Presets for LR - do you or don't you??

[Ms Monny]

Do you or don't you use Presets in Lightroom??

Just came across a website that offers free presets that others have made up and are downloadable. I downloaded a few into Lightroom just now. Is this the lazy way out, or another creative way of getting the image you want?? Some of the presets were awful but others definately have merit.

Interested to know your thoughts!

[peterking]

I do use a range of presets for my exporting depending on what I am doing with them.
Other than that I have no experience with presets.
Could you give a link to the site so that I might go and have a look and get some idea.

[kiwi]

yes.

its not cheating, its a shortcut

But dont let them take over you.

[KeeFy]

I have my own presets that sets the basis of a picture should i wish to go down that path. I can explore the different styles that i've created before and from there i can further adjust to my liking. So yes. I do use presets. Makes workflow more efficient IMO and standardises your own style.

[Xebadir]

I generally produce my own for experimental techniques/quick fixes for non important images. But even then I generally tweak post preset to get the best out of the image as a preconcieved setting is never going to be exactly right. If I do find a technique that works well with a certain type of image generally I will save it so I can apply it to future cases with a similar input (which are then fine tweaked). I don't think its cheating, certainly no different from a photoshop action or anything else. Just saves time.

[Ms Monny]

http://www.presetsheaven.com/

You are right Darren. Not cheating (harsh word) but I can see how it can be too easy to use instead of working out a system yourself or understanding the sliders and using them to create your own masterpiece!

KeeFy and John - using your OWN presets is definately a time-saver plus most times you would have to slightly adjust the presents for each photo (no two photos are the same!). I was more on the lines of presets that you could download that someone else made

[nixworries]

i have a lot of presets in lightroom, they are a good tool for experimenting with different processing ideas.
but they are no magic bullet and i still find they need tweaking to suit the image itself.

[ricktas]

nah, don't use them at all! Though I only do RAW (whole of image) adjustments in LR, then move to PS to do my post processing.

[kiwi]

I like the "wow" presets

Lightroom killer tips is a good source but there are lots of places around to get free ones

And i mean free, not ripped

[stoogest]

I've never used any presets. I guess that was originally because I didn't know that theyt existed, but now it's more of a case of me wanting to give each photo the individual treatment that it needs.

In saying that, I generally split my photos into two groups, those for public publishing, and those that are of lesser 'quality', but greater personal importance. For those photos of lesser quality I will sometimes do an auto white balance and/or auto toning in LR, but I still don't use presets.

Andrew.

[robcran]

I tend not to use presets except as a starting point for B&W conversions.
I also set up a Develop preset which I use for importing. This present includes a camera calibration to convert the Adobe default to "Camera standard". The same preset also contains the lens calibration for the lens I use most of the time. So when I import photos, these Develop setting get applied automatically upon import.

[nixworries]

you can also look into curve and levels presets for photoshop, it is an interesting way to see how they affect each colour channel

[dieselpower]

I'm with kiwi on the "wow" presets - use them quite a lot, especially the adjustment brush ones for eyes and skin.

I have a lot of presets, most crap and some quite good. I don't think I've ever applied a preset and left it 'as is' though, I generally use them as a starting point to get the photo close to how I want it quickly, and then tweak from there - saves an awful lot of work!

[Ms Monny]

I will check out these 'wow' presets. I agree to changing the image afterwards to suit me and the image. Thanks for sharing.