the image. In this case, you create a preset using the “create preset” function in your version of Lightroom. This is the same as making your own Preset covered below.

Where to Find Free Lightroom Presets

One of the best places to find free Presets is in the Adobe Creative Cloud library. They have a dedicated page to highlight free Presets for Lightroom.

Another great resource for free Lightroom Presets is the site PresetLove. They are a professional source for Presets and you can check out their free downloads for a variety of photographic styles.

Making Your Own Presets

Creating your own Presets is an essential part of an efficient workflow process. If you are working on multiple images for the same project, portfolio, or event, then it’s important that they all use the same styling and tone. This is where creating your own Presets really comes in handy.

Since a preset is essentially the current edit settings on the active image, saving that work and then applying it to additional images is a great time saver. When creating a preset, you can choose if you want to save all of the edit settings, or just some of them. This way you can save just the tone and color settings, but leave out any masking, or detail adjustments.

To create a preset, bring up the preset menu using the same steps used while importing. But instead of selecting Import Preset, select Create Preset.

When the create preset dialog box appears, enter a name for your preset. Then select which aspects of the current image you want to be saved in the preset.

Once you are OK with the settings, just press the create button. Your preset will now be listed under the Presets pane and can be used to create the look on other images.

For more detailed information on creating Presets, take a look at Adobe’s Help Site.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed how to install Lightroom Presets. We showed you how to do it on both Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic. We also provided helpful tips on finding the perfect Presets for your photography style. With these tips, you should be able to find Presets for your needs and install them easily.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below! And as always, thanks for reading!

If you are looking to learn more about using Lightroom, check out my Lightroom For New Photographers tutorial.

For more interesting photography information, check out my other guides.