3 Tips For Editing With Presets

editing with presets is a wonderful way to help you spend less time editing and more time shooting.  when you find a preset that works for you and reflects your photography style, the whole editing process becomes that much more manageable.  while presets are known to help edit with a simple click, i think there is more to editing with presets than one may think.  for me, i don’t just import my photos, apply a preset and call it good.  there is much more that goes into editing my photos and presets are just a starting point.  check out these 3 tips for editing with presets to help you make editing with presets more effective.

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3 Tips For Editing With Presets

clickin moms sent me their stunning film art presets for lightroom to edit images with, and let me tell you, they are really beautiful.  starting with my original image in the grid above, you will see the five presets that i found to especially reflect my editing style.  even better, the film art presets come with 14 different presets to use in lightroom, both in color and black + white.  for me, i am a very natural and clean editor.  i really love that the film presets keep the images looking natural, while enhancing them to really draw in the viewer’s eye.

while editing with presets definitely hurries up post-processing, there is a little more thought that goes into how i use presets.  when using presets, i faithfully keep the following tips in mind while i edit.

1. Use Presets As A Starting Point

never do i simply apply a preset to my photo and call it complete.  oh no, there is much more to it than that.  i think of presets as a starting point.  after importing my photo into lightroom, i will first apply a preset and then i will work my way down the right hand side editing panel in the develop module of lightroom.  once the preset is applied, i will then adjust certain elements like exposure, contrast, highlights, etc until i am satisfied with the result.

i think the main misconception about presets is that users think that presets solve everything in one click.  they think that the preset is magically going to make their photo better, without thinking about any additional adjustments.  while we all wish that were true and how lovely that would be for our time spent editing, you have to make the presets work for you and put a tiny bit more time into it.  think of it this way, every photo you take is going to be different in some way so one preset isn’t going to work the same every single time, you have to tweak it.  applying a preset to your photos is just the first step, followed by making some necessary adjustments to make the preset work for your specific image and the camera settings you used.

most of the time, we shoot the same so we apply presets the same.  but for those times when we shoot a little differently or our lighting situation differs, we have to edit with our preset a little differently.

2. One Session, One Preset

there is nothing worse than seeing a collection of photos from one session that looks mix matched, with each photo having a different white balance, contrast, or exposure.  one of the main reasons why this happens is because photographers tend to use a variety of different presets on one session or collection of photos taken in the same setting, causing the images to unrelate to one another.  when editing a session, or editing a collection of related images, choose one color preset and one black + white preset, and edit with those only.  by using one preset, you are ensuring that your images look cohesive and that will create visual flow throughout the collection.  when you edit your photos the same way, you are ensuring that your photos flow and reflect one photography style, instead of looking jumbled and unflattering next to one another.

3. Use Similar Presets

think of your photography style as a whole when you are thinking about presets and choose presets that reflect your style the best.  when i use presets, i only use one or two because i want my portfolio to look cohesive.  for my style, i know that i only want to use presets that are natural and minimal in editing because they reflect my style the best.

while i don’t recommend using a lot of different presets, if you do then i would encourage you to make sure that the variety of presets that you use relate to one another well.  if you use too many presets, you are going to lose your sense of style because your portfolio is going to take on a different look with each preset that you apply.  instead, choose a couple presets that are very relatable for one another and stick with them.  choose presets that are similar in exposure, white balance, and contrast so that your images all take on a united look.

editing with presets is a wonderful way to not only streamline your editing process, but to ensure that you are creating images that resemble one style.  different presets work differently for each photographer because we are all unique to our own style.  the presets that work for one photographer, may not work for another photographer and that’s okay!  finding a preset that resembles you as an artist is a personal choice and will be different for everyone because we are all unique with our photography style.

be sure to browse the click & co store for some beautiful presets that will help you reflect your photography style and streamline your editing process.

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